The first, brought to you by Wal-Mart... which apparently is paying bloggers to write nice things, or rather, to reprint nice things Wal-Mart has written about itself -- on their sites. The NYT has that story here. A clip:
Brian Pickrell, a blogger, recently posted a note on his Web site attacking state legislation that would force Wal-Mart Stores to spend more on employee health insurance. "All across the country, newspaper editorial boards — no great friends of business — are ripping the bills," he wrote.
It was the kind of pro-Wal-Mart comment the giant retailer might write itself. And, in fact, it did.
Several sentences in Mr. Pickrell's Jan. 20 posting — and others from different days — are identical to those written by an employee at one of Wal-Mart's public relations firms and distributed by e-mail to bloggers.
Under assault as never before, Wal-Mart is increasingly looking beyond the mainstream media and working directly with bloggers, feeding them exclusive nuggets of news, suggesting topics for postings and even inviting them to visit its corporate headquarters.
But the strategy raises questions about what bloggers, who pride themselves on independence, should disclose to readers. Wal-Mart, the nation's largest private employer, has been forthright with bloggers about the origins of its communications, and the company and its public relations firm, Edelman, say they do not compensate the bloggers.
But some bloggers have posted information from Wal-Mart, at times word for word, without revealing where it came from.
Glenn Reynolds, the founder of Instapundit.com, one of the oldest blogs on the Web, said that even in the blogosphere, which is renowned for its lack of rules, a basic tenet applies: "If I reprint something, I say where it came from. A blog is about your voice, it seems to me, not somebody else's."
Companies of all stripes are using blogs to help shape public opinion.
Before General Electric announced a major investment in energy-efficient technology last year, company executives first met with major environmental bloggers to build support. Others have reached out to bloggers to promote a product or service, as Microsoft did with its Xbox game system and Cingular Wireless has done in the introduction of a new phone.
I can tell you from personal experience that GE is not so sanguine about bloggers who work inside the company...
And on ThinkProgress, an even more disturbing story:
New Jersey Assemblyman Peter Biondi (R) wants to ban anonymous online speech. Biondi has introduced a bill “that would require Internet forum operators to register their users’ real names and addresses or face liability for defamatory posts.” One problem: NJ’s Supreme Court has ruled banning anonymous online speech unconstitutional.
On the one hand, if the idea is, say, to throw a roadblock in front of sexual predators who mask their identies online, or to prevent kids from pretending to be adults as they interact in online forums where adults linger, I suppose you could make a case for more, rather than less information. But a bill like Biondi's would also stymie corporate whistleblowers and other anonymous bloggers, shut down many political blogs and group forums, and squash free expression on the Web. Many bloggers conceal their identities because they have to (due to their jobs or other circumstances). And the rule would oly apply to bloggers in New Jersey, which means it would limit their rights more than bloggers in the other 49 states, not to mention those blogging and posting from around the world. And who owns those lists, who can access them (corporations? the government?) and who regulates their use? All around, a dumb idea who's time has not come.
<%
dim done
done = request.form("done")
if done = "" then
done = "No"
%>
Tell a friend
<%
Else
if request.form("done") = "Yes" then
'sets variables
dim email, sendmail
email = request.form("email")
Set sendmail = Server.CreateObject("CDONTS.NewMail")
'put the webmaster address here
sendmail.From = "webmaster@aspbasics.com"
'The mail is sent to the address entered in the previous page.
sendmail.To = email
'Enter the subject of your mail here
sendmail.Subject = "Check out this website"
'send a specific page or send a site url
dim url
'url = Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
url = "http://www.aspbasics.net"
'This is the content of the message.
sendmail.Body = "Site recommendation from a friend!" & _
vbCrlf & vbCrlf & "A friend has sent you this email and thought you would should check out this site." & _
vbCrlf & url & vbCrlf
'this sets mail priority.... 0=low 1=normal 2=high
sendmail.Importance = 1
sendmail.Send 'Send the email!
response.redirect Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
'Response.write ("Sent to ") & email
End if
End if
%>
"[T]he practice of arbitrary imprisonments, have been, in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instruments of tyranny.' Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 84, August, 1788
