Man threaten to report my site to FTC

14 years ago

Just some bozo trying to coerce or intimidate you. Either he's an idiot with too much time on his hands, or someone with an axe to grind.

We live in times where anonymous posters feel they can make the vilest threats and get away with it.

Write him back and tell him if he continues to harass and threaten you that you will report him to the authorities. This would be even more effective if you can find out his name and personalize it. (I'm assuming he did not include his real name in his message to you.)

You can even include this information:

James Robert Murphy, 38, of Columbia, South Carolina, was sentenced to 5 years of probation, 500 hours of community service, and more than $12,000 in restitution today for two counts of Use of a Telecommunications Device (the internet) with Intent to Annoy, Abuse, Threaten or Harass.

Murphy was indicted in April 2004, for sending harassing emails to Seattle resident Joelle Ligon and to other employees of the City of Seattle. He pleaded guilty to two counts in June 2004. In sentencing Murphy, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Zilly told Murphy he "...did not demonstrate the type of remorse he should under the circumstances."

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The Dotcom Hippie

14 years ago

Originally Posted by mcmahanusa

Just some bozo trying to coerce or intimidate you. Either he's an idiot with too much time on his hands, or someone with an axe to grind.

We live in times where anonymous posters feel they can make the vilest threats and get away with it.

Write him back and tell him if he continues to harass and threaten you that you will report him to the authorities. This would be even more effective if you can find out his name and personalize it. (I'm assuming he did not include his real name in his message to you.)

You can even include this information:

James Robert Murphy, 38, of Columbia, South Carolina, was sentenced to 5 years of probation, 500 hours of community service, and more than $12,000 in restitution today for two counts of Use of a Telecommunications Device (the internet) with Intent to Annoy, Abuse, Threaten or Harass.

Murphy was indicted in April 2004, for sending harassing emails to Seattle resident Joelle Ligon and to other employees of the City of Seattle. He pleaded guilty to two counts in June 2004. In sentencing Murphy, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Zilly told Murphy he "...did not demonstrate the type of remorse he should under the circumstances."

Nice. I get get some serious bull**** thrown my way from apparently very angry individuals from time to time. Anthing that can help me waste less time on stuff like that is valuable, so thanks.

Thanks
1 reply

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humbledmarket

Banned 14 years ago

Originally Posted by The Dotcom Hippie

Nice. I get get some serious bull**** thrown my way from apparently very angry individuals from time to time. Anthing that can help me waste less time on stuff like that is valuable, so thanks.

Lol there definitely are a bunch of interesting conversations online to say the least. Thanks for the facts; need to note it down somewhere.

Thanks

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tpw

14 years ago

probably a competitor trying to scare you out of business

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HeySal

14 years ago

Make sure your site "terms" explicitly state that all views are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of whatever.com

That should make it clear to anyone that you are not posting "shills" for your own profit.

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Sal
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Sheryl Polomka

14 years ago

Do you have an FTC Disclosure statement on your site? It is probably worth having one just to play it safe.

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Alexa Smith

Banned 14 years ago

Originally Posted by Alex Tam

Any idea????

Alex, I think you're running the risk of ending up misleading yourself a little, if you allow/encourage Warriors to comment on this situation without showing your site to the people opining.

We have no way of knowing (a) whether your site is FTC-compliant, or (b) (perhaps almost as relevant) whether or not it appears to be FTC-compliant.

Thanks

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BrianMcLeod

14 years ago

Complete phooey.

His causal damages are not appearing in the #1 slot?

LOL

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seasoned

14 years ago

If you DON'T compensate the reviewers in ANY way, and you feel they are reasonable, you have NOTHING to worry about! I wouldn't refer to them in any ads without their consent and WRITTEN notice though.

If, on the other hand, one of the positive reviews happens to be an AFFILIATE, the FTC MIGHT be "interested".

Steve

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1 reply

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Alex Tam

14 years ago

Originally Posted by mcmahanusa

Just some bozo trying to coerce or intimidate you. Either he's an idiot with too much time on his hands, or someone with an axe to grind.

We live in times where anonymous posters feel they can make the vilest threats and get away with it.

Write him back and tell him if he continues to harass and threaten you that you will report him to the authorities. This would be even more effective if you can find out his name and personalize it. (I'm assuming he did not include his real name in his message to you.)

You can even include this information:

James Robert Murphy, 38, of Columbia, South Carolina, was sentenced to 5 years of probation, 500 hours of community service, and more than $12,000 in restitution today for two counts of Use of a Telecommunications Device (the internet) with Intent to Annoy, Abuse, Threaten or Harass.

Murphy was indicted in April 2004, for sending harassing emails to Seattle resident Joelle Ligon and to other employees of the City of Seattle. He pleaded guilty to two counts in June 2004. In sentencing Murphy, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Zilly told Murphy he "...did not demonstrate the type of remorse he should under the circumstances."

LOL,thank you very much

Originally Posted by tpw

probably a competitor trying to scare you out of business

should be, thanks

Originally Posted by HeySal

Make sure your site "terms" explicitly state that all views are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of whatever.com

That should make it clear to anyone that you are not posting "shills" for your own profit.

thanks, i will make a clear statement on this

Originally Posted by Sheryl Polomka

Do you have an FTC Disclosure statement on your site? It is probably worth having one just to play it safe.

Thanks ,i'll do it asap

Originally Posted by Alexa Smith

Alex, I think you're running the risk of ending up misleading yourself a little, if you allow/encourage Warriors to comment on this situation without showing your site to the people opining.

