I am just impressed by the idea and execution. Just wow. Too bad he took it too far.

  • powerofm@lemmy.ca
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    4 months ago

    Definitely an abuse of the system, but I’m struggling to see where criminal law says you can’t make a bunch of fake accounts to listen to garbage music.

    • bdonvr@thelemmy.club
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      4 months ago

      In agreeing to be paid by music streaming platforms they almost certainly agreed not to do exactly this. Which makes it fraud.

    • Gamma@beehaw.org
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      4 months ago

      From justice.gov:

      SMITH, 52, of Cornelius, North Carolina, is charged with wire fraud conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; and money laundering conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

      • interdimensionalmeme
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        4 months ago

        This is a ridiculous law, it might as well be called “money fraud”. Justice is a bad joke.

  • DeltaTangoLima@reddrefuge.com
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    4 months ago

    In a 2017 email to himself, Smith calculated that he could stream his songs 661,440 times daily, potentially earning $3,307.20 per day and up to $1.2 million annually.

    Great idea, but why would you email yourself about it?

    • veee@lemmy.ca
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      4 months ago

      I have a friend that I’ve tried to convince using a notes app, but he swears that emailing himself notes and to-do lists is more effective. He’s wrong, but to each their own.

      • DeltaTangoLima@reddrefuge.com
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        4 months ago

        Oh, sure. I get that. Sending yourself reminders is absolutely understandable. Sending yourself documented evidence of your plans to defraud someone is entirely different.

        • theneverfox@pawb.social
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          4 months ago

          Recently, a bunch of people on tik tok found this “bug” in their banking app where you can write a bad check, then withdraw the funds before it clears… Then started crying about it when their balances updated

          Dude definitely thought he discovered a cool new life hack

      • JustEnoughDucks@feddit.nl
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        4 months ago

        Google keep used to (don’t use it anymore) store your notes “backed up” by email. You could view all your notes in gmail.

        Maybe it was something like that?

      • flying_sheep
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        4 months ago

        I mean, if you treat your inbox as a to-do list, that’s not that far-fetched

        • veee@lemmy.ca
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          4 months ago

          I can definitely follow his logic, but there are better tools available.