So, the FCC has decided that bloggers must reveal any free stuff that they get when they do a product review under threat of a $10,000.00 fine:

The F.T.C. said that beginning on Dec. 1, bloggers who review products must disclose any connection with advertisers, including, in most cases, the receipt of free products and whether or not they were paid in any way by advertisers, as occurs frequently. The new rules also take aim at celebrities, who will now need to disclose any ties to companies, should they promote products on a talk show or on Twitter. A second major change, which was not aimed specifically at bloggers or social media, was to eliminate the ability of advertisers to gush about results that differ from what is typical — for instance, from a weight loss supplement.

I actually think that this is a reasonable requirement, but that it should be applied to all forms of media, such as magazines and newspapers too.

In any case, I now have a disclaimer in place, down the right column, which reads:

Commercial Disclosures
Please, send me free stuff, and I will consider doing a review.

I am a complete whore, so assume that any review is the result of free stuff, and/or under the table payments.

About the only such schwag that I have gotten is a copy of My Liary (blogged about here), which I revealed that I received for free.

If I get a freebie, I will disclose, and beg for more.