4 ms·

Fined by who, and for what? What a strange comment. Why would the government police such matters?

danaris 3y ago
The FTC, I would imagine—this is definitely within the purview of regulating trade and advertising.
dahart 3y ago
Maybe the Bureau of Consumer Protection, and for fraudulent and deceptive practices? There’s plenty of precedent, and Amazon’s failure to do anything about fake products and fake reviews, if not active encouragement of fraudulent behavior, is a real economic problem where we the consumers pay the costs. https://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc/bureaus-offices/bureau-consumer-protection https://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc/bureaus-offices/bureau-consume...
- tedunangst 3y ago
  Shouldn't they start by fining the reviewers? Have they tried sending a subpoena to Amazon for all the reviewers' IPs and purchase histories? Did Amazon block it or something?
- CWuestefeld 3y ago
  Reviews are, by their nature, personal opinions. I don't see how you can put a framework of fraud protection around that. Maybe in extreme marginal cases, but for the central idea of reviews, it just doesn't work.
  - dahart 3y ago
    Where there’s a will, there’s a way. This isn’t about policing valid opinions, it’s about identifying what is currently a massive and obvious trend of actual fraud. Requiring authentication for reviews and products is the first step, and isn’t that hard, we know how to do it already. Amazon is choosing to allow reviews and products by people they know are bad actors. They look the other way and allow fruadsters to be anonymous because there are no consequences yet. They’re not imposing consequences on fraudulent sellers or reviewers, even though they could. I don’t believe the main problem is that they don’t know how to identify fraud, I think the main problem is they don’t have any real incentive to. Look: the FTC is already sending notice that enforcement is coming: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2021/10/ftc-puts-hundreds-businesses-notice-about-fake-reviews-other-misleading-endorsements https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2021/10/...
maximinus_thrax 3y ago
> Why would the government police such matters? Because at the end of the day this is fraud?

The FTC, I would imagine—this is definitely within the purview of regulating trade and advertising.

Maybe the Bureau of Consumer Protection, and for fraudulent and deceptive practices? There’s plenty of precedent, and Amazon’s failure to do anything about fake products and fake reviews, if not active encouragement of fraudulent behavior, is a real economic problem where we the consumers pay the costs. https://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc/bureaus-offices/bureau-consumer-protection https://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc/bureaus-offices/bureau-consume...

tedunangst 3y ago
Shouldn't they start by fining the reviewers? Have they tried sending a subpoena to Amazon for all the reviewers' IPs and purchase histories? Did Amazon block it or something?
CWuestefeld 3y ago
Reviews are, by their nature, personal opinions. I don't see how you can put a framework of fraud protection around that. Maybe in extreme marginal cases, but for the central idea of reviews, it just doesn't work.
- dahart 3y ago
  Where there’s a will, there’s a way. This isn’t about policing valid opinions, it’s about identifying what is currently a massive and obvious trend of actual fraud. Requiring authentication for reviews and products is the first step, and isn’t that hard, we know how to do it already. Amazon is choosing to allow reviews and products by people they know are bad actors. They look the other way and allow fruadsters to be anonymous because there are no consequences yet. They’re not imposing consequences on fraudulent sellers or reviewers, even though they could. I don’t believe the main problem is that they don’t know how to identify fraud, I think the main problem is they don’t have any real incentive to. Look: the FTC is already sending notice that enforcement is coming: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2021/10/ftc-puts-hundreds-businesses-notice-about-fake-reviews-other-misleading-endorsements https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2021/10/...

maximinus_thrax 3y ago

> Why would the government police such matters? Because at the end of the day this is fraud?