In December $2006,$ dozens of influential bloggers who evaluate new hardware and software on the weblogs that they maintain received laptops valued at about $$2,000$ each from Microsoft. Microsoft was seeking to promote its new operating system, conveniently pre$-$loaded on the machines. A Microsoft representative further stated that the computers did not need to be returned. Which of the following describes the ethical issue that arises when a company gives away expensive free merchandise to reviewers?