FTC says they don't really care about new blogger rules...

Bloggers -- as well as social media users -- like stuff, as it turns out. And their need to communicate their likes and dislikes apparently caused the FTC some concern -- so much so that new guidelines released on October 5 "put bloggers on notice that they could incur an $11,000 fine if they receive free goods, free services, or money and write about the goods or services without conspicuously disclosing their 'material connection" to the provider.'" But today, according to the the Blog of Legal Times, the FTC is saying that bloggers have nothing to worry about, trust them!
In a conference call for reporters today, [Mary Engle, associate director for advertising practices at the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection] aimed to set the record straight after a flurry of news stories (not to mention blogs and tweets) about the FTC's new advertising guidelines that were, as she put it, "all wrong."

"We are not going to be patrolling the blogosphere," she said. "We are not planning on investigating individual bloggers."
Engle stressed that the guidelines are just that - guidelines. "They are not rules and regulations, and they don't have the force of law," she said. "They are guidelines intended to help advertisers comply with Section 5 of the FTC Act," which covers unfair or deceptive practices.