Cuomo said that the Electronic Securing and Targeting of Online Predators Act (e-STOP) law he authored has now resulted in the removal of accounts associated with at least 4,336 registered sex offenders from major social networking websites in the U.S.

At the end of 2009, Cuomo announced that Facebook and MySpace removed 5,385 accounts linked to 3,533 sexual predators from their rolls. Cuomo today announced that an additional 6,336 online profiles linked to 803 additional New York state registered sex offenders have been removed from popular social networking site.

Andrew Cuomo

"New York is once again leading the way in ensuring that social networking Web sites use the data that is now available, thanks to the e-STOP law, to keep kids safe," said Attorney General Cuomo.

"So far, thousands of sexual predators who had opened thousands of accounts have been purged from social networking sites. I am now taking this important protection a step further. I am calling on sites that specifically cater to children to screen users to reduce the threat posed by dangerous sexual predators."

The sites Cuomo is asking to use e-STOP information include:

AllyKatzz, BarbieGirls, Build-a-Bearville, Club Penguin, Girlsense, Neopets, Secretbuilders, Stardoll, Supersecret, Teen Second Life, Toontown, Tootsville, Webkinz, Whyville
 

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The world’s largest bookseller said it wants to stress to customers it is not one of the retailers who turns over personal or credit or debit card information to discount clubs.

"We welcome the Attorney General’s review because it will show that Barnes & Noble does not, nor has it ever, shared customer debit or credit card information with discount clubs," said William Lynch, President, of Barnes & Noble.com.

"Customers should be reassured that their personal information, including credit and debit card information is not and never has been shared with discount clubs."

Barnes & Noble said it has had a relationship with Webloyalty since 2005. The company said it has never provided Webloyalty with any customer credit and debit card information.

When a customer completes a transaction on Barnes & Noble.com they see a Webloyalty ad offering a discount. The customer has to click through the ad, at which time the customer is informed they are leaving Barnes & Noble.com and will be subject to Webloyalty’s terms and conditions. Once on Webloyalty’s website, the customer would have to register and provide their personal information to Webloyalty.

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The investigation found online shoppers are unknowingly directed to a membership program seller’s website that is separate from the online retailers site. Information about joining the membership program and its consequences, including the fact that the consumer is agreeing to transfer their credit or debit card information, is buried in the fine print and cluttered text.

Cuomo said his office has reached an agreement with online movie ticket retailer Fandango to end similar practices.

"This online scheme has impacted the finances and tried the patience of tens of millions of consumers nationwide. Well-known companies are tricking customers into accepting offers from third party vendors, which then siphon money from consumers’ accounts," said Attorney General Cuomo.

"I commend Fandango for doing the right thing by ending the practice of sharing consumers’ financial information with these discount club sellers. I expect the other businesses to follow Fandango’s lead and adopt these reforms to protect consumers who shop online."

Cuomo has sent subpoenas to 22 businesses that have deals with the three major companies that offer these discount programs: Webloyalty, Affinion/Trilegiant and Vertrue.

The subpoenas seek information about retailers’ practices of sharing consumers’ account information with membership program companies; their knowledge of any deceptive solicitations; and compensation from the membership companies. The merchants being investigated include: Barnes & Noble, Orbitz.com, Buy.com, Ticketmaster.com, MovieTickets.com, FTD.com, Shutterfly.com, 1-800Flowers.com, Avon.com, Budget, Staples.com, Priceline.com, GMAC Mortgage, Classmates.com, Travelocity, Vistaprint, Intelius, Hotwire.com, Expedia/Hotels.com, Columbia House, Pizza Hut and Gamestop/EB Games.

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Under New York’s e-STOP law, which was written by Cuomo, Facebook was able to identify and disable accounts linked to 2,782 registered New York sex offenders, and MySpace was able to identify and shutdown accounts linked to 1,796 sex offenders.

Some registered sex offenders had profiles on both sites, leaving a total of 3,533 individuals removed from Facebook and MySpace. New York State has more than 8,100 sex offenders who registered emails with the state. That means over 43 percent of those sex offenders have identified accounts linked to Facebook or MySpace.

