[Federal Register: October 20, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 203)]
[Notices]
[Page 62310-62312]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20oc08-82]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R9-EA-2008-N0241; 97600-9424-0000-7e]
TakeMeFishing.org Web Site Advertising Guidelines
AGENCY: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability of proposed guidelines; request for
comments.
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SUMMARY: The Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF) seeks to
sell advertising on its TakeMeFishing.org Web site to help generate
revenue from non-Federal funds to expand its outreach program. RBFF has
drafted advertising guidelines to determine who can advertise and how
the advertising sales will be operated; we invite the general public
and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on these
guidelines.
DATES: Your comments must be received or postmarked on or before
November 4, 2008.
ADDRESSES: Send your comments on the proposed Web site advertising
guidelines to RBFF Project Officer at 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, MS-3103
AEA, Arlington, VA 22203 (U.S. mail or hand delivery) or Mary_
Burke@FWS.gov (e-mail).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: RBFF Project Officer Mary_
Burke@fws.gov (e-mail) or (703) 358-2435.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Recreational boating and fishing participation rates have declined
over the past 5 years. Recreational boating and fishing related
activities contribute to conserving aquatic resources through excise
taxes collected from sales of fishing equipment and motorboat fuel that
fund the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Program. This program,
coupled with fishing license sales, makes up more than 80 percent of
the funding for conservation and protection of aquatic resources in the
United States. To address the declining participation of recreational
boating and fishing, Congress passed the Sportfishing and Boating
Safety Act of 1998, which called for Federal appropriations to be used
for the National Outreach and Communication Program. The Sport Fishing
and Boating Partnership Council developed the ``Strategic Plan for the
National Outreach and Communication Program,'' and the Secretary of the
Interior approved the Strategic Plan in February 1999.
RBFF is a nonprofit organization created to carry out the National
Outreach and Communication Program, whose mission is to increase
participation in recreational angling and boating and, through those
experiences, increase the public's awareness of and appreciation for
the need for conserving and protecting America's aquatic natural
resources. RBFF is funded through the Sport Fish Restoration and
Boating Trust Fund. This fund is composed of Federal taxes collected on
the sale of motorboat fuel and of excise taxes paid by manufacturers of
fishing tackle. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service)
administers RBFF's funding via a cooperative agreement between the
Service and RBFF, in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding signed
by the Service, the Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council, the
Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, and RBFF.
The plan, which RBFF was created to implement, specifically calls
for the implementing organization not to be operated as a ``grants-in-
aid'' organization. The plan also calls for RBFF to ``create an
industry `hard dollar' fund mechanism to promote, extend and expand the
outreach program.'' In response, RBFF seeks to sell advertising on its
TakeMeFishing.org Web site to generate revenue from non-Federal funds
to expand its outreach program. RBFF has drafted advertising guidelines
to determine who can advertise and how the advertising sales will be
operated.
Request for Comments
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking public comment on the
draft RBFF advertising guidelines. Comments submitted in response to
this notice are a matter of public record. Before including your
address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying
information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire
comment--including your personal identifying information--may be made
publicly available at any time. While you may request that we withhold
your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot
guarantee that we will be able to do so.
TakeMeFishing.org Proposed Advertising Guidelines
The Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF) strives to
make TakeMeFishing.org a valuable resource for its audiences, therefore
the user experience is the core of the Web site. This experience is
continually reinforced by its distinct look and feel, functionality,
personality, and utility. Thus everything that exists within
TakeMeFishing.org should conform and contribute to the overall user
experience, including the advertising.
Advertising Philosophy
RBFF is committed to protecting our user experience by keeping the
site clean, uncluttered, and free from intrusive advertising. We strive
to ensure the use of appropriate and tailored messages on our Web site
that are based on specific boating and fishing interests and affiliated
with the brands, organizations, and businesses that our users value.
RBFF provides the following guidelines to help you communicate more
effectively with your desired audience. Please note that all
advertising placed within TakeMeFishing.org must adhere to these
guidelines, and RBFF reserves the right to reject any advertising that
we deem contrary to our advertising philosophy or these guidelines.
These guidelines are also subject to change at any time.
These guidelines are not intended as legal advice, but are a
general statement of RBFF's advertising standards. RBFF encourages each
advertiser and its agency to consult with legal counsel before seeking
to place any display advertising on TakeMeFishing.org. Adherence to
these guidelines (a) does
[[Page 62311]]
not guarantee acceptance of display advertising content for insertion
on TakeMeFishing.org, and (b) is not necessarily sufficient to meet the
standards of local, State, or Federal laws.
