Dear truthteller-ga;
Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question. Indeed,
false claims about a business are, at best, considered false
advertisement and at worse considered fraud regardless of how the
claims are made (i.e. television commercials, billboards, website,
etc.) if the ?intent? is to mislead consumers (by misrepresenting the
products, services, capabilities, history, authority, or offerings of
the business, etc.).
Laws vary from state to state but suffice it to say that in all 50
states there are laws in place to prevent such ?completely false?
claims and to protect consumers from that type of fraud. Again,
depending on the state laws in the jurisdiction where the website
originates, the location from which the fraud originates or the
location in which the business conducts the fraudulent activities, the
penalties also vary in severity.
Some internet frauds also fall under the jurisdiction the Federal law
and are governed and/or investigated by the Federal Trade Commission,
US Department of Justice, or the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
Internet Fraud Complaint Center
http://www.fbi.gov/majcases/fraud/internetschemes.htm
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION (FTC) BUREAU OF CONSUMER PROTECTION http://www.ftc.gov/
FTC COMPLAINT FORM
https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01
If you want to file a complaint about an online transaction that
involves a foreign company, use THE ECONSUMER.GOV complaint form.
https://www.econsumer.gov/pls/econsumer/wimsnery2$com.main?p_lang_seq=1
FIRSTGOV.GOV
http://www.firstgov.gov/Citizen/Topics/Internet_Fraud.shtml
US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE: INTERNET FRAUD
http://www.internetfraud.usdoj.gov/
INTERNET FRAUD COMPLAINT CENTER (IFCC)
http://www.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp
I hope you find that my answer exceeds your expectations. If you have
any questions about my research please post a clarification request
prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher
INFORMATION SOURCES
Defined above
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
Fraud
Internet
False claims
Misrepresentation
Schemes
Intent
Law
Legal
Federal
Statutes |
Request for Answer Clarification by
truthteller-ga
on
18 Dec 2005 08:24 PST
According to the December 17, 2005 edition of the New York Times,
Google is now favoring their partners:
"Until now, Google prided itself on its auction system for ads, which
treated small businesses on an equal footing with its largest
customers" (New York Time).
In your answer to me regarding the legal problems associated with
making false claims on your website, you said:
"Indeed, false claims about a business are, at best, considered false
advertisement and at worse considered fraud regardless of how the
claims are made"
The reason I'm asking for clarification on your answer is simply
because Google makes the following 'false claim' about their business:
? It is a core value for Google that there be no compromising of the
integrity of our results. We never manipulate rankings to put our
partners higher in our search results. No one can buy better PageRank.
Our users trust Google's objectivity and no short-term gain could ever
justify breaching that trust?
://www.google.com/corporate/tenthings.html
According to your answer, shouldn't Google be required to change the
above statement? I appreciate your time and look forward to your
response.
Mark
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