On the Internet, the same consumer can access significantly more information and read all disclosures in full size type simply by clicking on a specific term. Fine print in cyberspace is virtually anachronistic, as disclosures can appear in full type size on their own separate pages. The access to information in this medium is infinite. An advertiser that does not provide disclosures in a clear and conspicuous manner will still be subject to traditional enforcement mechanisms under Section 5 of the FTC Act and the Commissions rules and guides. Consumers that use the Internet are generally sophisticated enough to know that a word or icon that appears in a different color will allow them to link to another page with additional or related information about that word or icon.
Consumers do click, scroll, page forward, and page back, and do it with great ease.
In short, prescriptions at the level of specificity proposed by the FTC, such as required pop ups, persistent text messages, and proximity and placement of disclosures, will not likely work in the online area. Instead of being fast, efficient, and fluid, and allowing the consumer to define and control his own environment, the Internet experience would be at risk of becoming a controlled activity, governed by content. Specifically regulating how information must be provided on line could effectively compromise and deteriorate the value of using the Internet.