Note: In addition to the guidelines below, all advertising on
TakeMeFishing.org must comply with our Privacy Policy (at http://
www.takemefishing.org/general/privacy-policy) and Disclaimer (at
http://www.takemefishing.org/general/disclaimer).
1. Content restrictions:
We do not accept advertising from entities debarred or suspended
from doing business with the Federal Government (http://www.epls.gov/).
In addition, we do not accept advertising referencing, facilitating, or
promoting the following:
Liquor, beer, or wine.
Tobacco products.
Adult or dating sites with a sexual emphasis.
Medical or pharmaceutical products and services.
Drugs or drug paraphernalia.
Adult products, including adult films, magazines, Web
sites, toys, or physical/sexual enhancement products.
Gambling or gambling portals and educational sites,
including without limitation, any online casino, sports books, bingo,
or poker.
Lotteries (other than official State lotteries sponsored
by a U.S. State, e.g., Illinois State Lottery).
Inflammatory religious content.
Politically religious agendas and/or any known
associations with hate, criminal, and/or terrorist activities.
Political content, political agendas, or political issues
for commercial use.
Hate speech, whether directed at an individual or a group,
and whether based upon the race, sex, creed, national origin, religious
affiliation, marital status, sexual orientation, or language of such
individual or group.
Web cams or surveillance equipment.
Web-based non-accredited colleges that offer degrees.
Ringtones.
Software downloads, freeware, or shareware.
Scams, illegal activity, and/or illegal contests, pyramid
schemes, or chain letters.
Loan products that require upfront fees.
2. Advertising language and image content:
Provocative images will not be accepted.
Advertising images may not contain, facilitate, or promote
adult content, including nudity, sexual terms, or activities that are
excessively suggestive or sexual.
Advertisements may not contain, facilitate, or promote
offensive, profane, vulgar, obscene, or inappropriate language.
Advertisements may not contain, facilitate, or promote
defamatory, libelous, slanderous, and/or unlawful content.
3. Copy representation:
Advertising copy must directly relate to the content on
the landing page to which it links.
Advertising copy must clearly state and represent the
company, product, or brand that is being advertised.
4. Copyrights and trademarks:
Advertisements must not include any content that may be
deemed as infringing upon the rights of any third party, including
copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other personal or
proprietary right, or that is deceptive or fraudulent.
Advertiser must have intellectual property rights to the
advertising copy and images and be permitted to display such copy and
images as advertising on TakeMeFishing.org.
5. Downloads:
No advertisement is permitted to contain a link, whether
directly or indirectly, to a site that contains software downloads,
freeware, or shareware.
No advertisement is permitted to facilitate or promote (or
contain a link to a site that facilitates or promotes):
(1) Collection of demographic and usage information from a user's
computer without the user's expressed consent;
(2) Collection or request of usernames or passwords from any user;
(3) Proxying user names or passwords for the purpose of automating
logins to the TakeMeFishing.org Community network;
(4) Any software that (i) ``sneaks'' onto a user's system and
performs activities hidden to the user; (ii) may alter, harm, disable
or replace any hardware or software installed on the user's computer
without express permission from the user; (iii) is bundled as a hidden
component of other software whether free or for fee; (iv) automatically
downloads without RBFF's express prior approval; (v) presents any
download dialog boxes without a user's expressed action; or (vi) may
violate or infringe upon the intellectual property rights of any third
party, including copyright, trademark, patent, or any other proprietary
right.
6. Grammar, spelling, and capitalization:
Advertising copy must be in logical sentence form and
contain grammatically correct spacing.
Advertisements must use correct spelling.
Advertisements may not include unnecessary capitalization
(such as ``FREE''). Acronyms may be capitalized.
Advertisements may not include excessive repetition.
7. Incentives:
No advertisement may offer incentives to viewers for
submitting personal information (cell phone numbers, social security
numbers, physical addresses, or e-mail addresses), or for performing
any other related tasks.
8. Landing pages/Destination URLs:
Advertisements that contain a URL or domain in the copy
must link to that same URL or domain.
All users must be sent to the same landing page when an
advertisement is clicked.
The advertiser's landing page must match the offer being
made in the advertisement and must provide detailed disclosures as
appropriate; in particular, full terms and conditions of the offer must
be easily accessible.
Landing pages that generate a pop-up (including ``pop-
overs'' and ``pop-unders'') when a user enters or leaves the page are
not allowed.
Advertisements cannot use ``fake'' close behavior (i.e.,
when a user clicks the ``close'' icon on the page, the page should
close down and no other behavior should result).
Advertisements cannot utilize ``mouse trapping'' whereby
the advertiser does not allow users to use their browser ``back
button'' and traps them on their site and/or present additional/
unexpected behavior (for example: another advertisement or page).
