Congress cracking

[dblgdee]

Congress appears to be cracking down on Internet marketing companies
Need to be wary??

Congress is cracking down on Internet marketing companies -- latimes.com

[sahi]

Looks like soon IM will be regulated, and I think it's a good idea to clean the house.

[Mike Shain]

That was an interesting read.

I have always said if you keep it honest and legit you have nothing to worry about. Its the shady folks that look to take advantage of or mislead people that gives internet marketing a bad wrap.

[Raydal]

It's more like cracking down on forced continuity than internet marketing
really. These are shady companies that charge you continually without
your consent.

-Ray Edwards

[Dan C. Rinnert]

Originally Posted by Mike Shain

I have always said if you keep it honest and legit you have nothing to worry about. Its the shady folks that look to take advantage of or mislead people that gives internet marketing a bad wrap.

The problem is that a lot of Congressional critters are not the sharpest crayons in the box, especially when it comes to the Intertubes, and the things they do to try to go after the disreputable companies often hurt honest business more than the crooks.

[Istvan Horvath]

To the OP:

Legislation targets unethical, aggressive sales tactics that result in countless 'mystery charges' for consumers.

If you do any of those in bold letters... then be wary

[Hugh]

I'm afraid I must agree with Dan.
Too many people posturing about which they know NOT.

Hugh

[SeanSupplee]

About time! I am sick of certain programs that look like they are going to charge you once and then your surprised next month to be out $100 and when you contact them they are shady as all get out to refund your money.

[jaybaker]

Good! I welcome the change! This will even force more of the bigger super affiliates or marketers to watch what they do.

[SurviveUnemployment]

That's great news! If our main commodity is trust, anything that increases it is a good thing.

If you're promoting decent products in an ethical way, you have nothing to worry about from this.

[nitin22]

I dont know. I do hate spams and scams. However I consider Internet as a media nad I dont want clowns interfering too much with free media.

[Kay King]

adding up to $320 in charges for a "membership club" before she noticed and canceled the payments 16 months later.

I agree about the bad practices - but consumers need to pay some attention to their own affiairs, too. 16 months to notice a monthly charge?

An interesting conversation about forced continuity I heard was from friends who fell for the Acai Berry diet stuff. Difference was they ordered the "free sample for shipping cost only" by PHONE rather than online.

They were both billed for the next month ($80 I think it was) a couple days after their "free" sample arrived. Made me wonder how anything is disclosed about forced continuity for those who order by phone?

I asked if there had been a flyer or fine print piece of paper included with the sample they received, but neither had noticed if there was.

kay

[thunderbird]

Originally Posted by dblgdee

Congress appears to be cracking down on Internet marketing companies
Need to be wary??

Congress is cracking down on Internet marketing companies -- latimes.com

Those cowards are too spineless to crack down on taxpayer-looting corporate interests (aka "corporate welfare," "bailout"), but will aggressively aim their canons at anyone having the audacity to make money independently.

[Mountainmotorman]

This is not going anywhere. It will simply make the SHADY stuff be in more bold and the fact is this will be for the forced sales if you do not UNCLICK the checked box. If you are stupid enough to just click through without reading what is checked, you deserve the headaches!

The real IM community does not rip off people. It provides products and services that are wanted, needed, required, and bought by 99% of the public. You will always hear the 1% of the complainers. They are the loudest since the HAPPY people never complain and go about their daily lives....

[Steve Faber]

Originally Posted by Dan C. Rinnert

The problem is that a lot of Congressional critters are not the sharpest crayons in the box, especially when it comes to the Intertubes, and the things they do to try to go after the disreputable companies often hurt honest business more than the crooks.

I agree 100%. They will pass legislation which ends up hurting many that it was not intended to. It will be overly restrictive and/or declare certain practices illegal, such as cookies, which the Euros have already legislated against.

To all the people that opine "Just be honest and don't do any of the shady tactics and you'll be just fine." WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE. This kind of thing happens all the time. It is because there are too many hands out for something and expecting something from this legislator or that. In addition, too few legislators really understand all the aspects of what they are doing and all the effects it has. Many don't even read the legislation thy sign. That is relegated to some staffers. The legislator reads an executive summary. They can spin the legislation to sound however they want to please their constituent groups and stay in office. Sadly, we (as small - medium sized IM business owners) are just not that important.

Couple that with the general trend in the US government away from entrepreneurship and toward more centralized government control, which means we'll have to navigate even choppier waters ahead. Cynics may say that they may even be trying to impede our ability to earn with our own, small business as a way to decrease our independence and increase their control. Far be it from me to be that cynical, of course.

[Mountainmotorman]

By the way, I did see the story on NBC nightly news yesterday.... It was not much but a bit of grandstanding!

[bgmacaw]

Originally Posted by opportunitiesaplenty

Couple that with the general trend in the US government away from entrepreneurship and toward more centralized government control, which means we'll have to navigate even choppier waters ahead. Cynics may say that they may even be trying to impede our ability to earn with our own, small business as a way to decrease our independence and increase their control. Far be it from me to be that cynical, of course.

Why ask useless questions? How deep is the ocean? How high is the sky? Who is John Galt?

[Matt Jutras]

I'm fine with cracking down on shady operations...but what usually happens with government is a boatload of unintended consequences, with too many innocent bystanders getting caught in the crossfire.

It's not like these people know anything at all about business or entrepreneurship. If they did, they wouldn't be working in government.

Further, if the loons in congress had to get jobs in the private sector, they wouldn't even be qualified to scrub toilets...or clean the floors of a porn theater.

A is A.

[LB]

I hope this works as good as CAN SPAM did.

I never see spam ever.

-_-

[Floyd Fisher]

Originally Posted by dblgdee

Congress appears to be cracking down on Internet marketing companies
Need to be wary??

Congress is cracking down on Internet marketing companies -- latimes.com

Only if you're engaged in hidden forced continuity programs.

Why congress thinks additional laws will do any good is beyond me as IIRC, it's already illegal to do such.

[Matt Jutras]

Originally Posted by Floyd Fisher

Why congress thinks additional laws will do any good is beyond me as IIRC, it's already illegal to do such.

It's not about additional laws, or even protecting consumers. It's about putting more of a stranglehold on private business and capitalism.

[Floyd Fisher]

Originally Posted by Matt Jutras

It's not about additional laws, or even protecting consumers. It's about putting more of a stranglehold on private business and capitalism.

And kill taxable revenue.....lovely.

[hotftuna]

"It's about putting more of a stranglehold on private business and capitalism. It's about putting more of a stranglehold on private business and capitalism."

Why do we need capitalism if the Government is willing to take care of us?

Yes I agree Matt. I'm seeing more and more of an anti business point of view now more than ever.

[shaddai]

Legislation targets unethical, aggressive sales tactics that result in countless 'mystery charges' for consumers.

Unethical, aggressive, results in mystery charges? Sound like the US Govt is about to outlaw themselves.

todd

[JMPruitt]

part of the problem is the consumers turning to the government to fix their problem because they could not be bothered to fix it themselves.

I am all for ethical business practices, but you cannot legalize ethics. It is not something you can control. Unfortunately most of the laws made to stop unethical business practices only hurt those of us who aren't willing to break the laws.