Owensboro, KY (PRWeb) August 8, 2006 -- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the federal government's chief consumer watchdog agency, regulates the commercial side of the Internet, levying fines on rule violators. What many people don't realize is that those regulations include corporate and business blogs.

Many bloggers are not aware of the potential legal problems, and that can be costly

One blogger, Mike Sigers of Simplenomics.com, recognizing that blogs can fall under the same FTC rules as commercial Web sites, is collecting and posting legal questions, from bloggers, on his blog at http://www.simplenomics.com/got-a-legal-question-about-blogging/.

Bloggers can post a variety of legal question for Bob Silber, an internationally known expert on Internet law.

"Many bloggers are not aware of the potential legal problems, and that can be costly," Sigers said.

A blog that promotes a business or service, in any manner, can be considered a commercial or business Web site. For example, linking to another business site or collecting information such as visitor e-mail addresses, can put you in the commercial Web site category and trigger the FTC rules and regulations. If there is any question, on whether a particular blog falls within the business category, it would be prudent to seek the advice of an attorney familiar with that area of law.

The Internet is global and the legal mistakes can be, too. In an Associated Press article, Wired.com reported last month that a blogger in Italy was fined $16,900, by the Italian government, for his blog comments.

The number of Internet Web logs, or "blogs" as the sites are called, continues to grow. There are 63 million blogs that have been created on the eight major blog hosting sites, according to BlogHerald.com. Technorati.com is currently tracking over 50.5 million blogs.

To say the blogging universe is diverse, may be an understatement. Today there are all types of blogs, from soldiers in Iraq providing an unvarnished look at the war, to politicians, to cat lovers, to the corporate business world.

Business owners and commercial bloggers can visit the FTC Web site at www.FTC.gov and review the various rules and regulations that all business Web sites, including blogs, must adhere to.

For additional information on the news that is the subject of this release, contact Mike Sigers or visit www.Simplenomics.com.

About Simplenomics.com :

The Simplenomics.com Web site is operated by Mike Sigers, a sales consultant. Sigers has personally accounted for just over $37.5 million in sales throughout the past 12 years, and he’s done it all very simply, all while using tried, true and tested techniques.

Source: www.prweb.com