No advertisement may require viewers clicking on the
advertisement to submit personal information (cell phone numbers,
physical addresses, or e-mail addresses) on the landing page in order
to obtain the information promoted in the advertisement.
A secure server connection (https) must be used when
collecting personal information from users.
9. Prices, discounts, and free offers:
No advertisement may be deceptive or fraudulent about any
offer it makes.
If an advertisement includes a price, discount, or
``free'' offer, the destination URL that is referenced must link to a
page that clearly and accurately offers the exact deal displayed in the
advertisement.
If an advertisement includes a price, discount, or
``free'' offer, the
[[Page 62312]]
advertisement must clearly state what action or set of actions is
required to qualify for the offer.
10. Punctuation and symbols:
The use of all symbols, numbers, or letters must adhere to
the true meaning of the symbol.
Repeated and unnecessary punctuation or symbols is not
permitted.
Symbols may not be used to substitute for letters (e.g.,
``$ave'' instead of ``save'').
11. Rich Media advertisements:
All rich media advertisements, including third-party
advertisements, must be operationally tested prior to submission for
placement on TakeMeFishing.org.
HTML sniffer code must be implemented in order to detect
whether a user's browser is capable of displaying the Shockwave Flash
file. A backup banner should be displayed if the user cannot accept
Shockwave Flash and is required for all rich media advertisements.
A banner may not produce audio without user initiation.
Once audio begins, there must be a clear ``pause'' or ``stop'' button.
An advertisement may not display false functionality or
contain graphics that simulate interactivity where no such
interactivity exists.
12. Spam:
No advertisement may contain, facilitate or promote
``spam'' or other advertising or marketing content that violates
applicable laws, regulations, or industry standards.
13. Take Me Fishing references:
Advertisements are not permitted to mention or refer to
TakeMeFishing.org, its site, or its brand in any manner, including in
the title, body, image, or destination URLs.
Advertisements must not use Take Me Fishing\TM\ logos,
trademarks, or site terminology (including Anglers' Legacy and other
RBFF graphics, logos, designs, or icons).
TakeMeFishing.org site features may not be emulated.
Advertiser Responsibilities
It is the advertiser's responsibility to ensure that:
All advertising it seeks to place on TakeMeFishing.org
complies with all applicable Federal, State, and local laws or
regulations;
An advertisement does not violate the intellectual
property rights of third parties;
Offers included in any advertising message include all
material terms that an ordinary person would require in making an
informed decision about whether to purchase the product or service
being offered;
All claims made in an advertisement have been
substantiated before the advertisement is scheduled to appear on
TakeMeFishing.org;
Advertising that includes warranties, guarantees, or other
types of assurances to the user complies with all applicable laws,
regulations, or guidelines regarding such assurances, including but not
limited to those set forth by the Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'');
and
Users are not deceived into providing personal information
without the user's knowledge, under false pretenses, or to companies
who resell, trade, barter, or otherwise misuse that personal
information.
RBFF Rights
RBFF reserves the right, but is not under any obligation to:
Review or request changes to any advertisement scheduled
for insertion on TakeMeFishing.org;
Accept, retract, or reject, at any time, any advertisement
submitted for placement on TakeMeFishing.org, in its sole discretion,
whether on the basis of these guidelines, advertising format, targeting
criteria, or for any other reason;
Review any advertisement to determine the appropriateness
of the advertisement for the TakeMeFishing.org user audience; or
Modify these guidelines or their standards governing
advertising on TakeMeFishing.org at any time without notice.
Specifically, RBFF reserves the right to reject or retract, at any
time, any advertising deemed to, in RBFF's sole opinion:
Be misleading, deceptive, false, or untrue;
Use ``bait and switch'' tactics, i.e., advertising that
promotes an unavailable product, service, or price as a means of luring
the user into purchasing a different product;
Promote or glorify violence, crime, obscenity, the illegal
use of weapons, or to provide instructions on how to ``get away'' with
crimes or unlawful activity;
Promote stereotypes, or inaccurately portray or attack an
individual or group on the basis of age, color, national origin, race,
religion, sex, sexual orientation, or handicap;
Be offensive or disturbing to users of TakeMeFishing.org,
or likely to cause outrage, general disapproval, or negative opinion
within the community; or
Portray minors (or persons who, in RBFF's opinion, appear
to be underage) in a manner that is sexually suggestive or otherwise
age-inappropriate.
Dated: September 24, 2008.
Rowan W. Gould,
Acting Director.
[FR Doc. E8-24850 Filed 10-17-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P