Free speech or necessary rules?

One of the announcements from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently was to advise bloggers on new blogger ethics guidelines...that  bloggers will now be required to advise readers when a product they are blogging about was provided gratis or that he/she was paid for the review or posting. It doesn't matter if it's a positive review or not. The rules state that a blogger who has received money or "in-kind payment" tied to a product review must disclose the deal to readers.

Now, radio stations must also adhere to these same rules; they have long had the rule but it hasn't been enforced. On radio, is is clearly paid advertising, typically a live read by the onair talent.

But here is my question, is a blogger considered advertising?

It seems to me if the blogger is a paid arm of a corporation or product, then it's advertising. If the blogger's sole reason to exist is to tout the benefits of the product or is an employee or contractor of the blogged-about brand, then that's another form of "paid" advertising (funded by the brand).

But what about free speech for individuals? We all know that conferences and trade shows load people up with swag in hopes it will lead to more business; newspapers and magazines are sent free products as PR in hopes to get them written into a story; businesses commonly give away samples to induce trial and word of mouth marketing.

The FTC has said it has no plans to pursue enforcement of the rules on bloggers or social media users who blog about products.

But what do you think -- free speech or a necessary regulation of often-blurry advertising tactics?