Andrew Cuomo

"We created e-STOP to help put an end to sexual predators using the Internet as a tool to prey on the innocent," said Attorney General Cuomo.

"Facebook and MySpace are successfully using e-STOP to help make the Internet safer, and it’s time for all social networking sites to do their part to keep others from being senselessly victimized."

Under the e-STOP law many sexual predators are banned from using social networking sites on the Internet while on probation or parole.  Also convicted sex offenders must register all of their email addresses, screen names, and other Internet identifiers with the state. That information is then shared with social networking sites so they can remove potential predators from their properties.
 

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Through an agreement with Cuomo’s office, Tagged will pay $500,000 in penalties to the state and take measures regarding the access and use of its members’ personal information.

"Unsuspecting users had no idea that Tagged had hijacked the email addresses of their colleagues, families and friends for the purpose of blasting them with spam," said Attorney General Cuomo.

Andrew Cuomo

"This agreement holds the company accountable for its invasion of privacy and puts the proper safeguards in place to keep it from happening again."

In June, Cuomo announced his intent to sue Tagged for deceptive acts after his office became aware that the company had sent more than 60 million misleading emails to people stating that Tagged members had posted private photos online for their friends to view.

In reality, the photos did not exist and the email was not from their friends. When people tried to access the photos, they were required to become a new member of Tagged. The company would then gain access to their email contacts and send more fake invitations.

As part of the settlement, Tagged will now provide clear disclosures when asking for access to a new user’s email contacts and will no longer access those contacts or send messages without the member’s permission.
 

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The suit says Intel violated state and federal anti-monopoly laws by engaging in a global campaign of illegal conduct revealed in emails, in order to maintain its monopoly power and prices in the market for chips.

Over the last several years, Intel has landed exclusive agreements from large computer makers in which they agreed to use Intel’s chips in exchange for payments totaling billions of dollars. Intel also threatened and punished computer makers that they thought were working too closely with Intel competitors. Threats included cutting off payments the computer maker was receiving from Intel, directly funding a computer maker’s rivals, and ending joint development ventures.

"Rather than compete fairly, Intel used bribery and coercion to maintain a stranglehold on the market," said Attorney General Cuomo.

Andrew Cuomo

"Intel’s actions not only unfairly restricted potential competitors, but also hurt average consumers who were robbed of better products and lower prices. These illegal tactics must stop and competition must be restored to this vital marketplace."

To secure exclusive agreements, Intel paid hundreds of million dollars in "rebates" to individual computer makers. The payments for exclusivity that Intel provided could make the difference between profit and loss for a computer maker.

The suit alleges Intel’s behavior was detrimental to consumers and to the entire marketplace for computers. Intel repeatedly pressured computer makers to guarantee it specified market share of their sales, which prevent computer makers from responding to consumer demand. With more competition, consumers would have had more choices, lower prices and better products.

The suit seeks to bar further anticompetitive acts by Intel, restore lost competition, recover monetary damagessuffered by consumers and the government, and collect penalties.

In May, the European Commission fined Intel a record $1.45 billion for violating antitrust rules and other practices used to exclude competitor AMD from the computer chip market. Intel is planning to appeal the fine.
 

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Andrew Cuomo
NY Attorney General

The New York Supreme Court agreed with Attorney General Cuomo’s claims that Dell had engaged in fraud false advertising, deceptive business practices, and abusive debt collection practices.

According to the Court’s decision upholding the Attorney General’s lawsuit, Dell deprived consumers of technical support which they were entitled to under their warranty or service contract by:

• Repeatedly failing to provide timely on site repair to consumers who purchased service contracts promising “on site” and expedited service;
• Pressuring consumers, including those who purchased service contracts promising “on site” repair, to remove the external cover of their computer and remove, reinstall, and manipulate hardware components; and
• Discouraging consumers from seeking technical support; those who called Dell’s toll free number were subjected to long wait times, repeated transfers, and frequent disconnections.

