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MoviePass settles FTC allegations that they limited usage, exposed user data

ftc.gov

101–110 of 175 posts

Re: MoviePass settles FTC allegations that they limited usage, exposed user data

#101

If a private individual did the things set out here they'd be criminally liable. When a company executive orders employees to do these things, they're not facing any criminal complaint at all (any of them). See also Wells Fargo multiple thefts (both fraudulent accounts with fees, and literally entire homes/all possessions). It is pretty evident that many laws are constructed (e.g. CFAA) wherein there's one rule for i…

If corps are people, maybe they should receive jail sentences as such - and then their executives & beneficial owners can carry them out based on liability. A CEO that takes full control and makes a one-man-shop would therefore be fully liable for any sentence received, and can only avoid this be sharing control.

No one would run or invest in a company within a country with such a law. It’s basically a global world. Anyone intelligent would leave.

Re: MoviePass settles FTC allegations that they limited usage, exposed user data

#102

If a private individual did the things set out here they'd be criminally liable. When a company executive orders employees to do these things, they're not facing any criminal complaint at all (any of them). See also Wells Fargo multiple thefts (both fraudulent accounts with fees, and literally entire homes/all possessions). It is pretty evident that many laws are constructed (e.g. CFAA) wherein there's one rule for i…

I would also trot out ENRON as another example, on a much larger scale. The only person in the entire fiasco that actually did serious jail time was Jeffrey Skilling who was sentenced to 14 years and was released in 2019.

Re: MoviePass settles FTC allegations that they limited usage, exposed user data

#103

If a private individual did the things set out here they'd be criminally liable. When a company executive orders employees to do these things, they're not facing any criminal complaint at all (any of them). See also Wells Fargo multiple thefts (both fraudulent accounts with fees, and literally entire homes/all possessions). It is pretty evident that many laws are constructed (e.g. CFAA) wherein there's one rule for i…

If corps are people, maybe they should receive jail sentences as such - and then their executives & beneficial owners can carry them out based on liability. A CEO that takes full control and makes a one-man-shop would therefore be fully liable for any sentence received, and can only avoid this be sharing control.

In this case then nothing would happen, because the "person" is "dead". We need some framework for holding actual people liable for the actions of corporations they control.

Re: MoviePass settles FTC allegations that they limited usage, exposed user data

#104
Weird. I was using MoviePass right at the end and they didn’t need to change my password, they just limited what movie and time I could use my card so much it stopped being worth the trouble.

I guess they could have changed my password to keep me from canceling…

Re: MoviePass settles FTC allegations that they limited usage, exposed user data

#105

If a private individual did the things set out here they'd be criminally liable. When a company executive orders employees to do these things, they're not facing any criminal complaint at all (any of them). See also Wells Fargo multiple thefts (both fraudulent accounts with fees, and literally entire homes/all possessions). It is pretty evident that many laws are constructed (e.g. CFAA) wherein there's one rule for i…

IANAL, but it seems like the AG is still well within their power to press charges and consumers are still free to pursue class action.

What damages could customers seek? Presumably not much more than the cost of the service, which was only around $20/month.

Re: MoviePass settles FTC allegations that they limited usage, exposed user data

#106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If corps are people, maybe they should receive jail sentences as such - and then their executives & beneficial owners can carry them out based on liability. A CEO that takes full control and makes a one-man-shop would therefore be fully liable for any sentence received, and can only avoid this be sharing control.

So if I were to own 1 share of $AMZN, I’d be criminally liable for anything the corporation does? Would I do 10 minutes in jail or something?

Clearly this is meant to be silly but if we take it seriously -

Why shouldn't those who stand to benefit from ill-gotten gains be those who suffer the pain when the company breaks the law? At least in a proportional way? If, for example, a felony conviction of a company for fraud incurred a penalty of 10% of the value of the company stock for all stakeholders it would align market price with shadiness of company executives. It would suck getting burned by an executive doing something nefarious you didn't know about but it wouldn't take many events like that to make some very powerful people very interested in ensuring that ethical leadership was in place.

Re: MoviePass settles FTC allegations that they limited usage, exposed user data

#107

If a private individual did the things set out here they'd be criminally liable. When a company executive orders employees to do these things, they're not facing any criminal complaint at all (any of them). See also Wells Fargo multiple thefts (both fraudulent accounts with fees, and literally entire homes/all possessions). It is pretty evident that many laws are constructed (e.g. CFAA) wherein there's one rule for i…

In regard to financial institutions getting away with crime, a former SEC commissioner became exasperated that this had become US government policy by 2015: “the latest series of actions has effectively rendered criminal convictions of financial institutions largely symbolic.” https://www.sec.gov/news/statement/stein-waivers-granted-dis...

That link is both very damning and very succinctly informative of the problem.

Re: MoviePass settles FTC allegations that they limited usage, exposed user data

#108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep - i'd be surprised if even a tenth of all white-collar crime is known about.

I thought white-collar crime was usually a person scamming a company. This is a company scamming their customers, which I think happens far more than 10x what we hear about. Way back in the 90's I had a bank account that paid something like 5 percent interest, but only had a couple thousand dollars in it (maybe). I was between jobs and made no deposits for over a month - only withdrawals and only like 4 of them. I go…

> I thought white-collar crime was usually a person scamming a company.

You thought wrong. White-collar crime is effectively any crime that does not involve physical effort. Breaking and entering to steal a few dollars can get you months in jail. Pumping and dumping a stock can get you a sports car and a holiday home in the Cayman Islands.

Re: MoviePass settles FTC allegations that they limited usage, exposed user data

#109
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but any business can survive indefinitely if they're given unlimited funding with no expectation of returns. In your opinion, what's the point of being the main funnel to theaters if you're losing money hand over fist to do so? What was the plan for profitability? Was the goal to somehow strong arm movie theaters into discounted pricing? Why would theaters agree to that when there's no benefit for them to do so…

> The only way their business model can work is if the majority of customers sign up and never use it, which is a very weird thing for a business to depend on, IMO. This is essentially the concept of insurance, is it not?

Insurance has the additional model of finding ways to avoid paying out claims even when people do try to use it. I think MoviePass would have a hard time stopping users from using their tickets once they already purchased them through the app (although they did try by blacking out certain movies).

Re: MoviePass settles FTC allegations that they limited usage, exposed user data

#110

If a private individual did the things set out here they'd be criminally liable. When a company executive orders employees to do these things, they're not facing any criminal complaint at all (any of them). See also Wells Fargo multiple thefts (both fraudulent accounts with fees, and literally entire homes/all possessions). It is pretty evident that many laws are constructed (e.g. CFAA) wherein there's one rule for i…

Corporations are people!*

* until a crime is committed

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