Chat Transcript of Bloggers Discussion with IMMAP About DTI Issue via Google+ Hangout

Just a few minutes ago, there was a discussion of document among bloggers at Max's Restaurant Greenbelt. IMMAP President, Hans Roxas Chua, Director Michael Palacios and Exec. Secretary Danny Eguia were said to be at the meeting and other bloggers like me who are not part of IMMAP joined the discussion thru Aileen Apolo-De Jesus Google+ Hang Out. Other bloggers I saw joining in the Google+ Hangout were, Noemi Dado, Sonnie Santos, Jane Uymatiao, Rico Mossesgeld, Dani Salasalan, Faith Salazar, Jeric Aquino, Jab Escutin, Jasper Ong, Rommel Santiago, and Glenn Richmond Ong.

This is not the complete transcript since I joined in the Hangout a bit late but you can see here some of the questions that were raised by bloggers who are not part of IMMAP and who disagree with the DTI sales promotion permit requirement. The meeting concluded with an agreement to 1)hold a Webinar so that more bloggers can participate online and 2)to create a position paper/document that raises valid and legitimate questions for DTI and where all bloggers who wish to contribute can do so.

Here is the chat transcript:

Jane Uymatiao: Got email. Noted.
Sonnie Santos: eto yung link ng postponement
http://dti.gov.ph/dti/index.php?p=127
Sent at 12:36 PM on Tuesday
Faith Salazar joined group chat.
jeric aquino joined group chat.
jeric aquino left group chat.

Jane Uymatiao: If meeting ended well, then why do Janette's tweets seem to paint picture that bloggers are subject to dti permit even if no purchase is made?
Sent at 12:46 PM on Tuesday

Noemi Dado: move mike closer. background noise louder
Jeffrey Aspacio joined group chat.
Sent at 12:47 PM on Tuesday
Jeffrey Aspacio left group chat.
jeric aquino joined group chat.
jeric aquino left group chat.
Jab Escutin joined group chat.
Jeffrey Aspacio joined group chat.
Rommel Santiago joined group chat.
Jeffrey Aspacio left group chat.
Jeffrey Aspacio joined group chat.
Jeffrey Aspacio left group chat.

Jab Escutin: Hi Jane! Congratulations on the iPad2 last night!

me: can we raise questions? how?

Aileen Apolo-De Jesus: sorry, how what?

me: how to raise questions? do we just butt in?

Jab Escutin: I think through chat would be the easiest...

me: ok

Aileen Apolo-De Jesus: You can just send questions through the chat
Break daw, sandali lang

me: this is Jeff Aspacio btw using my wife's Google+ acct

Aileen Apolo-De Jesus: They will go through the questions posted on the public document

Jane Uymatiao: Thanks, Jab!

me: That's great, Aileen, I posted the question I want to raise in the doc

Aileen Apolo-De Jesus: You can also submit questions and vote for questions at http://goo.gl/mod/SeDV
or post it here na lang, rico will moderate
Sent at 12:59 PM on Tuesday

Sonnie Santos: need to leave muna guys, will have another meeting

Aileen Apolo-De Jesus: guy do you want to hold a group chat session daw?

me: I'm ok with chat
Sonnie Santos left group chat.

Noemi Dado: so is it status quo right now based on the 2008 DTI FAQ where bloggers are exempted?

Aileen Apolo-De Jesus: hold on

Faith Salazar: Who's birthday is it? LOL

Aileen Apolo-De Jesus: omeone's singing happy berday

Jab Escutin: Happy birthday!

Aileen Apolo-De Jesus: -someone

Rommel Santiago: happy bday
Rommel Santiago left group chat.
Sent at 1:04 PM on Tuesday

me: Question for DTI: Aren’t blogs just the media for ad placement, advertorial posts, revenue from click, text link or any other similar programs? So if a blogger registers his/her blog as a business, what he/she is offering are actually online advertising services. So when a blogger who has a business registration holds a raffle contest to promote his/her blog through back links, FB page likes, followers, etc., should it not be considered just as plain online advertising which does not need a DTI permit rather than a sales promotion? Also, since the online advertising services (the product of the business/blog) are not the ones directly being promoted but the medium (the blog) is, shouldn’t the same be the case?
Sent at 1:05 PM on Tuesday

me: I guess I'm saying most promos are not actually sales promotions
so they shouldnt be covered by the sales promotion permit requirement
Jasper Ong joined group chat.
Sent at 1:07 PM on Tuesday

me: thank you

Noemi Dado: if you have no sponsors (you're giving away your own stuff) DTI should exempt your contest from permits.

Jane Uymatiao: Aileen, can you also type excerpt of answers to Qs here? Medyo choppy kasi.
Sent at 1:09 PM on Tuesday

Aileen Apolo-De Jesus: re: noemi's question
we'll need to navigate through this together since we'll need to draw the line somewhere
Sent at 1:11 PM on Tuesday

Faith Salazar: Why would you need customer protection if there's no money out from them?

