A Busy Week for the FTC
We’re always talking about what the FTC “might do”, but we don’t see as much action as we might expect. However this was a busy week for the FTC. It looks like they were ready to start taking down some of the names off their to do list. In the biggest news, the FBI pretty much shut down FullTiltPoker and PokerStars while they investigate and charge the companies with illegal activities and such charges as bank fraud and money laundering. The full indictment is against eleven people, which includes the founders of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker. All three .com versions of FullTiltPoker, AbsolutePoker and PokerStars are shut down, but you can still access the “free” .net versions of the sites.
In other news, the FTC is finally stepping up to the plate and trying to knock “fake news” promoting companies out of the game. The FTC filed papers against Intermark Media, who has been pushing acai / rebill / fake news type offers and landing pages for quite a while now. You can see a video below, or visit the actual FTC filed papers. Many Body Theory posted a video on the topic, and you can also read up on more articles below: ftc.gov, courthousenews.com, techworld.com.au, and patrickpretty.com.
There’s always plenty of illegal and unethical practices going on, but it’s always surprising when you see the FTC taking action themselves. By the way… think we will ever see any legal action taken by Melissa Theuriau, the France reporter who seems to appear in so many of these fake news articles?
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Nice post Zac, i wonder if ad networks are going to start cracking down on flogs/farticles.
It's just a matter of time before someone was made an example out of.
I think it's a good thing that the FTC is cracking down on these farticles because it's unethical and after the customer buys the product and get's rebilled, they get angry. On the other hand, I believe the FTC will change affiliate rules in the future, so we should be on the lookout for that as well.
I'm guessing that is just the beginning, although I can't say I will miss the ads that look like legitimate news reports leading you to something less than legit.
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They shut down these sites because they see so much money switching hands and they can't have a cut. Let the people play cards man!
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Definitely. Just legalize online gambling in the US and tax the hell out of it… that's all they really want. It will make casino affiliate marketing fun again too.
This is going to be a very sad news for those poker addicts.
Thats messed up! i just made a deposit last week!
Good thing i don't have hundreds of dollars on those poker sites.
For some it's a total loss
wow!
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I haven't seen anything on direct affiliates relating to this case, but I know a bunch of letters went out to affiliates pushing celebrity / rebill type offers last year.
Nice post Zac, i wonder if ad networks are going to start cracking down on flogs/farticles.
True. They'll probably just find another way to get around the system. I *almost* got suckered into one for an auction site. Fortunately I know to Google everything before buying into it and found the negative reviews contrasted the fake news story.
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I'm sure they will still be around for a long time… I don't think this will change too much.
We're trillions of dollars in debt and this is how the FTC spends their time – closing down websites? Whatever happened to "buyer beware?" It won't be long and the Internet will be as regulated and "closed" as television. I despise the government.
Travis
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