The court concluded that Dell lured consumers to purchase its products with advertisements that offered “no interest” and “no payment” financing promotions. However the majority of consumers, even those with very good credit scores, were denied these deals. In a “bait and switch” scheme, DFS instead offered consumers financing at high interest rates, which often was more than 20 percent.

“Today’s announcement is the final step in ensuring New Yorkers harmed by Dell’s deceptive and illegal business practices are fully compensated,” said Attorney General Cuomo.

“Going forward, this deal means that Dell will have to clearly and fully disclose the terms and conditions of their products and services, to avoid this kind of fraud at the consumer’s expense.

Consumers harmed by Dell can file a claims form on the Attorney General’s website.

Under the settlement, Lifestyle Lift will stop posting anonymous positive reviews about the company to online forums and other websites. The company will pay $300,000 in fines and costs to the State of New York. According to the AG’s office the case is believed to be the first in the nation aimed at taking on astroturfing.

Lifestyle Lift employees posted positive reviews and comments about the company to trick people into believing that satisfied customers were posting their own stories. These tactics are deceptive commercial practices, false advertising, and fraudulent and illegal conduct under New York and federal consumer protection law.

Andrew Cuomo

"This company’s attempt to generate business by duping consumers was cynical, manipulative, and illegal," said Attorney General Cuomo.

"My office has and will continue to be on the forefront in protecting consumers against emerging fraud and deception, including ‘astroturfing,’ on the Internet."

Internal emails discovered in the investigation show that Lifestyle Lift employees were given specific instructions to engage in this illegal activity. One email to employees read, "Friday is going to be a slow day – I need you to devote the day to doing more postings on the web as a satisfied client."

In addition to posting on various Internet message board services, Lifestyle Lift also registered and created websites designed to appear if they were created by independent and satisfied customers of the company.

Under the settlement, Lifestyle Lift employees will no longer pretend to be consumers when posting on the Internet. The company will not promote services online without clearing disclosing it is responsible for the content.

Cuomo charges Tagged created an illegal plan to lure new members and artificially inflate traffic on its site. Users who visited Tagged were tricked into providing the company with access to their personal email contacts, which the company used to send millions of promotional emails. Tagged disguised the emails to make them look like they were coming from a personal contact, when they were actually spam.

Between April and June this year, Tagged sent millions of misleading emails to recipients stating that Tagged members had posted private photos online for their friends to view. In reality, the photos did not exist and the email was not from their friends. When the recipients tried to access the photos, they were required to become a new member of Tagged. The company would then gain access to their email contacts and send more bogus invitations.

Andrew Cuomo

"This company stole the address books and identities of millions of people," said Attorney General Cuomo.  "Consumers had their privacy invaded and were forced into the embarrassing position of having to apologize to all their email contacts for Tagged’s unethical – and illegal – behavior." 

"This very virulent form of spam is the online equivalent of breaking into a home, stealing address books, and sending phony mail to all of an individual’s personal contacts.  We would never accept this behavior in the real world, and we cannot accept it online."

The goal of the lawsuit is to stop Tagged from sending out spam and would seek fines from the company. The company temporarily suspended its spam campaign in June due to users complaints, but it had already sent over 60 million emails worldwide.

Cuomo sent a letter to Comcast Monday saying his office would take legal action against the company if it did not sign its code of conduct within five days.

The code requires Internet service providers to block user’s access to Web sites that have been flagged as ones that distribute child pornography.

"We appreciate the hard work by Attorney General Cuomo and his Attorney General colleagues on the pressing issue of child pornography on the Internet," Comcast said in an emailed statement to Cuomo’s office.

"In fact, last week, Comcast joined with nearly the entire cable industry and 48 State Attorneys General and the Center for Missing and Exploited Children to sign an unprecedented, and highly praised, industry-wide agreement to fight child pornography. Comcast has been working with the New York Attorney General and we expect to become a signatory to his agreement as well."

Last month internet service providers including Verizon, Sprint, AOL, AT&T and Time Warner Cable, all signed an agreement to block access to Web sites that distribute child porn.