Jane Uymatiao: Maybe full disclosure of contest mechanics will suffice, including how contest winners are chosen. Many bloggers already do that. Para sure lang na di lutong makaw ang winners.

me: but isn't it right that participants in the contest are not direct consumers because they are advertising targets not buyers of our services as bloggers?

Faith Salazar: Is it to make sure the information customers disclosed remain private?

me: I agree Faith
Sent at 1:13 PM on Tuesday

me: The promo requirements are mostly not requiring participants to shell out money diba?
usually FB likes, links, blog posts, etc.
Sent at 1:14 PM on Tuesday

Noemi Dado: If you look at Consumer act article 4 (bm) and articles 116 through 124 is vague to cover online contests and subject to a lot of interpretation.
Sent at 1:16 PM on Tuesday

Faith Salazar: DTI's role should be just reactive. If an online promoter fails to fulfill his/her promise, DTI should just be there to do something about it.

Jab Escutin: +1 on Faith.
Sent at 1:18 PM on Tuesday
Glenn Richmond Ong joined group chat.

Jane Uymatiao: Faith, actually there shld be some amt of proactive consumer protection. not just reactive. For ex, not everyone knows that when a product carries wrong price label, the store is bound to honor that price, even if it is lower than actual price.

me: We understand the importance of "accountability". I guess a blogger's risk of destroying his/her reputation should be enough to keep him/her accountable

Jane Uymatiao: That protection was put in place ahead of consumers actually complaining.

Faith Salazar: True, but at this point, our world is too versatile to be policed by an agency that doesn't even understand it.
Glenn Richmond Ong left group chat.

Noemi Dado: also never heard of complaints on bloggers contest.

Jane Uymatiao: DTI also needs to be reeducated on how online people do things these days so regulations can be crafted accordingly.

me: there is not much to protect among participants kasi di naman sila naglalabas ng pera, in fact, bloggers pa ang mas napapagastos

Noemi Dado: more like DTI should monitor ecommerce business, group buying sites...our contests are so small time if ever

me: I agree, Noemi

Faith Salazar: Yes
+1 LOL

me: and the contests are not sales promos but advertising, Noemi

Jane Uymatiao: In terms of value of stuff, a lot of blog contests are pipichugin and probably not worth the time of DTI. But on macro level, their position is consumer protection in any form, even things like lutong makaw na winners.

Faith Salazar: No, thank YOU.

Jasper Ong: Question, did DTI express any intention of coming out with an Official Guideline?

Noemi Dado: position paper is good but also good if we post it online so more can sign

Jane Uymatiao: Appreciate very much IMMAP trying to help us out. We really appreciate you, guys.

Noemi Dado: IMMAP should realize bloggers are not organized. And no one person represents bloggers. I think I felt left out when only one person talked to DTI. this should never happen again

Jane Uymatiao: Agree with Noemi.

Jab Escutin: +1 on Noemi

Noemi Dado: one tweet is enough to do a call out to bloggers and our network of network

Jasper Ong: Hi IMMAP people, if you read the collaborative document

me: Noemi's right

Jasper Ong: I contributed around 50% of it especially Part 5. Even the confrontational questions and I appreciate your candidness of discussing this openly.

Jane Uymatiao: I think the document needs to be compartmentalized into the different types of blog promos and how we think DTI should see it. Para clearer.

Jasper Ong: I just hope the other party is here

me: but how fast can this doc/position paper be created, tomorrow na ang DTI briefing

Jasper Ong: Nothing personal, but you know how ethics and conflict of interest has been cleared by IMMAP.

Jane Uymatiao: We've got good stuff to start with. We just need to improve the presentation/layout. One section per type of blog promo.
Dani Salasalan joined group chat.
Jab Escutin left group chat.
Sent at 1:27 PM on Tuesday

Jane Uymatiao: Webinar sounds good. To include what will be discussed in DTI mtg this week.

Faith Salazar: Webinar's sounds awesome

Jane Uymatiao: Jennie, DTI meeting was moved na naman daw to Aug. 4, not tomorrow.

me: ok, Jane. Jeff po ito

Jane Uymatiao: Sonnie forwarded an email from DTI. Oh hi Jeff.
Sent at 1:29 PM on Tuesday

me: What is the new schedule for the DTI briefing?

Jane Uymatiao: Aug. 4, 10:30 AM, DTI Penthouse. Noted.
Sent at 1:31 PM on Tuesday

me: Thanks for organizing this hang out

Dani Salasalan: thanks Aileen!

Jane Uymatiao: We can use all our social network connections to announce webinar. Just give us the details.
Thanks Aileen!!!
Jasper Ong left group chat.

Noemi Dado: thanks all
Noemi Dado left group chat.

Aileen Apolo-De Jesus: thanks, please just wait for the announcement later