this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2023
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184
Roblox Accused of Concocting Illegal Gambling Ring for Minors - Bloomberg Law (news.bloomberglaw.com)
submitted 1 year ago by aranym@lemmy.name to c/technology@beehaw.org
24 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

The complaint outlined the process by which minors can use the Roblox platform to gamble. After purchasing Robux through the platform, they can navigate to one of the gaming website defendants’ “virtual casinos” outside the Roblox ecosystem and link their Robux wallet to the gambling website, meaning Roblox can still keep track of electronic transfers, the lawsuit said.

While Roblox could halt this “illegal gambling ring,” Colvin and Sass argued that it’s “significantly enriched” by the scheme. They allege that Roblox charges a 30% fee on the websites’ conversion of Robux back into dollars, raking in “millions in annual cash fees.”

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[–] Peanutbjelly@sopuli.xyz 38 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Just millions? I guess the billions come from creating a proprietary software development engine that is uniquely tied to their own market, which invests into encouraging children into the ecosystem that traps anyone with success in a market which ultimately takes 93% of earnings for roblox.

Exploitative. Unethical. Feeding in the technological ignorance of the masses and political leaders.

[–] StarServal@kbin.social 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Second Life has the same kind of system.

Edit: This wasn’t a defense of the system, merely adding another name to the list.

[–] Dankenstein@beehaw.org 8 points 1 year ago

Yeah but people used to actually have paying jobs through SL, this is closer to Steam's systems IMO (Steam also appeals more to children than SL).

This is not a defense either, only adding something else to keep in mind.

[–] snowbell@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

Second Life doesn't take anywhere near that much money from the pie though.

[–] Mugmoor@lemmy.dbzer0.com 24 points 1 year ago (3 children)

This is the only video game I refuse to let me kids go near.

[–] Heresy_generator@kbin.social 18 points 1 year ago

It's not a game, it's a child exploitation engine.

[–] Erdrick@beehaw.org 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Can you please go into the specifics of why you don't let your kids play Roblox?

I had been avoiding it until a well intentioned relative got my son a Roblox gift card.
It was immediately made clear that I was against the game which created an awkward situation for my relative.
I decided to soften my stance, and use it as a teaching moment.
I explained how the game works and how my son was to use his Robux.
He was to play the game(s) for a certain length of time and then make an informed decision about where to spend his money at.
Of course he spent it on some stupid powerup on a game that he ended up stopping playing some days later.
We used it as a teaching moment for both of my kids and what a waste of money the game is.
I also explained to them how P2W games are predatory in nature, and that I would never personally allow them to pay a single cent into Roblox or any other game.
My son is constantly proud of how he is F2P and always beating all of the P2W noobs.

[–] LinkOpensChest_wav@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

I used to play it with my nibling. I had no idea it was so awful.

[–] rothaine@beehaw.org 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

outside the Roblox ecosystem

I have no love for Roblox, but if it's a completely different website, isn't this kinda...not their fault?

It sounds like those IRS scams that want you to pay with iTunes gift cards -- no one claims that Apple is running the scam.

The article claims they were aware and didn't stop it, and that's why they are at fault. Maybe they could've revoked the API keys for those gambling sites? But is that even how it's set up? (I don't actually know how Robux work.)

[–] jarfil@beehaw.org 22 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The difference is you can't cash out Apple gift cards, and this is precisely why games generally don't allow it either: when you allow cash-token-cash conversions, then you turn the token into a cash-equivalent, becoming responsible for any misuse just the same as if you offered a banking account.

But Roblox got greedy, and not only do they allow cash-token-cash conversions (at a crazy rate of $100 USD = 10,000 R$ = $35 USD), but they also allow third parties to interact with it, with fully centralized knowledge and control.

[–] rothaine@beehaw.org 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Oh interesting.

But you can sell apple gift cards on eBay, yeah? Sure you won't get the full value, but you get most of it. And as you said, in this case Roblox is taking a cut for the conversion anyway.

So it seems like they could've washed their hands of this by making Robux transferable/ebayable: the "casinos" would still exist, they would still benefit from the popularity of the casinos, and the Robux are still "worth something". But they got too greedy and dug too deep by trying to become the "eBay" in the situation and take a cut off both ends, and now they might be forced to make Robux effectively worthless.

[–] jarfil@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

Yup, pretty much that. I guess Roblox could remove the conversion back to cash, and convert to gift cards instead. They could still skim the 30% on both ends, by making the gift cards in like "Robux diamonds" or something, like what Instagram does.

[–] giloronfoo@beehaw.org 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think a more important difference is that Apple isn't involved in the transfer of the card from one person to another.

It sounds like Roblox is involved in each transfer and could cut off access to the third party site once they find out it is actually a gambling site.

[–] jarfil@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago

The combination is definitely worse, but if Apple allowed one person to charge a card, and a different person to get the cash out, they'd still be involved in the transfer of the cash, so they'd still fall under all the banking regulations.

Roblox in this case got the worst combination possible: cash transfer, full control, gambling, minors. Like, what were they thinking about (...unless, they got so much profit that they don't fear any fine).

[–] redcalcium@lemmy.institute 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

They could've done something to prevent kids from gambling, but I guess it's hard to take action when ignoring the problem actually get them more money.

[–] DeltaTangoLima@reddrefuge.com 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Fuck I hate Roblox with a passion. I wish I could convince my daughter to dump it. I've even offered to setup a private Minecraft server for her and all her friends.

[–] rgb3x3@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago (3 children)

You shouldn't have to convince your daughter of anything, unless she's an adult.

You're the parent and you know so much better than the child what is and isn't good for them. It's good to give them decision-making freedom, but sometimes you have to step in to stop them from engaging in unhealthy or dangerous behavior.

[–] DeltaTangoLima@reddrefuge.com 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You're making a lot of assumptions about how I parent for someone who doesn't know me.

You often get a blood nose on that high horse of yours?

[–] rgb3x3@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

I'm not assuming anything about how you parent. I'm making a suggestion based on the content of the post.

Roblox is probably not a good thing for children and as a parent, you should take certain things away from your kid if it's not healthy for them.

How is that controversial?

[–] Lowbird@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

That'd be pretty draconian for a teen though, depending on her age.

[–] marco@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

unhealthy or dangerous behavior

We're talking about a mobile game here...

[–] rgb3x3@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago

Gambling, sexual content, addiction, violence.

Just because it's a mobile game doesn't mean it's not dangerous. You must have seen mobile game ads across the internet for ones with sexual content to try to lure people into using them. People blow tens of thousands of dollars on these things.

[–] fwygon@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago

Just wait until Roblox gets popped for Money Laundering. That'll wake them up.