The European Union is considering new regulations penalizing businesses who praise themselves under the guise of being a customer.
Businesses which write fake blog entries or create whole wesbites purporting to be from customers will fall foul of a European directive banning them from “falsely representing oneself as a consumer”.
From December 31, when the change becomes law in the UK, they can be named and shamed by trading standards or taken to court.
Not sure what being “named and shamed by trading standards” is all about but it certainly sounds serious.
This is all part of an effort to crack down on misleading consumers and “also will outlaw aggressive commercial practices such as aggressive doorstep selling, bogus “closing down” sales and pressurising parents through their children to buy products”.
All good ideas (especially that last one) but I have no idea how they plan to enforce the rules.