‘Deceptive Download’ Sites
p2pnet.net News:- The Federal Trade Commission should act against Mp3DownloadCity.com and MyMusicInc.com which are, “deceptively”claiming to offer legal music and video downloads, says the Center for Democracy and Technology.
A third website, Mp3DownloadHQ.com, agreed yesterday to remove claims to be "100% legal" from its website in response to a letter from CDT, it states.
The sites say they’ll provide “100% legal” downloads in exchange for a subscription fee,” says the CDT complaint.
“In fact, they merely point users to filesharing software and provide instructions for its use. Users of these sites users are led to believe that they are purchasing a license to download and use songs and movies.”
Users get no such license, “and if they follow the sites’ explicit invitations to download ‘movies still in theatres’ or music by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, they may face substantial legal liability.”
Nor is the risk of “consumer confusion in such circumstances” merely speculative, says the CDT, adding:
“Several users that were sued by record companies for illegal filesharing said they mistakenly believed that because they had paid money for filesharing software, they were entitled to download popular music legally.
“One individual who ran a website similar to the two identified in this complaint reported that she received 20 to 30 subscriptions a day over a 3 month period.”
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See:-
Center for Democracy and Technology - CDT Calls for FTC Action Against Deceptive Download Sites, March 8, 2005
March 9th, 2005 at 3:01 am
Love that irony:
Google loaded ads for 4 other “free music” sites beside this article.
At “20 to 30 subscriptions per day” I can see why these scam sites continue.
$50,000+
ewww, Gross!
March 9th, 2005 at 5:58 am
Most of the ads on P2Pnet are these same scam download sites. I understand that advertising is what pays the bills, but why are most of these ads on P2Pnet the most deceptive P2P scams imaginable?
Although these Google ads are selected based on keywords, is there not some way to filter out the scams? Or if not, at least put a disclaimer on the page - ideally right next to the ad - warning people about these “100% legal free downloads”. Or does P2Pnet get a cut for every poor fool who gets hoodwinked into paying for something that everyone else gets for free? I have to wonder if anyone has been sued as a direct result of responding to an ad promising “safe, legal downloads” that appeared on P2Pnet?
If I were running a P2P site using these Google ads, I would be in constant contact with Google complaining about all the deceptive advertising. These scam ads are a disgrace, and their inclusion on this site might even call into question the very integrity of P2Pnet.
March 9th, 2005 at 1:28 pm
totallly agree its nothing short of fraud
April 4th, 2006 at 7:31 am
Downloads are being made easy to acess to children. I,in concern, think someone should make afilter to point free legal pages out