In case we don't have enough to worry about as bloggers in the blogosphere, it turns out that the European Union is passing a new directive that makes it illegal for businesses to falsely masquerade as a consumer. Not just with fake blogs (also known as "sock puppet blogs") but with comments on blogs too. This will extend out even to reviews on Amazon.com and other review sites.

It all sounds good in theory, but in reality this could prove to be a nightmare for bloggers if we are then liable for verifying the identity of everyone who adds comments to our weblogs. Indeed, that's impossible to verify anyway, and even if you could, the nuances of identity are such that the system is trivially defeated anyway. For example, if my sister works at a company and I write a blog comment on someone else's weblog that defends that company, do I need to disclose that relationship?

It's a curious law and I surmise that the EU won't be able to enforce this new directive. But that's just me. What's your opinion of the new law that's just starting to surface in the online world?

Tip: More background and details can be found here: EU makes fake blogs and comments illegal: are all bloggers liable?