You can have my laptop when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

Hot on the heels of proposed legislation demanding up to two years in prison for those whose electronic speech is meant to "coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person;" comes this!

FTC Looks To Regulate Blogger Credibility

The Federal Trade Commission is mulling over guidelines that would require bloggers to disclose when they're writing about products they've been given, sponsor's products, or are getting paid to write about a particular product.

Yet another soon-to-be-exploited-against-political-enemies line of legal requirements begins.

Of course, it's benign now...

Give it a few years for someone to realize the potential, add some teeth, and use it very selectively to set some precedent.

Then give it another few years for someone with the audacity or popular support to lay it on thick.

Hello, Mister... "Thing"... We've asked you here today because you've stated on your "Unmoderated Media Credibility Inquiry Form" that you've never accepted gifted- or assisted purchase of- items or services that you've written about directly or indirectly on your unmoderated media format, and you've failed to submit the requisite paperwork to substantiate your claim. To be quite Ernest, how does the federal government know you didn't get these items for free? You've failed to provide receipts for one... "Benchmade 940 BT," which you claim to have purchased when you were 16 years old. The fact that you seem to have several of the same or similar models of pocket knives is highly suspect. Why would you need two of the same product? There is also the highly troubling fact that your car was purchased for thousands of dollars below the manufacturer suggested retail price. If you can't provide proof that every item you've mentioned on your media format were not gifts and were purchased without assistance, your unmoderated media format will be found in noncompliance, and you will have to remove it from public viewing or face severe fines and/or imprisonment. If you object to this judgment, you are welcome to submit to our lengthy and costly arbitration process, but you must understand that during the process your unmoderated media format must be removed from public viewing.

Hat Tip to Tam