We have no way of knowing (a) whether your site is FTC-compliant, or (b) (perhaps almost as relevant) whether or not it appears to be FTC-compliant.

showing websites to the public is not a good idea to any IMer, thanks.
my site is just a clone of webhostinggeeks.com, you can check it out

Originally Posted by seasoned

If you DON'T compensate the reviewers in ANY way, and you feel they are reasonable, you have NOTHING to worry about! I wouldn't refer to them in any ads without their consent and WRITTEN notice though.

If, on the other hand, one of the positive reviews happens to be an AFFILIATE, the FTC MIGHT be "interested".

Steve

thanks for your post, to be frank, i don't know which review generated by the customer and which generated by the merchant, it is simply can not do it technically, everyone can post on my site, people can report abuse to me, then i'll take care of it.

i'm not the first guy to do this, many website generated affiliate commission by reviews, so i think this is legal , and i don't censor nagative reviews, so i don't misleading people for commission

Thanks
2 replies

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Black Hat Cat Banned 14 years ago

Originally Posted by Alex Tam

showing websites to the public is not a good idea to any IMer, thanks.

What do you do then, keep your sites hidden in some obscure folder on the server that no one can find, lol? How are people posting reviews to your site if it isn't open to the public?

my site is just a clone of webhostinggeeks.com, you can check it out

Ooops.....I guess you just put webhostinggeeks.com out of business then.
- Thanks
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seasoned

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Alex Tam

i'm not the first guy to do this, many website generated affiliate commission by reviews, so i think this is legal , and i don't censor nagative reviews, so i don't misleading people for commission

Actually, fraud was NEVER legal! SO many slipped through a loophole that the FTC closed it some time ago. NOW, if a person makes ANY contribution to an ad, review, report, and he or she gets anything in return, he or she is supposed to SAY SO! If they don't, and you are audited, and it made you money, etc... you could be fined or WORSE.

Steve

Thanks
2 replies

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Western Grizzlin' 14 years ago

I would just not reply to the email whatsoever.

The last thing you want to do is further incite this individual.

By my math, the odds of him actually pursuing this isn't worth your time. Save your time & money for the case where there is legal action against you.
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mcmahanusa

14 years ago

Originally Posted by seasoned

Actually, fraud was NEVER legal! SO many slipped through a loophole that the FTC closed it some time ago. NOW, if a person makes ANY contribution to an ad, review, report, and he or she gets anything in return, he or she is supposed to SAY SO! If they don't, and you are audited, and it made you money, etc... you could be fined or WORSE.

Steve

This should be relatively easy to control, by implementing certain rules: no anonymous reviews (reviewer must post under actual name); any vested interest must be disclosed by reviewer; disclaimer by web site owner as to his own financial interest, if any. Being honest will never lose you business - on the contrary, it lends you a legitimacy your might not get otherwise.

These thoughts are just off the top of my head. Others might have other thoughts or contributions.

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Success is not to be pursued; it is to be attracted by the person you become - Jim Rohn

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Alex Tam

14 years ago

one more funny thing, the guy who send me this email submit a fake email to me.lol....

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3 replies

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Dan C. Rinnert

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Alex Tam

one more funny thing, the guy who send me this email submit a fake email to me.lol....

He probably thinks it's not a good idea to give his actual eMail to any IMer.

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Kay King

14 years ago

to be frank, i don't know which review generated by the customer and which generated by the merchant, it is simply can not do it technically, everyone can post on my site, people can report abuse to me, then i'll take care of it.

From your comments it seems you are not FTC compliant at this point. You also appear not to have a disclaimer about the reviews being anonymously posted, posted with pen names, etc. It would be a no-brainer for a product seller to post a glowing review of his own product - and that is shilling.

You don't say whether the reviews take the form of blog comments or are posted as blog posts with your affiliate link included. You say people can report abuse and you will take care of it - doesn't this email constitute a "report"?

It may seem overly cautious but I would want to know if I, as the blog owner, could be held responsible for claims made in reviews on my site.

kay

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Alexa Smith

Banned 14 years ago

Originally Posted by Alex Tam

showing websites to the public is not a good idea to any IMer, thanks.

No, I appreciate that, of course. I don't show most of mine, either, to groups of professional marketers. I was (and am) simply stating that in those circumstances you really can't expect Warriors to comment on the very question you've asked us about. A difficult situation indeed. Absolutely no criticism intended - sorry if I came across the wrong way!

Originally Posted by Kay King

From your comments it seems you are not FTC compliant at this point. You also appear not to have a disclaimer about the reviews being anonymously posted, posted with pen names, etc. It would be a no-brainer for a product seller to post a glowing review of his own product - and that is shilling.

This was exactly what I thinking. It's all too easy to be dismissive of something that may indeed be a mere phony attempt to intimidate you, but then again if your site really isn't FTC-compliant, there's clearly an issue there, regardless of the merits of the specific email received and referred to.

Originally Posted by Kay King

I would want to know if I, as the blog owner, could be held responsible for claims made in reviews on my site.

Indeed!

Thanks

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peechdogg 14 years ago

Originally Posted by Alex Tam

one more funny thing, the guy who send me this email submit a fake email to me.lol....

I believe that tells you all you need to know...

It certainly doesn't hurt to have FTC compliance/disclaimers on your site, but this is just some fool with too much time on their hands.... perhaps if THEIR sites were making money for them, they would be too busy to spend time looking for folks to pester.
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anions 14 years ago

Originally Posted by Alex Tam

one more funny thing, the guy who send me this email submit a fake email to me.lol....

That explains it ... haha

It's best to have a Terms of service/Disclosure page on your website though that clears you of all liability
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Man threaten to report my site to FTC

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