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FTC fines Razer for every cent made selling bogus “N95 grade” RGB masks (arstechnica.com)

submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

33 comments fedilink hide all child comments

“[Razer] falsely claimed, in the midst of a global pandemic, that their face mask was the equivalent of an N95 certified respirator,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement.

Razer never got the Zephyr tested by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health or the US Food and Drug Administration and the Zephyr never received N95 certification.

The FTC's complaint against Razer, which is best known for high-priced, RGB-riddled PC gaming peripherals, claimed that Razer continued promoting the Zephyr despite consultants highlighting the mask's lack of certification and protection.

Razer reportedly refunded fewer than 6 percent of Zephyr purchases in the US.

However, the proposed settlement against Razer includes a $100,000 civil penalty, plus $1,071,254.33, which the FTC said is equal to the amount of revenue Razer made from the Zephyr and will go toward refunding "defrauded consumers."

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[–] [email protected] 89 points 6 months ago (1 children)

This shouldn't be an exception - it should be the rule.

At the very least, companies should be fined every single cent that they made off of something criminal, and really, they should be fined much more than they made.

If they're fined less than they made off of it, it's not even really a fine. It's just the government taking a cut of the action.

[–] [email protected] 50 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Agreed... However I want to point out that in this case they are to return the revenue plus $100k fine. The fact they went after revenue (not profit) leaves Razer to carry the bag for the cost of production and distribution of the fraudulent crap they peddled.

This should be the deafult... In egregious cases, a fine should be applied on a multiplier basis, that is, your revenue is $1 million, you get a fine of x0.5 so you now must return $1.5 million... Eat the cost of all the stuff plus $500,000 fine (for example)

If the fraud was criminal, then do the fines AND include jail time

Basically, skirting or breaking the law should be a scary proposition... Presenting a shady business plan internally should result in people getting fired on the spot

[–] [email protected] 11 points 6 months ago

Nicely clarified.

Yes - the way I said it leaves the possibility that they have to pay at minimum their profit, and no - that should not be the case. They should have to pay at minimum their total revenue.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

I want to see the jail time when they knowingly commit fraud which harms people more than the cost of the product. I'd like to see jail time for wage theft, too.