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YouTube's Biggest Stars Are Pushing a Shady Polish Gambling Site (thedailybeast.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Daily Beast: Untold riches are promised on Mystery Brand, a website that sells prize-filled "mystery boxes." If you buy one of the digital boxes, some of which cost hundreds of dollars, you might only get a fidget spinner -- or you might get a luxury sports car. For just $100, users can win a box filled with rare Supreme streetwear. For only $12.99, they can win a Lamborghini, or even a $250 million mega-mansion billed as "the most expensive Los Angeles realty." Or at least that's what some top YouTubers have been telling their young fans about the gambling site -- with the video stars apparently seeing that as a gamble worth taking, especially after a dip in YouTube advertising rates.
Over the past week, hugely popular YouTube stars like Jake Paul and Bryan "Ricegum" Le have encouraged their fans to spend money on Mystery Brand, a previously little-known site that appears to be based in Poland. In their videos, Paul and Le show themselves betting hundreds of dollars on the site for a chance to open a digital "box." At first, they win only low-value prizes like fidget spinners or Converse sneakers. By the end of the video, though, they have won thousands of dollars worth of tech and clothing, like rare pairs of sneakers or Apple AirPods. If they like the prize, the YouTube stars have it shipped to their house. The gambling site doesn't list the owner or location where it's based, although the site's terms of service say it's "subject to the laws and jurisdiction of Poland." To make matters worse, users of the site might not even receive the items they believed they have won. "During using the services of the website You may encounter circumstances in which Your won items will not be received," the terms of service reads.
Also, while the ToS say that underage users are ineligible to receive prizes, many of the YouTubers promoting the site have audiences who are underage. "[Jake Paul], for example, has acknowledged that the bulk of his fanbase is between 8 and 15 years old," reports The Daily Beast.
Over the past week, hugely popular YouTube stars like Jake Paul and Bryan "Ricegum" Le have encouraged their fans to spend money on Mystery Brand, a previously little-known site that appears to be based in Poland. In their videos, Paul and Le show themselves betting hundreds of dollars on the site for a chance to open a digital "box." At first, they win only low-value prizes like fidget spinners or Converse sneakers. By the end of the video, though, they have won thousands of dollars worth of tech and clothing, like rare pairs of sneakers or Apple AirPods. If they like the prize, the YouTube stars have it shipped to their house. The gambling site doesn't list the owner or location where it's based, although the site's terms of service say it's "subject to the laws and jurisdiction of Poland." To make matters worse, users of the site might not even receive the items they believed they have won. "During using the services of the website You may encounter circumstances in which Your won items will not be received," the terms of service reads.
Also, while the ToS say that underage users are ineligible to receive prizes, many of the YouTubers promoting the site have audiences who are underage. "[Jake Paul], for example, has acknowledged that the bulk of his fanbase is between 8 and 15 years old," reports The Daily Beast.
For the record: online gambling in Poland is also illegal.
The full text of that TOS paragraph says: 9. DRAWBACKS AND DEFECTS 9.1. During using the services of the website You may encounter circumstances in which Your won items will not be received. In this case, the Web site will make every effort to resolve this situation and try as soon as possible to resolve Your problem. The maximum term of consideration of the defect/error is 45 working days. So, as far as I understand, it's just an explanation of how they'll handle issues with delivery of the prizes (if not particularly convincing). Clearly a translation, not something written up by an English native. And as for Poland, contracts must be fulfilled -- obviously, so it's not legal for someone to declare "oh, you may not receive the items we promised".
I'm assuming the GP is making a reference to Elsagate. (Infographic)
The best way to describe it is extreme shock content, except intentionally aimed at audiences too young to understand parody and satire. The sheer weirdness of the worst content defies all logical explanation.
To my knowledge, the only country which has done anything like what you're describing is Belgium. When you say, "in pretty much every country," which countries are you referring to, exactly?
In the United States I believe that the legal precedent was set quite some time ago over baseball cards, which are functionally equivalent to loot boxes / prize packs / etc. That's a vague recollection though, I would not be able to cite that case.