Steve Wozniak suing YouTube over Bitcoin scams

Posted:
in General Discussion
Apple founder Steve Wozniak is hitting back at YouTube for allowing scammers to use his likeness to promote fake bitcoin giveaway scams.

Image Credit: Gage Skidmore
Image Credit: Gage Skidmore


Cryptocurrency scams are becoming increasingly common these days, with many widely-known tech figures being targeted to help promote them. In mid-July, Twitter suffered a security breach that allowed a malicious actor the ability to tweet from verified accounts, including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and even the official Apple twitter account. The tweet suggested that users who sent bitcoin to a wallet address would be sent double the amount.

According to a lawsuit seen by Bloomberg, Wozniak, along with 17 other alleged victims, are suing YouTube over a similar scam. Scammers have been using Wozniak's likeness, through both images and video, to promote fake cryptocurrency giveaways.

The suit, filed on July 21 in San Mateo County, California, asks the court to order YouTube to immediately remove the videos and warn users about bitcoin giveaway scams. The victims are also seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

YouTube has historically relied upon the communications decency act to defend itself against similar suits. Under the communications decency act, platforms have no liability for content posted by users, assuming that there is at least some moderation efforts to combat problematic content.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    I’ll tell you though, you have to be pretty stupid to fall for those scams. Send $100 in Bitcoin to a wallet, and they’ll send you $200 back in Bitcoin. What moron would do that? If they do, they deserve to get scammed.
    tmaymacxpressjony0darkvadermuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 2 of 8
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    melgross said:
    I’ll tell you though, you have to be pretty stupid to fall for those scams. Send $100 in Bitcoin to a wallet, and they’ll send you $200 back in Bitcoin. What moron would do that? If they do, they deserve to get scammed.


    Most people and the vulnerable don't know how Bitcoin works.

    Some sites are tying him to Apple directly. Headlines like "Apple's Steve Wozniak suing YouTube" instead of calling him "Apple founder" etc. I think they're trying to spin this into an anti-Apple story.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 8
    darkvaderdarkvader Posts: 1,146member
    Beats said:
    melgross said:
    I’ll tell you though, you have to be pretty stupid to fall for those scams. Send $100 in Bitcoin to a wallet, and they’ll send you $200 back in Bitcoin. What moron would do that? If they do, they deserve to get scammed.


    Most people and the vulnerable don't know how Bitcoin works.

    Some sites are tying him to Apple directly. Headlines like "Apple's Steve Wozniak suing YouTube" instead of calling him "Apple founder" etc. I think they're trying to spin this into an anti-Apple story.

    He's still an Apple employee. 
  • Reply 4 of 8
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Beats said:
    melgross said:
    I’ll tell you though, you have to be pretty stupid to fall for those scams. Send $100 in Bitcoin to a wallet, and they’ll send you $200 back in Bitcoin. What moron would do that? If they do, they deserve to get scammed.


    Most people and the vulnerable don't know how Bitcoin works.

    Some sites are tying him to Apple directly. Headlines like "Apple's Steve Wozniak suing YouTube" instead of calling him "Apple founder" etc. I think they're trying to spin this into an anti-Apple story.
    Many people are just dumb. There’s no getting around that. They see $100 going in and $200 coming back, and they think it’s a great deal, and that they’ll have to do it RIGHT NOW before the deal ends. They may even think those giving the deal are stupid. You don't have to know how anything works, just that people aren’t going to give you twice what you gave them for no reason at all. It doesn’t matter what name they attach to it. People should be suspicious.
    edited July 2020 muthuk_vanalingamdysamoriawatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 8
    jdb8167jdb8167 Posts: 626member
    melgross said:
    Beats said:
    melgross said:
    I’ll tell you though, you have to be pretty stupid to fall for those scams. Send $100 in Bitcoin to a wallet, and they’ll send you $200 back in Bitcoin. What moron would do that? If they do, they deserve to get scammed.


    Most people and the vulnerable don't know how Bitcoin works.

