[IP] Re: a review and explanation of the new rules - including several examples.Bloggers Must Give Full Disclosure- NYTimes.com

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Esther Dyson <edyson@edventure.com>
Date: October 19, 2009 1:37:27 PM EDT
To: Brett Glass <brett@lariat.net>
Cc: amy@wohl.com, dave@farber.net
Subject: Re: [IP] Re: a review and explanation of the new rules -  
including several examples.Bloggers Must Give Full Disclosure- NYTimes.com

that is a very good point, and I will suggest it to the FTC (which I'm  
visiting today).  You could also write to the SEC...  and Sunlight  
Foundation.

Esther


On Oct 14, 2009, at 11:16 PM, Brett Glass wrote:

> Esther Dyson writes:
>
> > HI Amy (and all)  -
> >
> > I think disclosure is a good thing, even for consultants (those who  
> > publish, anyway).  Why do your relationships (not the amount) need  
> > to be confidential?  That is something I would certainly want to  
> > know as a reader.
> >
> > Esther
>
> All:
>
> What about lobbyists? Currently, many lobbying groups that claim to  
> be acting in the "public interest" actually take money, directly or  
> indirectly, from corporations. For example, the lobbying group  
> "Public Knowledge" (http://www.publicknowledge.org) accepts both  
> money and free labor (in the form of paid interns) from Google, and  
> has lobbied for things -- such as "network neutrality" regulation --  
> that would benefit Google. Another DC lobbying group, the "New  
> America Foundation," receives Google money via its CEO, Eric Schmidt  
> (though it reports it as a personal contribution) and has made  
> Schmidt its chairman. Other lobbying groups who embrace Google's  
> agenda, such as the group "Free Press," expunge the names of  
> contributors from their published IRS Form 990 in an attempt to  
> prevent the money trail from being followed.
>
> All of these groups maintain blogs.
>
> Shouldn't we know for whom supposed "public interest" groups might  
> be working?
>
> --Brett Glass

Esther Dyson
edyson@edventure.com

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