Open letter to Intuit CEO Brad Smith:
Intuit neglect of of web sales affiliates.starts below with Dear {RECIPIENT_NAME}.
Intuit neglect lets the FTC destroy small businesses, damaging our free Country, by demanding tens of thousands of web affiliate notices in five days (see below), when Intuit can include these notices in its banners and landing pages.
Intuit neglect lets the FTC destroy small businesses by Intuit not fighting the FTC in court. The FTC cannot stop First Amendment free speech. Free speech protects even unlicensed stock touts from the FTC and the SEC, though touts often make misleading statements and rarely disclose company affiliation.
Intuit neglect lets the FTC destroy small businesses by not saying if we need notices if we endorse without referring to our affiliate site or if direct or wholesale sales avoid this.
Intuit neglect lets the FTC destroy small businesses Twitter posts, though affiliate notices cannot fit in 140 characters.
Intuit neglect lets the FTC destroy small businesses, as wholesale and direct prices are equal to or less than affiliate or ProAdvisor prices. Therefore, my web sales page and http://QuickBooks-Blog.com/ suggest calling, not buying. I also rebate commissions to clients and do not sell as a ProAdvisor.
I will remain an Advanced Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and keep advising users without posting affiliate notices. If this means seeing Intuit or the FTC in court, so be it. I am copying the FTC and my Congressmen on this and posting to Twitter and my blog.
Mike Block QuickBoooks CPA
From: affiliateteam@quickbooks.com
[mailto:affiliateteam@quickbooks.com]
Sent: Wednesday, December 02, 2009 2:47 PM
To: Mike Block
Subject: Action Item re New FTC Guidelines
Dear {RECIPIENT_NAME},
Please be aware of the recent
FTC guidelines about product endorsements. Affiliates, bloggers, tweeters, and
endorsers are now required to disclose their relationship with Intuit. Please
let your audience know that you are an affiliate of Intuit. Please make these
changes ASAP. We will be auditing landing pages next week. For more
information, you can visit the FTC website:
http://ftc.gov/multimedia/video/business/endorsement-guides.shtm
ACTION ITEM:
We have an "Authorized QuickBooks Affiliate" badge for you to post on your site. The badge should be placed somewhere prominent on your site to inform your audience.
You can access this banner through your affiliate toolkit at www.intuitaffiliate.com under the "get links" section. "QuickBooks Authorized Affiliate Logo."
If you have any questions,
please contact us at affiliateteam@quickbooks.com.
Thank you,
QuickBooks Affiliate Marketing Team
