BonziBuddy
From Invertopedia, the encyclopedia of how things fail
BonziBUDDY was a free downloadable program that displayed an interactive, animated purple gorilla on users' computers[1]. Its maker, Bonzi Software, was sued in a 2002 class action that said its ads used a "Fake User Interface" to repeatedly deceive Internet users[2]. In February 2004 the Federal Trade Commission announced that Bonzi Software would pay civil penalties of $75,000 in a COPPA case, the FTC saying it had actual knowledge that thousands of children were registering[1].
What happened
| Dec 2002 | A class action is brought against Bonzi Software over ads that use a "Fake User Interface" to deceive users.[2][3] |
|---|---|
| Feb 18, 2004 | The FTC announces a $75,000 settlement with Bonzi Software. It is the first COPPA case to challenge the data collection of an online service tied to a software product.[1] |
The kill shot
Bonzi collected birth dates, so by the FTC's account it knew thousands of its users were children, which put it under the children's privacy law. It paid a civil penalty to settle.
The FTC said Bonzi Software had actual knowledge, as a result of collecting birth date information, that thousands of children were registering for BonziBUDDY[1]. The ads that brought users in were a separate problem: the lawsuit said they used a "Fake User Interface" to repeatedly deceive Internet users[2].
The inversion
If your own form tells you a user is a child, the law treats you as knowing it. And an ad that works only because it looks like a system warning teaches people to ignore real ones.
References
- ^ “UMG Recordings, Inc. to Pay $400,000, Bonzi Software, Inc. To Pay $75,000 to Settle COPPA Civil Penalty Charges”. Federal Trade Commission, February 18, 2004. The $75,000 settlement, what BonziBUDDY was, the birth-date registration form and actual knowledge of children, and that it was the first software-linked COPPA case.
- ^ “'Security alert' advertiser sued”. MSNBC.com via NBC News, December 10, 2002. The class action over fake Windows alert ads and the 300 million banner ads claim.
- ^ “BonziBuddy”. Wikipedia. The December 4, 2002 filing date of the class action.