Apple co-founder sues YouTube over bitcoin giveaway scam

Tencent Technology News, July 23, according to foreign media reports, on Wednesday local time in the United States, the attorney representing Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak filed a lawsuit against YouTube and its parent company Alphabet, accusing the two companies of failing to delete videos using Wozniak's name and likeness in a Bitcoin scam.
Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy LLP said in the complaint that for months, YouTube has allowed scammers to use Wozniak's name and likeness to construct a Bitcoin giveaway scam similar to the Twitter Bitcoin giveaway scam that was recently exposed.
“These allegations paint a picture of an algorithmically driven tech giant that is unresponsive to victims’ complaints and YouTube that allows scammers to use me, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and others to defraud innocent people of their cryptocurrency ,” Wozniak said in the statement.
"If YouTube had acted quickly to stop this to the extent that it was reasonable, we wouldn't be here right now," Wozniak said. "YouTube, like Google, appears to rely on algorithms and has not quickly adopted special efforts that require custom software in these criminal activities. If crime is happening, you have to be able to reach people who have the power to stop it. What person would see a post like this and not immediately see it as a criminal act and remove it?"
In the lawsuit filed in state court in San Mateo County, California, Wozniak claims scammers used photos and videos of him leaving Apple in 1985 to convince YouTube users that he was hosting a live giveaway where anyone who sent him bitcoin would get twice as much back. But when users transferred their cryptocurrency in an irreversible transaction, they received nothing in return.
The scam also used the names and photos of other tech celebrities, including Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates and Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk. The complaint said YouTube had been "unresponsive" to Wozniak's repeated requests to remove the fraudulent videos.
“YouTube has been the site of a steady stream of scam videos and promotions that falsely use images and videos of Plaintiff Wozniak and other prominent technology entrepreneurs to defraud YouTube users of millions of dollars in assets,” the complaint states.
By contrast, Twitter responded the same day after the accounts of former President Barack Obama, presidential candidate Joe Biden and prominent users were hacked last week in an attack in which scammers also claimed that anyone who sent bitcoin would receive twice the amount back.
"Twitter quickly and decisively shut down the accounts the same day the hack occurred, protecting its users from the scams," the complaint reads. "YouTube allowed the offending videos to remain online for months. With full knowledge of the scam, YouTube refused to remove the scam videos, allowing them to spread wildly. YouTube and Google further promoted and profited from these scams by offering paid ads that targeted users most likely to be harmed."
The case was brought by Wozniak and 17 other alleged victims of the scam in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Malaysia, China and Europe. They said the court should order YouTube and its parent company Alphabet to immediately remove the video and warn users about the Bitcoin giveaway scam. They are also seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
Alphabet did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Earlier this week, YouTube defended itself in a similar case, arguing that the platform cannot be held liable under the federal Communications Decency Act, a 1996 law that shields internet providers from liability for content posted by users on their platforms.
Wozniak is not the first to take legal action against YouTube over cryptocurrency scams. Earlier this year, Ripple Labs and its CEO Brad Garlinghouse sued the platform, claiming that it failed to effectively police fake Ripple giveaway scams that caused monetary and reputational damage to the company. However, YouTube's legal team argued that the video-sharing platform is not responsible for any content provided by third parties, including scams.