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After Microsoft, the FTC goes after Genshin Impact with a multi-million dollar fine

Genshin Impact, one of the most prominent titles in the world of free-to-play video games, has been criticized for its in-game economy model and the implementation of gacha mechanics. This controversy has led to the intervention of the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which has demanded that Cognosphere, the game’s publisher, pay 20 million dollars for allegedly deceiving young players by inducing them to spend money on loot boxes with low chances of success. The reason for the controversy: the children The FTC director, Samuel […]

Genshin Impact, one of the most prominent titles in the world of free-to-play video games, has been criticized for its in-game economy model and the implementation of gacha mechanics. This controversy has led to the intervention of the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which has demanded that Cognosphere, the game’s publisher, pay 20 million dollars for allegedly deceiving young players by inducing them to spend money on loot boxes with low chances of success.

The reason for the controversy: the children

The FTC director, Samuel Levine, expressed his concern in a statement, warning that companies using deceptive tactics and “dark patterns” will face serious consequences, especially if their model affects minors. Levine emphasized that Genshin Impact had engaged in practices that could be considered as deceiving the most vulnerable consumers.

In response to this accusation, HoYoverse accepted the FTC’s agreement, although it refuted several of the allegations. The company has emphasized its commitment to the gaming community and has pledged to implement new protection measures for younger users, as well as improve transparency in information related to virtual currencies and in-game rewards.

Additionally, the FTC has pointed out that HoYoverse did not adequately comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), failing to notify parents about the collection of data from children under 13 years old. As part of the agreement, Cognosphere must comply with strict regulations, including the prohibition of loot box purchases by minors under 16 without parental consent and the obligation to ensure transparency regarding the probabilities and prices of items available in the game.

Genshin Impact DOWNLOAD

Genshin Impact is a free role-playing game developed by miHoYo that allows you to explore the colorful map of Teyvat. The game features a varied cast of characters. You can form a team of four characters and switch between them during the game to optimize your strategy.

Xbox accused of monopoly with Game Pass in the USA

Recently, Microsoft announced its intention to change the different levels of its Game Pass. This move has not been well received by users or analysts, who see it as an anti-consumer move.

Many people thought we had already left all the drama of the FTC behind. We were not so optimistic. When it comes to big corporations, it’s rare to leave behind legal proceedings, monopoly accusations and, to be frank, doing whatever they want without considering anything beyond their whims. And that’s exactly what has happened with Microsoft. Specifically, with Game Pass.

Recently, Microsoft announced its intention to change the different levels of its Game Pass. This move has not been well received by users or analysts, who see it as an anti-consumer move. It has been nicknamed the Call of Duty fee. This is something that the FTC agrees with, and that has led them to appeal to the courts.

After the courts allowed Xbox to acquire Activision Blizzard last October 2023, the FTC, the US Chamber of Commerce, was not happy with the decision. Now they have presented evidence for their claim, among previous evidence, how these changes regarding the Game Pass come from allowing the acquisition.

They specifically say that this is “product degradation – removing the most valuable games from Microsoft’s new service – combined with a price increase for existing users, exactly the kind of consumer harm that the FTC alleged this merger would cause.” They emphasized that “this price increase coincides with the inclusion of Call of Duty in the most expensive Game Pass option, and the discontinuation of the console option that will occur shortly before the release of the new Call of Duty.”

While according to Microsoft’s lawyers these statements are “factually incomplete,” they also do not clarify how they are not true. How this will turn out is something that only time will tell, as the possibility of the judge deciding to revoke the merger between both companies is still on the table. That’s why, even if you thought the Xbox legal drama was over, we’re afraid we still have months or years of appeals ahead of us.

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The FTC strikes back: they are not happy with Microsoft’s decision to lay off a large part of its workforce

The FTC is back on the offensive, as they are not pleased with Microsoft’s decision to lay off a significant portion of its workforce, violating what they told the judge.

For almost two years, the drama between Microsoft and the FTC was practically a weekly drama. Whether the purchase of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft would be allowed by international organizations was up in the air, especially due to the opposition of a specific organization: the FTC. The Federal Trade Commission of the United States. A very powerful organization, capable of delaying a massive purchase like this, or even sinking it. And while they finally allowed the purchase, it seems that Microsoft is still not out of their sight.

In the last few hours, the FTC has sued Microsoft in a federal court. The reason has had to do with Activision Blizzard, not the acquisition itself, but its consequences. Specifically, the layoffs that have occurred as a result of it.

