FTC Cracks Down on Viral Marketing

The Federal Trade Commission said yesterday that they would begin to investigate under-the-radar viral marketing schemes, which by definition would seem to include the PSP fiasco discovered earlier this month:

The FTC said it would investigate cases where there is a relationship between the endorser of a product and the seller that is not disclosed and could affect the endorsement. The FTC staff said it would go after violators on a case-by-case basis. Consequences could include a cease-and-desist order, fines and civil penalties ranging from thousands of dollars to millions of dollars.

FTC Moves To Unmask Word-of-Mouth Marketing [Washington Post, via NeoGAF]