The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a complaint against the operators of “Jerk.com” for allegedly breaking the FTC Act.
The defendants, Jerk, LLC and the website's operator, John Fanning, supposedly broke the FTC Act by misleading consumers and making them believe their profiles on Jerk.com were created by the site's users. In actuality, the website produced the profiles through collected Facebook information, according to a release.
Buttons were installed on each profile so users could vote whether the listed person was a “jerk” or not.
If people wanted to change or delete their public profile, they were encouraged to purchase a site membership for $30 per month, or pay $25 in order to email customer service. Most attempts to reach the company received no response.
The complaint will be heard by a judge early next year.
