I'm pretty sure what the companies selling reviews are doing is unlawful in the EU under the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive - the reviews would need to state they were done for a consideration and by a business in order to meet with legal requirements from what I understand.
>'A practice is unfair if it fails to meet the standard of "professional diligence" (the standard of skill and care that would reasonably be expected of a trader in its field of activity) and it materially impairs an average consumer's ability to make an informed decision, causing him to make a decision he would not otherwise have made.' (Out-Law.com, ibid) //
In some cases it may be illegal in the U.S. also. The clearest case would be if a direct competitor hires someone to post fake negative reviews intending to damage a competing business (and fails to hide the trail). In that case the "target" would have a good case that their competitor is engaged in some kind of tortious interference with their business.
I'd claim it is illegal, and fraud. If a seller buys positive reviews, then anyone buying the item has been led to believe that the reviews are independent and honest reviews. The seller didn't inform the buyer of information that the seller knew, and the seller materially benefited from not informing the seller, ergo fraud. It's a crime as old as the hills.
pbhjpbhj|11 years ago
There's a guide to the directive based on UK law at http://www.out-law.com/page-9050:
>'A practice is unfair if it fails to meet the standard of "professional diligence" (the standard of skill and care that would reasonably be expected of a trader in its field of activity) and it materially impairs an average consumer's ability to make an informed decision, causing him to make a decision he would not otherwise have made.' (Out-Law.com, ibid) //
_delirium|11 years ago
edit: There's at least one case currently in the courts on a similar theory, http://tushnet.blogspot.com/2015/02/allegations-of-fake-inde...
Zikes|11 years ago
rmc|11 years ago