(CN) — The First Circuit upheld a deceptive practices charge against the operator of Jerk.com for harvesting personal information from Facebook to create personal profiles.
John Fanning founded Jerk LLC in 2009, which operated Jerk.com until 2014.
Jerk.com styled itself a "reputation management website," and "anti-social network," where users could vote on whether someone was a "Jerk" or "not a Jerk," and post anonymous reviews about other people.
By 2010, Jerk.com had 85 million profile pages, but relatively few users. Jerk created the vast majority of profiles by using a computer program to grab names and photos from Facebook.
The website stated that individuals could only "resolve disputes" regarding the content on their profile pages if they were a paid for a $30 membership.
The Federal Trade Commission found Fanning personally liable in 2014 for misrepresenting the source of Jerk's content as user-generated, and the benefits of membership.
The First Circuit affirmed Fanning's liability Monday.
"Even if Jerk.com never expressly represented that its profile pages were created exclusively by users, it never expressly stated how the pages were created," Judge Juan Torruella said, writing for the three-judge panel. "Reasonable consumers could conclude other Jerk.com users created their profile pages."
The commission cited user complaints showing that consumers purchased memberships from Jerk.com based on concerns that someone they knew had created their profile page, and it would be seen by others.
However, Torruella said the commission's order requiring Fanning to keep the commission informed of his future business affiliations is overbroad.
"The Commission conceded that this provision would ostensibly require Fanning to report if he was a waiter at a restaurant," Torruella said.
This provision should only apply if Fanning is employed in a business where he might potentially replicate Jerk.com's deceptive practices, the opinion said.
The court upheld reporting requirements mandating that Fanning notify the commission of any complaints against him related to any website or online service for five years.
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
Additional Reads
-
Alaska, Hawaiian Airlines April 17, 2024 -
-
Contributor-Test-Post-2024-04-12 April 12, 2024 -
