# What agencies (if any) regulate internet television? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 22, 2022, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-agencies-if-any-regulate-internet-television/964906 "2022-05-22T22:59:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2022, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-agencies-if-any-regulate-internet-television/964906/1 "2022-05-22T22:59:33Z")
So I’m watching one of the Roku channels, _American Horrors_, and a My Pillow commercial pops up. It starts with ol’ Mike blathering about “cancel culture”, then he talks up his “deal” where with a promo code you get the king-sized pillow for $59 instead of $99…only the supposed $99 price is imaginary and $59 is the actual regular price. I thought he had gotten into a bit of trouble when he pulled this scam of broadcast and cable tv? Anyway, is internet television regulated in any way when it comes to what is said and/or shown? ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2022, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-agencies-if-any-regulate-internet-television/964906/2 "2022-05-22T23:01:09Z")
I cannot answer your question, but I sent a complaint about that self-same thing to a television station (over the air), and I haven’t seen a Lindell commercial since. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2022, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-agencies-if-any-regulate-internet-television/964906/3 "2022-05-22T23:02:23Z")
I already have a good idea about how over-the-air and cable television is regulated. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2022, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-agencies-if-any-regulate-internet-television/964906/4 "2022-05-22T23:03:00Z")
Sorry, bro. Just giving the information I have handy. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2022, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-agencies-if-any-regulate-internet-television/964906/5 "2022-05-22T23:04:57Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > I cannot answer your question, but I sent a complaint about that self-same thing to a television station (over the air), and I haven’t seen a Lindell commercial since. How about [tigers](https://www.elasticpath.com/blog/lisa-simpson-gets-why-correlation-does-not-imply-causation)? Have you seen any of them? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2022, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-agencies-if-any-regulate-internet-television/964906/6 "2022-05-22T23:05:30Z")
I seem to recall that in the US, streamers aren’t really regulated. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2022, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-agencies-if-any-regulate-internet-television/964906/7 "2022-05-22T23:05:32Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > > [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > > > I cannot answer your question, but I sent a complaint about that self-same thing to a television station (over the air), and I haven’t seen a Lindell commercial since. > > How about [tigers](https://www.elasticpath.com/blog/lisa-simpson-gets-why-correlation-does-not-imply-causation). Have you seen any of them? I kill tigers for fun. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2022, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-agencies-if-any-regulate-internet-television/964906/8 "2022-05-22T23:07:41Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I seem to recall that in the US, streamers aren’t really regulated. It’s my understanding that they’re pretty much not. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2022, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-agencies-if-any-regulate-internet-television/964906/9 "2022-05-22T23:10:01Z")
False advertising would be something you bring to the FTC, no? I don’t think it matters if it’s on broadcast, cable, or billboards. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2022, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-agencies-if-any-regulate-internet-television/964906/10 "2022-05-22T23:10:35Z")
Wouldn’t it be up to the Federal Trade Commission to regulate lying commercials? Of course, Lindell is so trustworthy. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-agencies-if-any-regulate-internet-television/964906/11 "2022-05-23T00:23:23Z")
Who the fuck pays $59 for a pillow? I mean, is this a special nanomolecular dual ionic pillow that uses advanced heat transfer mechanisms developed by NASA scienticians to keep the hot side hot and the cool side cool? Stranger ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-agencies-if-any-regulate-internet-television/964906/12 "2022-05-23T00:27:10Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > I mean, is this a special nanomolecular dual ionic pillow that uses advanced heat transfer mechanisms developed by NASA scienticians to keep the hot side hot and the cool side cool? The LinDLT. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-agencies-if-any-regulate-internet-television/964906/13 "2022-05-23T00:47:06Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > I mean, is this a special nanomolecular dual ionic pillow that uses advanced heat transfer mechanisms developed by NASA scienticians to keep the hot side hot and the cool side cool? Ah, the thermoelectric pillow. > **[US3648469A - Thermoelectric pillow - Google Patents](https://patents.google.com/patent/US3648469A/en)** > > A thermoelectric pillow having a thermoelectric unit which operates according to the Peltier effect to transfer heat from a first side to a second side thereby cooling the first side and heating the second side. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-agencies-if-any-regulate-internet-television/964906/14 "2022-05-23T00:52:05Z")
I’m pretty sure Mike Lindell’s addled brain couldn’t produce the word “thermoelectric” if it were spelled out phonetically in front of him. Apropos of almost nothing: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/CdB6VGXl7yc/maxresdefault.jpg "Jordan Klepper Meets the MyPillow Guy | The Daily Show Throwback") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdB6VGXl7yc) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-agencies-if-any-regulate-internet-television/964906/15 "2022-05-23T01:19:52Z")
I recently went to Kohls and there was only two options for pillows. A regular $5 “Big Pillow” they sell, and the rest were various $50 pillows with “advanced cooling” features, and they had about 20 variations of that. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-agencies-if-any-regulate-internet-television/964906/16 "2022-05-23T02:03:50Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Wouldn’t it be up to the Federal Trade Commission to regulate lying commercials? Of course, Lindell is so trustworthy. Yeah, false advertising is false advertising regardless of the medium. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-agencies-if-any-regulate-internet-television/964906/17 "2022-05-23T02:14:18Z")
Are there examples of the FTC acting against false commercials on the internet and/or, more specifically, against internet television commercials? ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-agencies-if-any-regulate-internet-television/964906/18 "2022-05-23T02:48:54Z")
I thought you could get away with the “We normally sell it for $50 but claim it’s MSRP is $90 discounted!” by selling it SOMEWHERE at full retail price. Like MyPillows are sold at some factory outlet for full $90 price. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-agencies-if-any-regulate-internet-television/964906/19 "2022-05-23T21:59:12Z")
Here’s the [FTC’s page on Cases relating to “Online Advertising and Marketing”](https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/cases-proceedings?sort_by=field_date&field_mission%5B29%5D=29&field_consumer_protection_topics=1411)