Will New FTC Rules Improve Audiophile Product Reviews?
As reported in today’s New York Times (here), the FTC is moving quickly to tighten disclosure laws for bloggers (or other website authors) doing product reviews.
In short, if the reviewer has any financial relationship to the vendor – including receiving free samples – it must be disclosed. One would assume that advertising deals would also fall under the ruling.
This is good news for most consumers, as abuse is rampant in some areas (see article). But what about audiophiles? Will they benefit?
I believe so. Transparency is a cornerstone of journalism, and audio buyers should be made aware of any biases of reviewers.
On the other hand, as the new rule may slow down the volume of review samples – and no publisher that I am aware of has the capital to buy samples of high-end gear in any volume.
Time will tell…
[This article represents the opinions of its author - Bob Walters - and not necessarily those of BAAS or its membership.]
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