The reasons for the lawsuit are nothing more than the FTC considering that the layoffs are “inconsistent with Microsoft’s comments to this Court that both companies would continue to operate independently after their merger”. Something that Microsoft will have a very difficult time denying. They have added that the layoffs themselves violate Section 7 of the Clayton Act. Basically, a regulation against acquisitions that seek to create monopolies or reduce competition in the market. Something that Microsoft claimed it was not doing under the premise that both companies would continue to operate independently.

Due to this, Microsoft’s judicial odyssey is very likely to still have a long way to go. Something that, it seems, the FTC would have no problem in continuing to point out, given their insistence on avoiding this merger from the beginning.

Xbox Game Pass DOWNLOAD

The FTC sets its sights on the AIs of OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, and other companies

The FTC, one of the most important anti-monopoly regulatory bodies on the planet, is considering taking legal action against AI’s. The reason: the risk that Artificial Intelligences from companies like OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Anthropic are posing to quickly take over the market.

Taking into account that the FTC takes very seriously each of the lawsuits it gets involved in, these big companies could encounter a strong obstacle in their accelerated race to lead the generative Artificial Intelligence market, one of the segments that has developed most rapidly in the last year.

El Rincón del Vago Download

Indications of unfair competition

Taking into account that these companies are some of the richest and most powerful on the planet, the FTC has released a press release announcing that it has started to investigate this market segment to find out if there are dangerous indications for the labor market, as well as practices of unfair competition in the provision of Artificial Intelligence services.

The FTC is concerned, in fact, that these unfair practices will ultimately “undermine creativity and innovation” in an illicit benefit for these big companies. Therefore, within a 45-day period, the companies Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, OpenAi, Anthropic, and Google will be able to offer their collaboration in this investigation to demonstrate that the FTC’s suspicions are unfounded or unreal.

Faster progress than the system

The meteoric advance of Artificial Intelligence since mid-2022 is generating profound changes in the labor fabric worldwide. Jobs in Artificial Intelligence have multiplied, while other sectors such as arts, journalism, or computing are seeing their positions threatened by systems that offer high productivity with inferior but often practical enough results to destroy jobs.

For that reason, Artificial Intelligence is finding a boundless wasteland of possibilities in a segment that lacks regulation because, simply, it is progressing so fast that regulation cannot keep up. It is possible that, in the future, AI’s will be more constrained by laws that protect the market and employees, but currently, few entities have taken the path of the FTC to fence in the practices of these big companies.

El Rincón del Vago Download

Facebook crushed with $5 billion fine for privacy issues

Facebook has to pay the largest fine ever imposed by the FTC due to their privacy issues.

Facebook privacy scandals are a dime a dozen. However, it looks like those dimes have added up to a $5 billion fine from the Federal Trade Commission.

The fine was part of a settlement agreement between the FTC and Facebook, and it is the largest fine the FTC has ever slapped on a tech company.

What’s the full story?

In 2018, millions of Facebook users’ data landed in the hands of politically motivated actors in what has come to be known as the Cambridge Analytica Scandal. The data was used for politcal advertising purposes. This fine is largely in response to that scandal.

However, this also leads back to a promise Facebook made in 2011 and has since failed to keep.

In 2011, Facebook admitted to having deceived users about the privacy of their data. Facebook reached a settlement with the FTC and agree to be transparent about what was happening to their data, ask for consent before sharing their data, and give prominent notice before it was shared.

If you’ve been paying attention to the news, you’d know that Facebook fails to keep this promise all of the time.

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What’s $5 billion to Facebook?

Yes, $5 billion is an insane amount of money. The fact that it is the largest fine ever imposed by the FTC to a tech company is also pretty crazy. The runner-up isn’t even in the same ballpark: Google had to pay $22.5 million in 2012. However, $5 billion is a drop in the bucket for Facebook as a whole.

Mark Zuckerberg is worth more than $70 billion himself, and Facebook as a whole is worth more than $100 billion. Heck, Facebook made about $55 billion in 2018 alone.

That’s right. Facebook is worth more than a ransom from Dr. Evil.

Let’s take a look at the numbers:

Facebook compromised data from 87 million of its users. That means that the company is paying about $57 for every user’s privacy they failed to protect.

Don’t you think your privacy is worth more than that?

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Facebook’s other issues

The FTC has been probing Facebook for more than a year after the Cambridge Analytica scandal. In that time, government agencies have unearthed even more concerning details about the social media giant.

HUD charges Facebook with discrimination

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It almost seems like every week there is a new story that pops up about Facebook being involved in another scandal concerning privacy. Heck, we’ve covered so many that it’s kinda crazy:

Wrapping up

This is a step in the right direction, but Facebook still has a boatload of other privacy issues that they need to rectify. With nearly a third of the world’s population on Facebook, they need to be held to a higher standard to keep the privacy of their users safe.