involve record amounts in two separate cases as well as novel legal remedies.Įpic agreed to pay $275 million to settle regulators’ accusations that it violated a federal law, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, by collecting personal information from children under 13 who played Fortnite without obtaining verifiable consent from a parent. The company’s proposed settlement agreements with the F.T.C. is cracking down on these unlawful practices.”Įpic Games said in a statement that it had instituted multiple children’s privacy and purchasing safeguards over the years and that “the practices referenced in the F.T.C.’s complaints are not how Fortnite operates.” “These enforcement actions make clear to businesses that the F.T.C. Khan said in a statement on Monday about the Fortnite case. “Protecting the public, and especially children, from online privacy invasions and dark patterns is a top priority for the commission,” Ms. Earlier this month, the agency made an aggressive move to stop consolidation among video game makers when it filed a lawsuit to try to block Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the company behind the popular Call of Duty franchise. Khan, its chair, to take a more assertive stance toward regulating the tech industry. The crackdown is also the latest indication that the agency is following through on pledges by Lina M. acted at a moment of heightened public concern over the mental health, safety and privacy risks that some popular social media networks and multiplayer video games may pose to children and teenagers. In a historic deal that puts the entire video game industry on notice, Epic agreed to pay a record $520 million in fines and refunds to settle the F.T.C.’s accusations. On Monday, the Federal Trade Commission accused the company of illegally collecting children’s personal information, of harming young players by matching them with strangers on Fortnite while enabling live communications and, separately, of using manipulative techniques, called “dark patterns,” to trick millions of players into making unintentional purchases. Those purchases, along with branded merchandise like action figures, helped make Fortnite a billion-dollar blockbuster for Epic Games, with more than 400 million users. Some children also racked up hundreds of dollars on their parents’ credit cards as they bought digital items like colorful outfits for their game characters. It was easy to sign up and start playing and talking or text chatting with strangers through the game. When Epic Games released Fortnite five years ago, the video game quickly became a cultural sensation among millions of teenagers and children.
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