Amazon cracks down on fake reviews with another lawsuit

Amazon is continuing its efforts to crack down on fake, paid-for reviews of the products it sells on its website, by filing yet another lawsuit against those who offer glowing reviews in exchange for cash. In this latest suit, filed on Friday, the company is targeting the operators of five websites engaged in this business practice. The sites offer verified reviews for books and other products, and have even promised reviewers free products in addition to compensation at times.

The suit names three defendants, Chris Embry, operator of Amazon verified reviews.com; Jane John-Nwankwo, operator of Paid book reviews.org; and John Does 1-5 who run Amazon review star.com, Buy amazon reviews.info, and review connections.com. (Amazon couldn’t identify the site owners in this latter case, which is why they’re only identified in the filing as John Does.)

The sites offer verified reviews and top star ratings in some cases, while in Embry’s case, they promise “honest” reviews that “might not always be positive” but are still paid for and therefore falsified.

While Amazon insists that only a small portion of the reviews on its site at any time are fakes, the company also understands that the very existence of fake review sites and their unethical aims can undermine consumer trust in the entire review system.

That system is a massive and key part to Amazon’s selling machine. Since its launch in 1995, consumers have left over a hundred million reviews and ratings on the site, and it employs a team that handles the take down of fake reviews daily. It even rolled out new algorithms last summer to help identify the more relevant, recent and trusted reviews, and place these in front of online shoppers.

This new suit is the latest in a series of actions Amazon has taken against these fraudulent sites and other “bad actors.” In October, the company sued a number of individuals who had posted offers of fake product reviews on the gig site Fiverr.com, for instance. Prior to that, Amazon filed suit against the operators of other, similar websites that offered fake reviews.

The overall goal with these suits is not just to take down the sites in question or collect damages, but to create a climate where those who enter into this type of business know that they may eventually face a day in court.

In this latest battle, Amazon claims the sites are in violation of various laws and acts, including the Lanham Act, Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, Washington Consumer Protection Act, and Washington Common Law.

The company says it’s seeking damages as a result of its claims. It’s also asking for the defendants to detail their illegal profits, transfer their domains to Amazon, and pay the legal and attorney’s fees associated with the case.

Reached for comment, an Amazon rep offered the following statement:

“While I cannot comment on active litigation, I can share that since the beginning of 2015, we have brought lawsuits against over 1,000 defendants for reviews abuse. Through these efforts we have obtained data allowing us to take enforcement action against parties not directly involved in the lawsuits, including banning sellers and reviewers. To help eliminate the incentives to engage in reviews abuse, we will continue to pursue legal action against the root cause of reviews abuse – the sellers and manufacturers who create the demand for fraudulent reviews – as well as the ecosystem of individuals and organizations who supply fraudulent reviews in exchange for compensation.”

Crickets catch on in product development

ANAHEIM, CALIF. — When Pat Crowley launched his cricket protein bar business in 2012, he didn’t want to create a company. He wanted to create an industry.

“Multiple players are essential for the validity of it as well as the growth,” Mr. Crowley said in an interview with Food Business News.

His Salt Lake City company, Chapul, Inc., was joined by two other cricket-based brands at Natural Products Expo West, held March 10-13 in Anaheim, showcasing such products as protein bars, snack puffs and baking flour formulated with crickets.

Touted as a sustainable alternative to animal protein and already consumed in many regions of the world, edible insects may be critical to stabilizing the global food supply. Even the United Nations is chirping about crickets; its Food and Agriculture Organization published a report in 2013 proclaiming edible insects a viable food and meat substitute. Cricket protein contains the nine essential amino acids, provides more iron than spinach and as much B12 as salmon, according to Chapul. Crickets also require minimal resources and produce a fraction of the greenhouse gases as cows.

Infographic courtesy of Bitty Foods

The concept of consuming crickets may be becoming more palatable to the American public. Exo, a Brooklyn-based maker of nutrition bars made with cricket flour, earlier this month raised $4 million in a Series A funding led by Accelfoods. Investors include bestselling author Tim Ferris, rapper Nas and endurance athlete Amelia Boone.

