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The Courts

Roblox Sues YouTuber For $1.6 Million Over Terrorizing Kids Platform (kotaku.com) 90

Roblox is taking notorious YouTuber Benjamin "Ruben Sim" Simon to court over his alleged attacks on the gaming social media platform and its young fans. A lawsuit filed in California court on Tuesday wants the longtime banned player to pay $1.6 million in damages and stop harassing Roblox employees and players. From a report: First reported by Polygon, the lawsuit contains a number of allegations against Simon, who has been making and profiting from Roblox videos since 2010. Those videos run the gamut, featuring him doing everything from sexually harassing players he encounters in the game to making public "terrorist threats" against the company during its annual convention. According to Roblox, this led the company to have to temporarily shut down its Roblox Developers Conference in San Francisco last month after Simon reportedly posted about police searching for "Islamic Extremists" at the event. The company claims this cost it $50,000 to investigate the false reports.
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Roblox Sues YouTuber For $1.6 Million Over Terrorizing Kids Platform

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  • Then they are doing the right thing.
  • by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Thursday November 25, 2021 @12:54PM (#62020801)
    This guy called in a fake bomb threat. I'm not entirely sure why he isn't in jail right now because last I heard that was a crime. Meanwhile there's a guy going around shouting the n-word and macing random people and somehow he still hasn't been arrested. Seriously one of the police actually for if they're not going to take care of stuff like this?
    • This guy called in a fake bomb threat. I'm not entirely sure why he isn't in jail right now because last I heard that was a crime

      No, a message was posted on his twitter (frm lawsuit https://www.scribd.com/documen... [scribd.com])

      18. Then, during RDC 2021, Defendant Simon publicly posted a terrorist bomb threat to his Twitter account, knowing that the threat was false: “BREAKING: San Francisco Police are currently searching for notorious Islamic Extremist Julius Al Mohammad. If you see this individual at RDC please call 911 immediately.” Defendant Simon posted an image below this text purporting to depict the fictitious “Islamic Extremist” as having posted a YouTube video titled “SOMEONE BLOW UP ROBLOX NOW!” Defendant Simon made related posts,including: “Don’t Come to RDC Tomorrow.”

      Proving beyond a reasonable doubt that he even posted the message himself is difficult at best, a lawsuit is justice a la Judge Judy. Also the guy seem to be making a living messing with roblox since he was banned some six years ago making videos and getting companies and individuals to sponsor him so I don't think it's much of a stretch to believe they intentionally want to target him financially although they might wan

      • Also the guy seem to be making a living messing with roblox

        If I started messing up with an airline or restaurant after getting banned, sooner or later I would get my ass sued for damages and harassment, and it would be right for the target company (a victim) in doing so.

        Whether our legal framework allows addressing such issues is beyond the point of what is right and wrong, which is why I always say we have a legal system, not a justice system. These are two different things.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Is it not possible to bring a private prosecution in the US?

      Could be an evidence issue. Criminal charges need a much higher standard of proof than civil claims.

      • It generally falls on the victim to sue, which means that if you aren't rich enough to hire your own lawyer there's a very large incentive not to seek justice for harassment. The exception sometimes is criminals with deep enough pockets to be able to pay a large claim, but not such deep pockets that they can simply buy their way out of trouble.
      • According to TFS, he made videos about his alleged crimes. Evidence should be easy to get that way.

      • Is it not possible to bring a private prosecution in the US?

        It depends on where you are. I only know how it works in California. Here you may execute a citizen's arrest if you witness a misdemeanor or have reason to believe a felony has occurred. (A police officer can execute an arrest if they merely believe a misdemeanor has occurred; they can also detain you for questioning if they believe any crime has taken place and you know about it or were involved.) A citizen can theoretically use necessary force to execute an arrest but this is really just for their own pro

    • This guy called in a fake bomb threat. I'm not entirely sure why he isn't in jail right now because last I heard that was a crime. Meanwhile there's a guy going around shouting the n-word and macing random people and somehow he still hasn't been arrested. Seriously one of the police actually for if they're not going to take care of stuff like this?

      Police inertia. Some of it is out of necessity, as the police (by faulty laws) cannot act until a physical event takes place.

      This on works "fine" on paper and for the general case when reasonable people are involved. However, it has nasty consequences. I know of cases in real life when people have been sexually harassed and terrorized online (to the point of people having to quit their jobs and get out of town), but the police could never quite do anything because the harassment was online or worded in su

    • The police are "defunded", remember?

        And instead of fixing the police, the solution is to have fewer officers on the street to deal with crime. The militarized mindset gets more extreme because now the ones left have to act like soldiers just so they might be able to come home at night. Fucking brilliant. :-(

  • by ISayWeOnlyToBePolite ( 721679 ) on Thursday November 25, 2021 @02:01PM (#62021071)

    The article credits the original report https://www.polygon.com/227993... [polygon.com] which links to the full lawsuit https://www.scribd.com/documen... [scribd.com]

  • The Roblox Market Team is like, there's no such thing as bad publicity ...

  • roblox is shit (Score:4, Interesting)

    by t0qer ( 230538 ) on Thursday November 25, 2021 @02:07PM (#62021105) Homepage Journal

    I used to work in mobile games, in fact a lot of my friends went over to roblox.

    Roblox is like any other p2w scheme. They rely on gambling triggers, they only let you win if you pay. They also make it next to impossible to get a refund if your kid steals your credit card to buy robucks. The only difference is they're a platform, they don't make the games, but they do take their cut. They also market specifically to kids which makes them especially sleazy.

    Fortunately some kids are smart. My 12 year old started using autoclickers at a young age and has since graduated to python using ImageGrab and OpenCV to lvl up on some of the games.