    Some sites are tying him to Apple directly. Headlines like "Apple's Steve Wozniak suing YouTube" instead of calling him "Apple founder" etc. I think they're trying to spin this into an anti-Apple story.
    Many people are just dumb. There’s no getting around that. They see $100 going in and $200 coming back, and they think it’s a great deal, and that they’ll have to do it RIGHT NOW before the deal ends. They may even think those giving the deal are stupid. You don't have to know how anything works, just that people aren’t going to give you twice what you gave them for no reason at all. It doesn’t matter what name they attach to it. People should be suspicious.
    Except people know that Woz has been ridiculously generous in the past. The scammers are playing on that. Sure, it is still a dumb thing to believe but a lot more believable with Woz rather than Bezos or Gates. 
    edited July 2020
  • Reply 6 of 8
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    jdb8167 said:
    melgross said:
    Beats said:
    melgross said:
    I’ll tell you though, you have to be pretty stupid to fall for those scams. Send $100 in Bitcoin to a wallet, and they’ll send you $200 back in Bitcoin. What moron would do that? If they do, they deserve to get scammed.


    Most people and the vulnerable don't know how Bitcoin works.

    Some sites are tying him to Apple directly. Headlines like "Apple's Steve Wozniak suing YouTube" instead of calling him "Apple founder" etc. I think they're trying to spin this into an anti-Apple story.
    Many people are just dumb. There’s no getting around that. They see $100 going in and $200 coming back, and they think it’s a great deal, and that they’ll have to do it RIGHT NOW before the deal ends. They may even think those giving the deal are stupid. You don't have to know how anything works, just that people aren’t going to give you twice what you gave them for no reason at all. It doesn’t matter what name they attach to it. People should be suspicious.
    Except people know that Woz has been ridiculously generous in the past. The scammers are playing on that. Sure, it is still a dumb thing to believe but a lot more believable with Woz rather than Bezos or Gates. 
    It was a whole bunch of well known names. Still, it should make no sense to anyone. It’s just really dumb to think you’ll get something for nothing. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 8
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    This will go nowhere. Corporations have successfully made themselves immune to the content on their own “services”. Laws need to change for this to work.

    I’m not exactly sure that changing those laws would have the impact people like Trump expect (the administration is known to want to change this law). I mean, if Twitter and Facebook are no longer protected from user content lawsuits, why would his content suddenly be “safe” from them deleting it?

    Put the liability on the hosts and you’ll see a lot less “free” platforming (because moderating is already a mess and virtually impossible to perfect). I’m not saying that’s necessarily a bad thing.

    As a side note: I personally think the anonymous and open internet is something the majority of nations will eventually stop tolerating (some barely do now). It will end. It will be authoritarians, advertising scum, security violators, fake content creators, and anonymous coward trolls/bullies that bring this about, eventually. Greed, selfishness, and arrogant ignorance will ruin it for everyone who actually wanted to use anonymity and accessibility as a tool to benefit humanity.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 8
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    melgross said:
    Beats said:
    melgross said:
    I’ll tell you though, you have to be pretty stupid to fall for those scams. Send $100 in Bitcoin to a wallet, and they’ll send you $200 back in Bitcoin. What moron would do that? If they do, they deserve to get scammed.


    Most people and the vulnerable don't know how Bitcoin works.

    Some sites are tying him to Apple directly. Headlines like "Apple's Steve Wozniak suing YouTube" instead of calling him "Apple founder" etc. I think they're trying to spin this into an anti-Apple story.
    Many people are just dumb. There’s no getting around that. They see $100 going in and $200 coming back, and they think it’s a great deal, and that they’ll have to do it RIGHT NOW before the deal ends. They may even think those giving the deal are stupid. You don't have to know how anything works, just that people aren’t going to give you twice what you gave them for no reason at all. It doesn’t matter what name they attach to it. People should be suspicious.
    The recent Twitter hack (if it really was a hack and not an inside job) showed there are still plenty of people who will jump at an unrealistic offer if their favorite celebrity or company endorses it (Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Apple and many other accounts were victims of the scam).
    watto_cobra
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