Repercussions for Online False Advertising

Recently issued Federal Trade Commission guidelines could impose liability on employers for false or misleading advertising stemming from employees' online postings. These guidelines would stick even when the employer didn't authorize the employee to make the misleading statements. Because blogging has become such an effective tool for companies to sell their products and services, the FTC thought it was fitting to pass the standard. Consumers are being shown to trust blog testimonials more so than other forms of traditional advertising.

Even though the guidelines are administrative interpretations of the law and not binding, advertisers could face FTC enforcement actions. If consumers are injured, the employer could face class-action lawsuits as well. However, the FTC has said it would be unlikely to taken action against a company for the actions of one employee unless bad faith conduct was involved.

The best way to avoid sanctions for businesses under this new rule would be to impose strong social media policies. More and more companies (and law firms) are becoming aware of the detrimental effects of social networking and creating these work policies. In the end, the Federal Trade Commission is looking for intent and deception. Some employers do use blogs to advertise their product and could potentially exaggerate because it isn't the company website. These guidelines look to remedy that.

For more information, visit: Business Law Today.

Businesses and Videoconferencing

One of the larger growing technologies that businesses are relying on is videoconferencing. Because traveling is expensive and time-consuming, a video-chatting with clients is sometimes preferable. It allows for face-time discussion that phone calls and emails can't replicate; despite occasional technical pitfalls, clients might favor the video conference.

The article I read from took two different accounts of the trend; one person used video conferencing often and the other didn't.

Not only allowing for face-to-face time, videoconferencing can help to save money, break into international markets, and as a way to compete with larger businesses. Because there's a greater feeling of connection with other branches of the business, it allows for expansion.

The main failing seemed to be technical difficulty. Emails and phone calls always work, but taking the time to set-up a video conference could be lengthy. These technical problems could manifest in fuzzy audio quality, bad connections, and the need to reboot.

Similar trends exist in web-based conferencing, such as GoToMeeting, and sharing websites, like Google Docs. As reliance on these kinds of services grow, businesses will find it easier to expand and pull clients from other areas than out of their immediate surrounding region.

The article is located at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/217438.

Small Businesses and Data Protection

According to a recent survey about IT issues, small businesses were most concerned about viruses, trojans, and data leaks. The study was conducted by Trend Micro and consisted of input from 1,600 corporate users in the U.S., U.K., Germany, and Japan. Small businesses were least concerned about phishing scams and spam.

The survey stated that small businesses were less likely than big businesses to have policies in place to stop cyber-theft, however. 21 percent of small business employees feel that their IT department could do a better job of protecting their business from data-stealing malware, and 35 percent of these employees felt they could be better informed about the same malware.

As technology improves, it will become easier to steal information and data from these businesses. Without the appropriate blocks in place, this will evolve into a larger and larger issue for small organizations.

Statistics and survey information taken from: Business News Daily.