    • "They also make it next to impossible to get a refund if your kid steals your credit card to buy robucks."

      Good lord. It's your fucking card, you watch over it. Pursue a reversal through the card provider. Or have your kid charged with theft. Pick a lane.

      I wonder why there's no "my kid bought it when I wasn't looking" reason for return on Amazon.

      • "They also make it next to impossible to get a refund if your kid steals your credit card to buy robucks."

        Good lord. It's your fucking card, you watch over it.

        It's not reasonable to expect someone to have tight control over their wallet 24 hours/day.

        My wallet is typically in my coat or jacket pocket. When I come home, I hang up that jacket by the door. That is perfectly reasonable.

        What's not reasonable is for me to take the wallet out of my jacket pocket and put it in a safe or lockbox somewhere, every time I come home, and then retrieve it every time I leave the house.

        It's also not reasonable for me to constantly watch my jacket to ensure no one is going through

        • If you have kids that are stealing from you, Roblox (or similar) is the least of your problems.

          • Sure. But that has nothing to do with my comment or the one I responded to.

            • then you'd go to your credit card company and reverse those charges. and dispute the nasty credit report they're likely to file. maybe take them to small claims court if this case can be served in your home state.

          • by noodler ( 724788 )

            If you have kids that are stealing from you, Roblox (or similar) is the least of your problems.

            So if roblox uses arrays of psychologists to make a product that is so addictive that it pushes your kid to steal from you then the problem is not with roblox?

        • So you want to externalize the cost and responsibility of the behaviour of you and your child with respect to your credit card.

          Got it.

        • What is reasonable is that you have a talk with your child about the consequences of their actions if they ever attempt to use your credit card without your explicit permission. Stealing is a crime. A proper corrective action should include a ban on Roblox for the next X weeks with some additional chores. What is not reasonable is to expect online retailers or credit card companies to handle your mistakes in parenting. Also, enable 2FA for your online purchases if at all possible.
        • It's not reasonable to expect someone to have tight control over their wallet 24 hours/day.

          Disagree. It is fundamentally possible. People do it with guns all the time. It's not even expensive to institute some halfway decent security for small items any more, although there are lots of shit safes nobody should ever use.

        • I learned from an early age not to touch mommy and daddy's wallet. Consequences for doing so ment a swift and severe punishment.

            If your kid does not know this, then you got some serious parenting issues.

    • Re:roblox is shit (Score:5, Interesting)

      by doconnor ( 134648 ) on Thursday November 25, 2021 @03:09PM (#62021319) Homepage

      I used to play plenty of games on Roblox with my daughter. From what I've seen pay to win games a few and far between. I guess they never reach the top of the charts. Most things you can pay for are cosmetic, which is, of course, still temping.

      • by hattig ( 47930 )

        Fortnite is entirely cosmetic - skins, etc.

        Roblox you pay for the games on the platform, which are independently developed. Some appear to be pretty good - multiplayer Theme Park like games for example, or other simulation titles (airport builder, etc). There are plenty of free options.

        Pay to win? Haven't seen much of that either. I'm sure there is something there, but that's probably a money laundering project not aimed at the children. ;)

      • Kids that age want anything that make them look "cool" in the eyes of their peers.

          It's a stupid virtual skin to adults, but it's a status symbol to kids.

        I grew up in the 80s, and showing off non functional cheap plastic fad shit made you "cool" back then.

    • Oh good to know. For a moment I thought we should be getting angry about someone calling in bomb threats and harassing kids, but I see it's okay now because you don't like the business model of the company he was doing it to.

    • Roblox is a crooked scheme, but two wrongs don't make a right here.

  • Win stupid prizes?

    The game in this case is being a deplorable influencer.

    • "Hey! Look at Mee! I'm special!"

        Career description in a nutshell.

      • Like and subscribe. Click the links to my sponsors. And "donate" to my crowd sourcing campaign.

        We're approaching late-stage capitalism, and something is going to give. I doubt we'll revert to the old ways of doing things. And I hope we won't continue down a path that leads to global economic collapse. I do feel a small amount of responsibility being at the center of a lot of this tech garbage, both in physical location but also in my job history.

        • I don't think any kid is going to want to go work in the factory like in the old days.

          So now we are shifting into an economy built on bullshit such "like and subscribe", books, theories, "critical thinking" classes, "liberal arts", internet fads, more invented mental problems and disorders for kids, and more experimental dtugs to force on those kids.

          We are ending up as a society full of weak and soft librarians and bookworms, who happens to make a whole lot of mental drugs to push on people. Everywh

          • I don't think any kid is going to want to go work in the factory like in the old days.

            When I was 20-something you could still work in a factory and support a family. When I did it, the work was less emotionally demanding that tech jobs, and I have plenty of free time on the weekends. But we had a race to the bottom with globalization. We now compete on who is willing to accept the lowest standard of living.

            "critical thinking" classes, "liberal arts"

            actually those are useful. A well rounded education makes for informed people and informed voters. People who are easily swayed by a mob mentality is exactly how civilizations commit atro

            • "#We are ending up as a society full of weak and soft librarians and bookworms#

              I find your anti-intellectualism to be disappointing. A throwback to an earlier time. And not productive to putting things back on track."

              A lot of the i'ntellectualism' being produced nowadays is the kind of garbage seen on "The View"

              I have nothing against education or intellectualism, but so much of it is being used to dumb down and manipulate the populace, and to pot one against another.

              I've lost track o

  • Roblox says they ban political and romantic content, but they they are gay friendly?

    How does that work?

  • This moron needs to be kept in a mental hospital.

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