“We’ve spent the last two years perfecting our product and growing the community around Exo; we’re barely keeping up with demand,” said Greg Sewitz, co-founder of Exo. “This new capital will help us accelerate the edible insect movement and execute on our huge vision for insect protein in all its potential forms.”

Mr. Sewitz and Gabi Lewis founded the company during their senior year at Brown University with the mission to “normalize the consumption of insects.” Exo protein bars debuted on shelves in March 2014. Later that year, the company closed a $1.2 million seed round from investors, including Collaborative Fund, StartGarden and AccelFoods. Exo’s head of research and development is a three-Michelin star chef, who developed the brand’s recently launched line of savory meal bars, featuring such flavors as barbecue, mango curry, and Mediterranean. Exo also offers protein bars in cocoa nut, banana bread, apple cinnamon, blueberry vanilla, and peanut butter and jelly varieties. The products contain 10 or more grams of protein and 270 to 300 calories per serving and contain no gluten, grain, soy, dairy or refined sugars.

Bitty Foods' Chiridos are a line of snack chips made with lentils and cricket flour.

Another brand at Expo West, San Francisco-based Bitty Foods, introduced Chiridos, a line of snack chips made with lentils and cricket flour. With three times the protein of traditional chips, varieties include Baja Ranchero, salsa verde and spicy mole. The brand also offers cricket-based baking flour and a line of cookies made with cricket flour in such flavors as cocoa chai, chocolate chip and orange ginger.

Bitty Foods’ culinary director is Tyler Florence of Food Network fame. Crickets are dry roasted and milled into a fine powder blended with cassava and coconut to create the grain-free baking flour used in Bitty Foods’ recipes. The crickets are sourced exclusively from farms in the United States and Canada and are fed a bioengineered-free diet, according to the company.

The latest innovations from Chapul are cricket protein powder and high-protein baking flour made with a blend of gluten-free flours from crickets, brown rice, sorghum, garbanzo bean and hemp. The company also offers its original line of protein bars featuring such flavors as coconut, ginger and lime; dark chocolate, coffee and cayenne; peanut butter and chocolate; and matcha tea with goji and nori.

Chapul introduced cricket protein powder and high-protein baking flour made with a blend of gluten-free flours from crickets, brown rice, sorghum, garbanzo bean and hemp.

“When we launched our first insect-based product we wanted to make it as convenient as possible,” Mr. Crowley said. “But now that there is a growing awareness of it and a growing movement about the health benefits and environmental benefits, we’re comfortable in taking that step back in convenience in order to allow for that step forward in the creative potential of the crowd.”

Mr. Crowley said retail growth of Chapul bars has increased by more than 200% each year. Having recently entered into national distribution through United Natural Foods, Inc., the company is expecting 500% growth this year.

“We’re going from about 500 locations to 2,000 to 2,500 by the end of this year,” Mr.  Crowley said.

Regarding additional competition in the marketplace, Mr. Crowley said: “We’re thrilled… The only way that this was going to work was through entrepreneurs and startup companies. It’s a really collaborative effort right now amongst the startup community to build this industry.”

From his perspective, American consumers are opening up to the idea of eating bugs, particularly in the natural channel.

“When we go and demo at Whole Foods or Sprouts or Natural Grocers, probably 90% of people have at least heard of the concept,” he said.

His appearance on the television show “Shark Tank” in 2014 helped foster awareness of entomophagy, the consumption of insects as food.

Mr. Crowley appeared on Shark Tank in 2014 with Chapul products.

“There were 8 million people who viewed that episode,” Mr. Crowley said. “And several new companies launched immediately right after that … and it’s kind of paved the way for a lot of the consumer perception.”

Still, more education may be required. Mr. Crowley said his business is much more successful in stores where the products are demoed. He said he shies away from marketing the products as a novelty, but in some cases, the intrigue of eating insects prompts consumers to try the bars.

