Google Bans Hundreds Of Pixel Phone Resellers From Their Google Accounts (theguardian.com)

Hundreds of Google users lost their access to their emails, photos, documents, "and anything else linked to their Google identity," wrote the Guardian last week, reporting on "hundreds of people who took advantage of a loophole in US sales tax to make a small profit on Pixel phones" -- and got all of the Google accounts suspended. Long-time Slashdot reader RockDoctor writes: "The Google customers had all bought the phones from the company's Project Fi mobile carrier, and had them shipped directly to a reseller in New Hampshire, a US state with no sales tax. In return, the reseller split the profit with the customers," the Guardian adds.

People might ask, in a hurt tone of voice, "why are you doing this to me?" To which the obvious answer is "because we can, and you agreed to these (link to 3000 pages of text) terms and conditions, including our ability to do this"... The only question has been "When?", never "If?"
Update: Google "has reviewed banned users' appeals and re-enabled their accounts," reports The Guardian.

Comments

Click bait much?

[rsilvergun]

this is already a non story. Google is reactivating the accounts so long as the users promise not to do it again. They'll flush out the shill accounts and give everyone else a smack on the wrist for doing something that's pretty self evidently wrong (scalping).

Re:Click bait much?

[JaredOfEuropa]

It certainly is a story. Maybe not because of the rights and wrongs of avoiding taxes or Google's reaction, but because this ought to serve as a wake-up call for anyone relying on an external party for important data or services, especially in cases when it is not easy or possible to switch services or retrieve the data. If the tems of service allow a provider to revoke your access whenever they feel like it, then do not put your data there. And even when that's not allowed under the terms of service, keep in mind that a company can go broke or simply suspend its service in any case.

Re:Click bait much?

[Half-pint HAL]

Then they're fine. Google's sales condition was that buyers “may only purchase Devices for [their] personal use [and] may not commercially resell any Device”. Note that word "commercially". Under consumer law, you can sell your own stuff (doctrine of first sale) so they can't stop you selling privately. Google's clearly taking the position that if you're buying expressly to sell to another retailer, that's buying wholesale -- business-to-business -- and not covered by doctrine of first sale.

This is actually a very interesting point of law, and would make a fascinating test case. I think I'm on Google's side here -- one of the reasons consumer protection is so important is because customers rarely get to negotiate the terms. As the buyers couldn't negotiate the terms, the purchase of contract here was consumer and Google's Ts&Cs are effectively saying "this is not a wholesale contract. if you treat it like one it's void." which seems pretty valid to me.

Re:Is this Soviet Russia?

[klingens]

In this case, it is ok ever since Google and its corporate brethren dodged paying taxes by playing shenanigans with the tax system in different countries. It's the same here: this worked cause some US state doesn't have a sales tax.
If Google can arbitrate taxes cause it's "technically not illegal", then so can their customers. Or do you think Google is allowed but their customers have to play by a different rule?

Ironic since Google ships their earnings elsewhere

[JoeyRox]

Google is penalizing these people who had their phones shipped to another state to avoid taxes yet Google ships their earnings to other countries to do the same thing.

Re: Lots of states have anti-scalping laws

[Sarten-X]

Having worked in theater for a while, I can assure you that ticket sales (in a traditional venue, at least) have practically nothing to do with the house costs... but it's complicated.

First, the house charges rent. That typically covers the wear & tear, upkeep, and basic services for the show during its run. There may be basic crew costs included, or they may be negotiated separately, but the bottom line is a big up-front cost for the producers to put a show on stage at all.

As tickets go on sale, they are priced according to what the market will bear, through a joint agreement between the producers and the house. Front-row seats for a Broadway show pull in above-average prices, but the nosebleed section behind a pillar next to the air conditioner barely sells for enough to cover the processing cost. However, selling cheap seats allows the producers to boast about the number of tickets sold, and helps the house meet goals for community access (which is very important for nonprofit houses). A cut of the ticket sales goes to the house (justified as covering the box office processing costs), but the majority of it goes to the producers... After all, the producers are also paying a lot of the expense to promote the show, often through separate advertising deals with the house company.

To address the original point: Ticket sales are based on the market, not the expenses. A nonprofit house working toward promoting the arts might indeed sell tickets at a huge loss to please their patron donors. A promoter trying to increase a band's popularity might cut prices, expecting to lose money on the whole show in an effort to boost popularity for higher return later. On the other hand, a top-bill show with great reviews in other venues could be priced at a huge profit, and still expect to sell.

Finally, once the show opens, the producers have the captive audience in the seats, excited about the show, and that's when the real money-making starts. Concessions are usually handled mostly by the house, but merchandise is usually purely profit for the producers. That's why the adage about merchandise rings true. It does allow promoters to cut ticket prices and still make a profit on the show, or at least reduce the expense they paid for promoting the brand. For small bands who have to pay their own expenses, this is the best chance they get at turning a profit on the show.