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Old 10-18-2015, 12:10 PM   #31
jswinden
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Originally Posted by tubemonkey View Post
This problem would be solved by only allowing reviews from buyers with a "Verified Purchase".
That would mostly solve it, but not entirely.

Plus it does nothing to address the reviews by morons or practical jokers. IMO the bottom line is simply don't trust these reviews on ANY website. If it is a "big ticket" purchase, then research reviews in multiple places, look for Youtube hands-on reviews, Consumer Reports reviews, and use common sense. Like Harry, I have a passion for photography and I know to look for certain issues that might occur with various photographic equipment. I like well done Youtube reviews because you can see the person actually has the item and demonstrates it. If they just talk about it and don't really show or demonstrate it, I tend to ignore that as a poorly done review.
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Old 10-18-2015, 12:55 PM   #32
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You get a court order ordering their ISP to disclose their details.
Is buying product reviews illegal?
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Old 10-18-2015, 01:03 PM   #33
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Is buying product reviews illegal?
No. But its hardly ethical.
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Old 10-18-2015, 01:22 PM   #34
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No. But its hardly ethical.
Would that be enough for a judge to force an ISP to disclose personal information?
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Old 10-18-2015, 01:29 PM   #35
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What remedy is Amazon seeking? And can they prove damages? If nothing else, sales were improved due to bogus 5 star reviews.
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Old 10-18-2015, 01:30 PM   #36
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Originally Posted by Fbone View Post
Would that be enough for a judge to force an ISP to disclose personal information?
I too was wondering what Amazon can legally do about it. Writing paid-for reviews may be against their TOS, but it's not a crime, is it?
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Old 10-18-2015, 01:35 PM   #37
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Would that be enough for a judge to force an ISP to disclose personal information?
I doubt the fake ratings companies are using non-employees to generate these ratings. The fake ratings seem to follow many formulaic word patterns and constructions along with certain "buzz" words. I suspect most of these ratings text portions (scripts) are simply generated by computer apps and passed along to employees who are instructed to insert the scripts into the fake reviews they create for the company on behalf of their clients. So we are likely not talking about a company having to reveal confidential information on subscribers who get paid to make fake reviews. I suspect all or most of the fake reviews generated by these companies for their clients are strictly made by the employees who first create many fake user names/IDs then add fake reviews under these IDs using the scripts.
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Old 10-18-2015, 01:38 PM   #38
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Maybe Amazon should close the accounts of those involved and leave the courts out of it. The courts have better things to do than to waste their time on such frivolity.
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Old 10-18-2015, 01:40 PM   #39
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I too was wondering what Amazon can legally do about it. Writing paid-for reviews may be against their TOS, but it's not a crime, is it?
I think about the only recourse they would have is to deal harshly with those companies they find are clients to the fake review generating companies. They can penalize those who have, or have hired other companies, to falsify the reviews of items they sale through Amazon. I doubt they will as that is like purposely shooting yourself in the foot.
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Old 10-18-2015, 01:55 PM   #40
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I think some of my 'issues' with Amazon products wouldn't have happened without the fake reviews making the product seem much better than it was.
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Old 10-18-2015, 02:43 PM   #41
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT View Post
I too was wondering what Amazon can legally do about it. Writing paid-for reviews may be against their TOS, but it's not a crime, is it?
You could possibly slant the libel laws to fit (certainly for fake 1 star reviews), failing that you can class reviews as advertising, in which case you could use a huge amount of consumer protection laws - starting with false advertising going through misrepresentation and so on.
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Old 10-18-2015, 02:57 PM   #42
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Seriously, what can you review about aluminum foil?
How well it works. I've had some aluminum foil where it was just too thin to be of use.
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Old 10-18-2015, 02:57 PM   #43
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I think about the only recourse they would have is to deal harshly with those companies they find are clients to the fake review generating companies. They can penalize those who have, or have hired other companies, to falsify the reviews of items they sale through Amazon. I doubt they will as that is like purposely shooting yourself in the foot.
No it is not.
It is like surgically removing a malignant tumor.
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Old 10-18-2015, 02:59 PM   #44
jswinden
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You could possibly slant the libel laws to fit (certainly for fake 1 star reviews), failing that you can class reviews as advertising, in which case you could use a huge amount of consumer protection laws - starting with false advertising going through misrepresentation and so on.
I don't think there are nearly as many fake 1 star reviews as there are 5 star reviews. One star reviews tend to be from individuals who either hate the company who made the product (haters), people who or too moronic to know how to operate the product, people who let a very minor issue overwhelm there judgement, people who did not read all the description and consequently ordered something different from what they thought they ordered, or of course people who really think a sucky product deserves only 1 star. I doubt there are many 1 star ratings that are faked by companies that are hired to fake ratings. If there are, then they are sabotaging their competition and that is another legal matter altogether.
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Old 10-18-2015, 03:01 PM   #45
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Originally Posted by JoHunt View Post
What remedy is Amazon seeking? And can they prove damages? If nothing else, sales were improved due to bogus 5 star reviews.
On the short term maybe.

On the long term, a disappointed customer might put the blame on amazon.
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