EU Bans Sock-Puppet Blogs

PhilipMarlowe9000 writes in with news of a new EU directive that will take effect in the UK at the end of this year to ban "sock-puppet" reviews or websites, part of an EU-wide overhaul of consumer laws. From the article: "Businesses that write fake blog entries or create whole wesbites purporting to be created by 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. The Times has learnt that the new regulations also will apply to authors who praise their own books under a fake identity on websites such as Amazon."

Comments

Re:Before anyone says anything about free speech

[QuickFox]

Any sort of restriction, no matter how small, moves you from the category of having free speech to that of not having free speech. By your reasoning I have the right to threaten to kill you and your family unless you pay me a million dollars.

Going through with the killing would still be illegal (or would you change that too?). But the threat would be protected free speech, by your reasoning.