“That’s one thing we’ve found that can drive a lot of first-time interaction with our bars, but we also wanted to have a product that was competitive without that element,” he said. “So the taste of our bars and the nutritional properties are really what drive the second purchase… Even if it is a novelty purchase that causes that first time, then the second time it’s just so much easier for the consumer to be willing to, from a cultural standpoint, to accept there is some merit to novelty purchase for the end of having a viable new agricultural ingredient.”

Noctua introduces two new fan product lines and accessory kits

Vienna, May 13th 2014 - Noctua today expanded its product portfolio with two new fan product lines and a wide range of accessory kits. Whereas the redux line addresses price-conscious users by reissuing some of Noctua’s most popular, award-winning models and presenting them in streamlined, more affordable packages, the industrialPPC (Protected Performance Cooling) line is conceived for industrial heavy duty applications that require enhanced cooling performance and advanced ingress protection.

"Our new product lines allow us to address audiences we have not been able to reach in the past", explains Mag. Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO),"Coming at about 3/4 of the price of our standard models, the redux line is ideal for all those looking for a more affordable entry into the world of premium quality quiet cooling. The industrialPPC fans fulfil our industry client’s requests for high speed models that are suitable for use in challenging environments. However, I think they will also appeal to PC enthusiasts striving for extreme performance. Last but not least, the introduction of the two new product lines allows us to respond to the recurring demands for Noctua fans in different colors."
Whereas the redux fans feature an attractive light/dark grey colour scheme that is reminiscent of the two shades of brown used Noctua’s standard line-up, the industrialPPC models come in an all black design.
The redux edition comprises both 4-pin PWM and 3-pin versions of NF-P14, NF-S12B, NF-B9 and NF-R8, all of which are proven, time-tested models that have convinced thousands of customers and helped to found Noctua’s reputation as a first-tier supplier of premium grade low noise cooling equipment. Altogether, there will be 13 redux models with speeds ranging from 700 to 1700rpm.
The industrialPPC line features ruggedised 2000 and 3000rpm versions of the award-winning NF-F12 and NF-A14 fans. Thanks to the outstanding aerodynamic efficiency of these designs and the use of a novel three-phase motor, the industrialPPC versions provide superior airflow and pressure capacity while keeping noise levels and power consumption moderate as against comparable high-speed fans. Their fibre-glass reinforced polyamide construction and certified water and dust protection (up to IP67) make the industrialPPC fans an ideal choice for highly demanding applications that require superior flow rates and ultimate dependability.
In addition to the new fan product lines, Noctua also introduced a wide range of accessory sets to complement these fans. For example, customers can upgrade their redux or industrialPPC fans with anti-vibration mounts (NA-SAV2), Low-Noise Adaptors (NA-SRC7 & NA-SRC10), extension cables (NA-SEC1 & NA-SEC2) or y-cables (NA-SYC1 & NA-SYC2).
Prices and availabilityAll redux and industrialPPC models are currently shipping and will be available shortly. The manufacturer suggested retail prices are as follows:redux 140mm: EUR 15.90 / USD 19.90redux 120mm: EUR 13.90 / USD 17.90redux 92mm: EUR 11.90 / USD 15.90redux 80mm: EUR 10.90 / USD 14.90industrialPPC 140mm IP52: EUR 26.90 / USD 29.90industrialPPC 140mm IP67: EUR 29.90 / USD 34.90industrialPPC 120mm IP52: EUR 24.90 / USD 26.90industrialPPC 120mm IP67: EUR 29.90 / USD 34.9Accessory sets: EUR 5.90 / USD 7.90
About NoctuaDesigned in Austria, Noctua's premium cooling components are internationally renowned for their superb quietness, exceptional performance and thoroughgoing quality. Having received more than 3000 awards and recommendations from leading hardware websites and magazines, Noctua's fans and heatsinks are chosen by more than a hundred thousand satisfied customers around the globe.