Australian dating site taken to court by govt consumer body over FAKE PROFILES - escapes fine

[rowan]

An Australian dating site has been found to contravene the Australian Trade Practices Act by misrepresenting that profiles were created by real people.

Jetplace Pty Ltd, the operator of the socialising and dating website wvw.redhotpie.com.au, has been ordered by the Federal Court to disclose that Jetplace created and operated well over a thousand of its own profiles on its redhotpie website.

[...]

He added: "Had this conduct occurred after the introduction of the new Australian Consumer Law, it is likely the ACCC would have sought from the court civil pecuniary penalties. Such penalties can be up to $1.1 million for companies and $220,000 for individuals."

FYI, $1.1 million AU is about $USD980,000.

Read full release here: http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index...onItemId=16940

Court decision here: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/c.../2010/759.html

They escaped the fine this time, but have to pay court costs (for both sides), have to go through trade practice training (at their cost), notify both guests and members of the action (both by email and a warning at login), and offer refunds for members who feel they've been wronged. It's going to be a big hit, good riddance I say.

[LongBG]

They'll prolly just shut it down and startup on another domain no?

[seeandsee]

They trick people that way? no way )))))))))

[rowan]

Originally Posted by LongBG

They'll prolly just shut it down and startup on another domain no?

The court decision also includes specific injunctions about what they can do over the next 3 years. I don't think they'd be stupid enough to make the same mistake. Unless they go offshore and try to hide the true directors of the co...

[rowan]

Originally Posted by seeandsee

They trick people that way? no way )))))))))

Yeah I said the same thing to my wife when we saw the story on TV.... "pfft, that's nothing new"

But think about it, there's a much larger percentage of people who are not in the industry and not in the know... they're the ones that are truly being fucked over. So I'm glad this court action happened, and I hope it happens more.

Does the US have a similar consumer agency that can take companies to court if enough people complain?

[Caligari]

Originally Posted by rowan

An Australian dating site has been found to contravene the Australian Trade Practices Act by misrepresenting that profiles were created by real people.

Jetplace Pty Ltd, the operator of the socialising and dating website wvw.redhotpie.com.au, has been ordered by the Federal Court to disclose that Jetplace created and operated well over a thousand of its own profiles on its redhotpie website.

[...]

He added: "Had this conduct occurred after the introduction of the new Australian Consumer Law, it is likely the ACCC would have sought from the court civil pecuniary penalties. Such penalties can be up to $1.1 million for companies and $220,000 for individuals."

FYI, $1.1 million AU is about $USD980,000.

Read full release here: http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index...onItemId=16940

Court decision here: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/c.../2010/759.html

They escaped the fine this time, but have to pay court costs (for both sides), have to go through trade practice training (at their cost), notify both guests and members of the action (both by email and a warning at login), and offer refunds for members who feel they've been wronged. It's going to be a big hit, good riddance I say.

are you shitting me? 90% of the dating sites i have ever seen are fake as shit and have the same girls mugs on them over and over for fucking years...

amazing how dimwitted consumers really are.

[rowan]

Originally Posted by Caligari

are you shitting me? 90% of the dating sites i have ever seen are fake as shit and have the same girls mugs on them over and over for fucking years...

amazing how dimwitted consumers really are.

Yep, and this serves as notice that (in Australia anyway) this practice is now verboten, with big fines if people get caught...

Depends really whether you come from the "fuck the consumer over for as much as possible while it lasts" or "generate long term income by building trust" school of thought.

[L-Pink]

What ... fake profiles? No way!




.

[Caligari]

Originally Posted by rowan

Yep, and this serves as notice that (in Australia anyway) this practice is now verboten, with big fines if people get caught...

Depends really whether you come from the "fuck the consumer over for as much as possible while it lasts" or "generate long term income by building trust" school of thought.

thats really why i never got into the dating niche, it just seemed ridiculous to me.

that being said, i'm really not sure if i loathe the scamming sites or the lame ass consumers more!

in the end i do believe "forced" ethics in business is ultimately good and should be done alot more often.