Issues

 Endorsements and Testimonials
 Currently advertisers are able to use consumer testimonials that are not known to be representative of the typical user experience as long as a disclaimer indicates that the results may vary. Now the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has proposed changes to its Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials that would fundamentally alter the use of such disclaimers. Although the FTC does make a few minor concessions, the general gist of the proposed changes leans toward extremely stringent standards for disclosure. The new standards would prevent advertisers from communicating truthful and relevant information to the consumers it intends to reach. It would also make launching new products extremely difficult and would pass high compliance costs on to customers. Additionally, the FTC plans on amending rules that apply to talent and aspiring actors who do testimonials without compensation. These alterations would also impose liability on “experts”, including bloggers who do product reviews, for certain claims that are truthful without disclosing if the product was obtained as a free sample or without extensive discussion of their expertise. ERA has been working with FTC and the Hill to prevent or mitigate these changes. We have submitted detailed comments to the FTC, which you may view below.
 
The full proposal can be found at: http://www.ftc.gov/os/2008/11/P034520endorsementguides.pdf.
 
Read our FTC Comments: the short comments or the detailed comments. 
 
Streamlined Sales Tax
 
Some states have attempted to levy tax on Internet, television and catalog retailers without any physical presence in that state. Because of the complexity of state tax systems and the burden it creates, the Supreme Court currently does not allow this kind of collection without express authorization from Congress. Several states have fought to encourage this authorization. State Lobbyists, free of many of the ethical and reporting requirements corporate lobbyists must obey, have pushed this agenda as a way to increase state revenues. However, we believe if there efforts are successful the consequences would be dire for direct marketers. It will be extremely difficult for new entrants into the industry to comply because the tax codes are so complicated. It would also result in a great deal of lost revenue for larger companies. Currently, we are working to prevent these changes from taking effect.
 

Read About Streamlined Sales Tax Myths
Read a One Page Article About SST
 
Net Neutrality
 
Some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) want to companies pay more in order to improve the speed and quality users experience on particular websites. While at first it may not sound harmful, in the long run this could drastically increase costs for anyone selling online. It could also decrease the amazing potential the Internet presents for new products and companies. When ISPs allow one company to prioritize traffic to their website, they implicitly slow traffic to every other website. Additionally, this prioritization creates inefficiencies in the movement of information across the Internet. Overall, consumers will get a lower quality experience and companies will be forced to pay high prices for reasonable service. ISPs claim they would only do this to manage the increasing traffic on the Internet, but they could easily solve that problem by increasing capacity. We are working to create incentives for ISPs to keep the Internet free of interference and to allow the Internet to develop as a marketplace for ideas and goods.
 
Useful Links:
 
http://www.savetheinternet.com/
http://www.openinternetcoalition.org/
 
 Behavioral/ Tailored Advertising
 
Some internet content providers, like online publishers or retailers, want to customize the users experience by placing more relevant advertisements on the pages they visit. There are different technological variations, but essentially companies are using existing technologies, like “cookies” to identify that a user has a particular interest in a certain product or service. Unfortunately, ISPs have tried to use much more invasive new technology called Deep Packet Inspection (DPI), which is sometimes confused with Behavioral or Tailored Advertising. Unlike Behavioral or Tailored Advertising, DPI involves opening the content part of information that is sent over the Internet in order to add advertisements. On the Hill and at the relevant agencies, we are working to distinguish these technologies and to insure that content providers retain their freedom to advertise.

 
 
 
Self-Regulation
 
ERA is also committed to working as an industry to protect consumers. The Electronic Retailing Self-Regulation Program (ERSP) is an excellent example of how effective industry self-regulation can be. The program, administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus, has helped to take false claims and scams off of the air and the Internet.
Learn  more about ERSP here 

 
Other Issues