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NEWARK
– A website that publishes anonymous
gossip about college students, some identified
by first and last name and dormitory, has
been subpoenaed by the Office of the Attorney
General and the Division of Consumer Affairs
as part of a state investigation into the
operation of the college gossip website.
The
state is investigating whether JuicyCampus.com
is violating the New Jersey Consumer Fraud
Act through unconscionable commercial practices
and misrepresentations to users. The state’s
subpoena, issued to site owner Lime Blue,
L.L.C. of Reno, Nevada, requests information
about how the company selects “supported
campuses” as identified on its web
site, how the school affiliation of posters
is verified and how it implements the Parental
Consent Forms it requires for posters under
18 years old, among other items. New Jersey’s
Princeton University is listed as a supported
campus.
“Misrepresentation
to the public by businesses violates our
Consumer Fraud Act,” Attorney General
Anne Milgram said. “JuicyCampus.com
must honor the terms and conditions that
it informs the public it will adhere to.”
Postings
on JuicyCampus.com include uncomplimentary
references to the physical characteristics,
race, ethnicity and implied sexual experiences
of students. The site’s User Conduct
Terms require posters to agree that they
will not post content that is abusive, obscene
or invasive of another’s privacy.
JuicyCampus.com tells the public that this
offensive content may be removed, but the
site apparently lacks tools to report or
dispute this material.
The
state issued a second subpoena to Adbrite,
Inc., a San Francisco-based online advertising
company that advertises on the JuicyCampus.com
web site. The state is requesting information
about the business relationship between
Adbrite and JuicyCampus.com in order to
determine how JuicyCampus.com represented
its operation to Adbrite, including the
types of ads and advertising keywords requested
by JuicyCampus.com.
Additionally,
the State sent a letter to Google, Inc.,
to inquire about the company’s prior
business relationship with JuicyCampus.com.
Advertising provided through Google’s
AdSense Online Program no longer appear
on JuicyCampus.com
Consumer
Affairs’ E-Commerce Investigative
Unit is leading the investigation of JuicyCampus.com,
along with Assistant Attorney General James
Savage.
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