| On 15 May 2003 the Federal Trade Commission released the following statement: In the latest in a series of law enforcement initiatives targeting Internet fraud, the Federal Trade Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, United States Postal Inspection Service, three United States Attorneys, four state attorneys general, and two state regulatory agencies today announced they have filed 45 criminal and civil law enforcement actions against Internet scammers and deceptive spammers. In addition to the law enforcement actions, the FTC and 21 U.S. and international agencies have launched an initiative to get organizations in 59 countries to close the open relays that allow spammers to avoid detection by spam filters and law enforcers... "According to the FTC, the law enforcement actions announced today represent a wide array of deceptive schemes and illegal scams including auction fraud, the illegal sale of controlled substances, bogus business opportunities, deceptive money-making scams, illegal advance-fee credit card offers, and identity theft." The FTC named 20 defendants in 8 District Court law suits to put a halt to deceptive web operations. The FTC was not alone in its efforts to "tackles Internet Scammers, Deceptive Spammers". Eleven other Federal and State law enforcers brought 37 law enforcement actions.
This recent move has stunned the online world as two very well known and highly regarded internet marketers have had law suits filed against them by the FTC. This has brought a huge reality check to internet marketers all over the world.
Many internet marketers would not argue on the underhanded tactics of some of the cases - more than 1,200 consumers complained about one defendant's unauthorized charging and collection for videotext services purportedly accessed on the Internet - however the widespread selling of products with reprint rights has now put a lot of internet marketers in potential hot water.
Some defendants told consumers that the product would enable them to make "money while they sleep". I for one have seen this expression used in many sales letters all over the web. The same work at home business opportunity promised that buyers could make more than $115,000 a year using the product. These kind of claims have been widely accepted as "the norm" in the time that I've been online and internet marketers have promoted products putting forward such claims without question.
However, the recent FTC lawsuits have now made it clear that every internet marketer must be very careful about promises made and how they are portrayed by the average reader of any web page.
One of the recent judgments handed down ordered prohibition on conduct such as misrepresentations of potential earnings, misrepresentations about benefits people participating in such activities could actually expect to receive, and misrepresentations about the amount of sales, incentives and profits a person can actually make or potentially expect to make. In addition, strict compliance reporting, compliance monitoring and record keeping provisions were put in place.
The fact of the matter is when buying products that come with reprint rights and plug in sales pages internet marketers must now do a very careful reading of every sales page written by another person before uploading it to their site to ensure that any wording that can be easily misconstrued is either deleted or re-written in more realistic terms.
The inherent danger is that new internet marketers all over the world put blind faith in what successful money earning netpreneurs say to them, and follow their lead without question. Obviously the type of exaggerated claims that some internet marketers have been making for years and years online no longer carry any weight and in fact can land people in serious hot water.
Genuine and honest ebusiness owners have had to share their playing field with very unscrupulous people for a very long time. Perhaps now with a more even playing field consumer confidence in products being sold online will rise and sales will actually increase.
However, this recent FTC onslaught has brought a real tangible fear to marketers online and has shown that absolutely anyone has the chance of being caught in the FTC's lasoo.
If you run an ebusiness these guidelines and resources may assist you to avoid any problems:
NEVER MAKE EXAGGERATED CLAIMS
It's two different things to show someone how you made $1000.00 a week in your first 30 days of running a business online and telling someone they will make $1000.00 a week in their first 30 days just like you did.
BE HONEST
If instant wealth is not going to happen overnight then tell that to your prospects. Err on the side of caution I make it sound a little harder than it is. And then if success happens for your prospects even sooner you've delivered more than you said you would.
ADD DISCLAIMERS TO YOUR TESTIMONIALS
Testimonials are displayed all over the web giving specific instances of success with a certain product ie "I used this product and within 10 days I'd made $435.30". Keep the testimonial but give thought to adding a disclaimer along the lines of that this is not an indication of how every person's results from using the product.
GET ALL THE LEGAL DOCUMENTS YOU NEED
Find out straight away whether your business needs a disclaimer, terms of service, a privacy notice and any other legal documents. It's been suggested to me that I put a policy page or terms of conditions of every page of my site.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:
Federal Trade Commission http://www.ftc.gov/
Federal Trade Commission Regional Offices http://www.ftc.gov/ro/romap2.htm
United States Copyright Office http://www.locl.gov/copyright/
United States Patent & Trademark Office http://www.uspto.gov
US Department Of Justice http://www.usdoj.gov
WebLawLinks
Links to over 100 law resources including over 30 FTC articles, over 40 Government sites, over 15 FTC cases, over 20 Internet Law Links plus how to get over 40 legal documents including miscellaneous documents, newsletter disclaimers, non disclosure forms, purchase agreements and disclaimers, software development agreements, trademark documents and website documents.
To receive your free copy within minutes please send an email to weblaw@reprintrights4u.com
Look at what you promise to your customers and do all you can to
overdeliver to them on a daily basis.
Take the time now to ensure your business is safe from the longreaching hands of the FTC and ensure your bank accounts, personal assets and business assets are not frozen by any government agency. You have at your keyboard tips information at hand to protect your business now. If in doubt consult with an attorney immediately. As they say, "The Truth Is Out There". | 
