Free laptops for bloggers

"Microsoft recently gave away laptops, each loaded with the new WindowsVista operating system and valued at more than US $2000, to about90 bloggers who regularly write about technology. Some bloggers were happy to accept the computers, while others asserted that Microsoft wasusing the PCs as bribes to get good press. For its part, Microsoft said the computers were given away so the bloggers could evaluate and review them.Should bloggers be held to the same ethical standards as traditional journalists, who generally cannot accept expensive gifts from the companies they cover?" - IEEE, The Institute Online 4/10/07