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Epic Games to pay $520M to resolve FTC allegations

wsj.com

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Re: Epic Games to pay $520M to resolve FTC allegations

#111

Post by jasmer »

Bombthecat wrote: post #3
rvz wrote: post #2

Good. It is also time to do the same to TikTok and fine them for abusing the privacy of its users in the billions of dollars. They have been caught once [0] and have been caught again this year [1] and generally have lied about accessing the sensitive data of it's own users [2], [3], [4]. Clearly the fines in [0] and [1] are extremely low and the fine must increase in the billions since these are repeated privacy vio…

Fortnite made 4 billion Each Year You think that will change future behavior? I doubt it.

$520M is a pinch, I can assure you it will change their behaviour in some ways.

I worked at a company where this happened, the legal polices that came afterwards were actually prohibitive. We couldn't shit without a lawyer.

CEOs have bosses and they don't like to lose money like this - it's a 'headline' loss as well, making it feel worse.

What remains to be seen is the nature of the change because so often it's just an over/under or 'bad' reaction, rarely do they get it right unfortunately.

Re: Epic Games to pay $520M to resolve FTC allegations

#112

Post by sphars »

stardenburden wrote: post #92
zug_zug wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't speak generally, but I bought rocket-league on steam, and I still play it online, multiplayer, on steam, with steam friends or epic friends.

No longer if you were playing on Linux

Rocket League runs great with proton, and in my testing, it ran better than the native version when it was still available.

Re: Epic Games to pay $520M to resolve FTC allegations

#113

Post by bushbaba »

Gareth321 wrote: post #4

I'm fine with Epic getting financially reprimanded for dark patterns and anti-consumer behaviour. I am not on board with this: > That lawsuit also accused the company of illegally enabling real-time voice and text chat communications for children and teens in the game by default. So voice chat must now be turned off by default for all children across America? How on earth is this supposed to be policed? Should everyo…

voice chat will simply move to 3rd party apps, Suchas discord.

Re: Epic Games to pay $520M to resolve FTC allegations

#114

Post by p_j_w »

jacooper wrote: post #95
superkuh wrote: post #78

I'm still waiting for something to be done about Epic buying video games that support multi-platform like Rocket League then removing multi-platform support from those games. I bought Rocket League. I played Rocket League. Epic bought Rocket League and suddenly I couldn't play Rocket League. And I'm just left hanging with a useless "single player" rocket league that can no longer play the game. Epic is as much of a m…

They issued refunds for this, why didn't you request one? It also runs perfectly fine with proton.

If memory serves, plenty of people were denied refunds.

Re: Epic Games to pay $520M to resolve FTC allegations

#115

Post by ethanbond »

burnished wrote: post #91
ethanbond wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So just set it to off by default for everyone? That seems like a pretty pragmatic and very non-theatrical improvement. Of course it will have to contend with the theatrics of gamers whining about the immense hassle of a one-time settings change to enable voice chat.

I think a difficulty here is that a lot of responders are imagining that all children are the same precocious 13 year old they were -forgetting the trusting 8 to 10 year olds they also were, and they are doing that thing where the edge cases start to dwarf the primary purpose in their minds.

Yeah apparently on the one hand, setting the default to Off would absolutely clobber Fortnite's engagement metrics and the law is unjust for this. On the other hand, setting the default to Off would not make a dent in children's usage of this product and therefore the law is useless.

Re: Epic Games to pay $520M to resolve FTC allegations

#116

Post by stardenburden »

sphars wrote: post #112
stardenburden wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No longer if you were playing on Linux

Rocket League runs great with proton, and in my testing, it ran better than the native version when it was still available.

I am aware of that. But I didn't buy a proton version, I bought a Linux version.

Re: Epic Games to pay $520M to resolve FTC allegations

#117

Post by ethanbond »

zamadatix wrote: post #90
ethanbond wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right but could it possibly be the case that FTC knows there's no reasonable way to validate ages, and they'd not go after companies for "affirm you're not at least not set the default to be in clear violation of the law? You know, alcohol, weed, and porn companies have managed just fine with user affirmations.

“I am 18+” is a well known joke as well and you can’t get purchased alcohol/weed without ID before it shows up (well, legally) because that’s when people realized they need a real measure not a fake one for show. That the FTC would know there is no reasonable way would be a strong indicator it is indeed not a reasonable law. The default is definitely why Fortnite got fined, and is a reasonable reason to be fined, but…

I don't even know what point you're trying to make now.

Changing the default will certainly reduce the number of kids who are subject to toxic game chat. FTC knows it, I know it, you know it, and Epic knows it.

Re: Epic Games to pay $520M to resolve FTC allegations

#119

Post by breezeitall »

BryantD wrote: post #76
breezeitall wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I have a F2P game on mobile, do I then have to force ask the users age at the start to track things like DAU without getting potentially sued because I was unintentionally without knowing tracking < 13 years?

IANAL. However, my answer to that question would be “it’s a good idea.” COPPA specifically calls out collecting device identifiers and cookies as personal information. Here’s the money line: “It shall be unlawful for any operator of a Web site or online service directed to children, or any operator that has actual knowledge that it is collecting or maintaining personal information from a child, to collect personal in…

Thank you, that makes sense.

Re: Epic Games to pay $520M to resolve FTC allegations

#120

Post by GeekyBear »

lapcat wrote: post #107
GeekyBear wrote: post #102

>Until late 2018, for instance, Epic automatically stored the credit card information for anyone who made a single purchase in Fortnite and didn't require the CVV security information for further purchases. That made it easy for many children to make additional purchases without their parents' consent, according to the FTC. Epic also drew criticism from the FTC for putting the "Purchase" button for in-game items righ…

> This is a company that should be able to bypass app store restrictions? Every company should be able to bypass app store restrictions. I don't think the question is even framed correctly. Every iPhone owner should be able to bypass app store restrictions. Developers doing so is just a consequence of consumer choice.

Sorry, but I prefer the ability to do things like easily reverse fraudulent in app purchases, instantly cancel subscriptions without a hassle, and say no to location tracking without the app in question being allowed to drop functionality if I do so.
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