Should the government regulate blogs and other types of online content?

My initial thought is no because I want the internet to be a open and free communications medium. However, on second thought, some government regulation might be required in order to keep the internet an open, free, and safe communications mediaum.

I don't want to have spyware or malicious virus applications sent into my computer when I visit a website.

I don't want underage pornography and the sexual abuse that goes with it to be a part of the internet.

I could go on about email phishing scams and credit card fraud, but I think my point is made. There are some very good reasons to have government regulation as a part of a healthy and open internet. My main desire is that government regulation is transparent and accountable.

I'm also open to having less regulation if individuals or companies can reduce the need for regulation. For example, as the spam filters of the major email services have gotten better, there is less need for tighter regulations on junk email. However, I still like the regulation that says all commercial email must have an opt out link.

In terms of blogs being regulated, I agree with other people on this site who have complained about the fake blog business model which is very popular right now. Many people see a weight loss ad and click through to a blog post where someone shares their personal story about how they lost weight using specific products. The problem is that these stories and people are usually fake. They are made up by internet marketers to convince people they should buy the products.

I wish the online community would do a better job in exposing internet scammers like this. Even more, I wish Google would not allow these fake blogs to rank so well in their ad market. Many times, the first three ads in a Google ad box will be for this type of fake blog marketing tactic.

People are getting wise to the scheme and they are not happy. Enough people must have complained or someone in a government agency got ripped off by the scam. The Federal Trade Commission is now considering new regulations that would force bloggers to put a notice somewhere on their blog saying they are being compensated for a review or recommendation.

I like this regulation in terms of stopping the fake blogs, but I'm not sure how it would work for smaller blogs. Hopefully the notice can be something small on the bottom of the site.

If Google had shut down this fake blog tactic earlier, maybe this regulation would not be needed. People have been doing affiliate marketing for a long time with no major problems. Now the excessive use of fake blogs is giving the industry a black eye and a more active look from government regulators.