April 17, 2009

How to use a domain name to circumvent application of law


Interesting article in the NYT: When they advertise in the USA, pharmaceutical companies must include risk information about the drug. When they use Google AdWords, they cannot do it, as there is a 95 characters limit. According to the Food and Drug Administration, such ads omit “the most serious and frequently occurring risks associated with the drugs promoted in the links above” (see for example FDA's letter to Merck).

So, what trick can they use?
To avoid the risk-disclosure rule, companies are now using generic-sounding Web addresses that redirect users to the brand’s site.Propecia, which was cited by the F.D.A., now runs ads with a link not to Propecia.com, but to a site called hair-loss-medication.com that redirects to Propecia.com. Another solution companies are using is to include the brand name and generic name, but to remove any mention of what the product treats, which results in ads like, “Flomax® (tamsulosin HCl) www.4FLOMAX.com Capsules, 0.4 mg - Official Site for Important Product Information.”
(Read the full article for the other problems this solution may bring)

2 comments:

Yos Favorite said...

very nice trick to share. We shall use the domain name is a wise way. As long as it didn't against any cyber law, we are good to go.

HintPoint

Vengadachalam T said...

I have read the article after that i had known that the details related to them.I have found the Registered my Domain name in the site Registration