Bloggers who get gifts or money may have to own up


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eyes

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It's not just happening in California or to Ken Rockwell. Now folks who blog in Singapore will have to declare whatever gifts they got (even if it seems trival) to Media Development Authority. I don't know if gifts are taxable. So be careful in your blogs especially if you have the habit of saying things like "the bokeh in EF 135mm f/2 USM is the best class in all other lenses I'd tried" or "the AF-S VR 70-200mm f/2.8G IF-ED has the best MTF against it's competitors".

I guess personal opinions will cost a lot more inconveniences nowadays.

Bloggers who get gifts or money may have to own up
Mon, Oct 12, 2009
The Straits Times
by Chua Hian Hou

BLOGGERS and users of other new media may soon have to say so upfront if they receive gifts or money for their write-ups.

The Media Development Authority (MDA) has said it is looking at stricter disclosure rules.

Its deputy director for development policy, Ms Yuvarani Thangavelu, says such regulations will protect consumers by enabling them to make an informed assessment about what they read.
http://digital.asiaone.com/Digital/News/Story/A1Story20091012-173058.html
 

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It's just disclosure to ensure you've not been "bribed" to say good things about a particular product. If you bought it with your hard earned money or tried the product at your own leisure (not sponsored) then I don't see any real inconveniences.
 

If someone is getting gifts to write up favorable reviews, wouldn't you want to know as a consumer?
 

Its a double edged sword as this means what they or other institutions say also must go through disclosure like why keep referencing windows os or internet explorer and even photoshop rather then their alternatives like OSX, Firefox and Lightroom.
 

I think people in general are sensible enough not to believe everything they read, not to mention if it's a personal blog. The inconviences is that the bloggers may have not own the actual product he is talking about. So when it comes to such scenario, the blogger will have a hard time explaining to MDA why he thinks the product is good.

On the other hand, does it mean that if a blogger receives a towel let's say from Canon, or a free bag with words 'Nikon' printed in big and bold, he has to declare himself bias in his own blog? What about the implications of tax? Will this trigger IRAS to do a re-assessment of the blogger's income?
 

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Imagine you're from MDA and you come across this statement in a blog,

"... you can speed up the process by using photoshop plugins."
 

If you want to know if a product is good or not, I think it's better to see the complaints of the product rather than praise for the product on blogs
 

I think people in general are sensible enough not to believe everything they read, not to mention if it's a personal blog. The inconviences is that the blogger may have not own the actual product he is talking about. So when it comes to such scenario, the blogger will have a hard time explaining to MDA why he thinks the product is good.

On the other hand, does it mean that if a blogger receives a towel let's say from Canon, or a free bag with words 'Nikon' printed in big and bold, he has to declare himself bias in his own blog? What about the implications of tax? Will this trigger IRAS to do a re-assessment of the blogger's income?
Could trigger a lot of investigations like why schools only allow certain brands of laptops for tender or why certain softwares are preferred and so on. If MDA got the manpower, let them do.

Then next time the candidates make political statements and review of current situations during rally or on their websites, send MDA.
 

Blogging is a recognised form of income by the iras, but they wont bust the bubble so soon.

I seen little girls making $ out of blogging and ads.

Some popular sites make thousands fr banner ads. I am sure you know who they are and i am not talking about them receiving roses or cakes.

When the tree gets too big, just form up a home business company and declare earnings into the income tax form. Simple as that.

However, some 13yr old are already making their $ online. Now that is abit tricky though they are really small timers compared to hwz.... LOL
 

Could trigger a lot of investigations like why schools only allow certain brands of laptops for tender or why certain softwares are preferred and so on. If MDA got the manpower, let them do.

Then next time the candidates make political statements and review of current situations during rally or on their websites, send MDA.

somehow, i feel mda is really bo liao... they get free $ fr license fee collection... now they want to play the role of ida... someone enlighten me? :_)
 

In order to critically evaluate and appreciate opinions, we always need to go beyond the traditional sources like advertisements and independant technical houses. Unconventional sources such as blogs provide a good source of information from actual users and can be populated to represent certain segments or mapped to a generic category.

To have a balanced view of a product, people would need to hear both the positive and negative aspects of the views presented. If every opinion is sourced based on negativity, then it defeats the purpose of evaluation; since if all things are negative, why own such a product. If going for a product with the least negative review, would it mean that the product is under-reviewed or under-owned? Would a consumer generally accept a product with the least negative review and thence accept that the product was purchased not because it is good but the best of the worst?


If you want to know if a product is good or not, I think it's better to see the complaints of the product rather than praise for the product on blogs
 

So well and good.

Has anyone thought of how is this going to be enforced? Or whether do you really want it enforced?

Do you have jurisdiction if servers and accounts are outside of the country?

Don't know what MDA is smoking here.
 

Seriously i think they are just making a big hoo ha about some small matter. Don't we already lots loads of red tape in other areas, which probably don't serve much function. Receiving a complimentary product or service for reviewing/praising a product or service becoming a crime? What about working? You are getting monetary gains too. Duh... :dunno:
 

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