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back to article Chap slapped in Dogecoin crap app flap

The FTC settled with an app developer accused of hijacking smartphones for digital currency mining. The Commission filed a complaint last week against an app developer who was said to have surreptitiously embedded an application with malware that used victim's handsets to perform virtual currency mining without their knowledge …

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  1. asdf
    Trollface

    hmm

    I guess the difference between the big leagues of cryptocurrency (Bitcoin) and the minor leagues is that if it is still possible to be worth mining at all on even a giant botnet of phones your currency is probably the RC cola of cryptocurrency.

    0 0 Reply
  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Dogecoin on the front page!

    (Or am I getting the Chaika reference terribly wrong here?)

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  3. DavidRa
    WTF?

    Blah blah "no wrongdoing"

    Seriously, what is it with settlements - every time I see one I see something like "BlechCo will be required to bend over and spread them, pay $thousands in fines, tug the forelock whenever the wind blows, yet admit no wrongdoing".

    If they're that adamant there was no wrongdoing, why on EARTH would they agree to fines and constant monitoring; and if the Govt/Attorney General/Regulator was that sure there WAS wrongdoing (and hence the fines and useless controls) why would they agree to allow the company to escape admitting they did the wrong thing?

    What am I missing here?

    0 0 Reply
    1. auburnman
      Reply Icon

      Re: Blah blah "no wrongdoing"

      Of course there was wrongdoing, but to admit that would utterly finish them because they would almost automatically lose any further lawsuits against them. Therefore the company offers up whatever else the prosecution want.

      The prosecution don't have getting a courtroom verdict as their main motivation though: they want a win on their track record (and a one-sided settlement is the best kind of win because you don't have to waste countless hours in court) especially when it comes with a nice fat payout for the state coffers and the company surrendering to government audits for X years (jobs for the boys.)

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      1. Alan Brown Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: Blah blah "no wrongdoing"

        "to admit that would utterly finish them because they would almost automatically lose any further lawsuits against them. "

        That's the crux of it, although courts tend to blow straight through that smokescreen if anyone else takes action (the settlement is admission enough).

        If they do it a second time the FTC tends to throw the book at them.

        0 0 Reply
  4. lglethal Silver badge
    WTF?

    How is this not fraud?

    Fraud - Wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain. From the OED.

    This certainly seems to meet those requirements. Perhaps the FTC should be passing the details over to the Feds for action. Because bastards like this should not get away so lightly.

    4 0 Reply
  5. Neil Alexander

    Theft of electricity!

    0 0 Reply

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