2MANYAPPS CODE OF PRACTICE
for MOBILE/AFFILIATE PARTNER’S ACTIVITIES

This page is intended to provide a binding overview for 2MANYAPPS’ affiliate and marketing partners worldwide and it describes which kinds of advertisement are not considered legal and must therefore not be applied to advertise mobile payment and value added services (VAS)

 

:: APPLICATION OF CRIMINAL LAW ::

Providing deceptive ad banners for a paid for service may be regarded as a criminal offence according to the criminal law of all countries. In particular, 2MANYAPPS SRL will regard and treat as CRIMINAL OFFENCE all of the following practices:

– GENERAL PROVISIONS

Whosoever (subjective facts) willingly (means to know and to want the objective facts below) and with the intent (means aiming at) of obtaining for himself (the affiliate Network) or a third person (the advertiser) an unlawful material benefit (the affiliate Network´s provision paid by Advertiser is without legal cause if sale was generated unlawfully) damages the property of another (both: the advertiser´s property, since he pays provision for a sale that was generated unlawfully, the end customer´s property who pays something based on wrong promises) by causing or maintaining an error by (an error is caused by evoking any contradictory impression between truth and imagination) pretending false facts or by distorting or suppressing true facts (means manipulating the imagination of a human by causing, strengthening or confirming an error, also doable through omission to inform about things that had to be said (e.g. that something costs money) (the loss of property must be caused by the error) shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding five years and/or a fine.

SO FINALLY ANY BANNER OR AD PAGE THAT PROMISES SOMETHING WHICH WILL NOT BE RENDERED AFTER THE ADVERTISED SALE HAS BEEN MADE DAMAGES THE PROPERTY OF THE ADVERTISER AND THE END CUSTOMER. THIS ALSO INCLUDES CASES WHERE THE RELEVANT PRICING OR PRODUCT INFORMATION IS FULLY HIDDEN (E.G. IFRAME-MASKING)

 

– AS RELATED TO ONLINE FRAUD

It is also a criminal offence to design computer programs as well as websites in a way that a transaction is being executed without the free will of the owner of an account or a phone contract;

Whosoever with the intent of obtaining for himself or a third person an unlawful material benefit damages the property of another by influencing the result of a data processing operation through incorrect configuration of a program, use of incorrect or incomplete data, unauthorized use of data or other unauthorized influence on the course of the processing shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding five years or a fine.

– IN TERMS OF UNFAIR COMPETITION

EU wide the same law applies: Article 6 (Unfair Commercial Practices Directive) on Misleading actions.

A commercial practice shall be regarded as misleading if it contains false information and is therefore untruthful or in any way, including overall presentation, deceives or is likely to deceive the average consumer, even if the information is factually correct, in relation to one or more of the following elements, and in either case causes or is likely to cause him to take a transactional decision that he would not have taken otherwise. Misleading advertising can be done by positive action or by omission

The following cases are regarded as being misleading in particular if not or not correctly provided:

  • the main characteristics of the product, to an extent appropriate to the medium and the product;
  • the geographical address and the identity of the trader, such as his trading name and, where applicable, the geographical address and the identity of the trader on whose behalf he is acting;
  • the price inclusive of taxes, or where the nature of the product means that the price cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the manner in which the price is calculated, as well as, where appropriate, all additional freight, delivery or postal charges or, where these charges cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the fact that such additional charges may be payable;
  • the arrangements for payment, delivery, performance and the complaint handling policy, if they depart from the requirements of professional diligence;
  • for products and transactions involving a right of withdrawal or cancellation, the existence of such a right.

SO FINALLY ADS THAT IMPLY THAT THE CUSTOMER MIGHT GET SOMETHING DIFFERENT OR THAT BUYING A SUBSCRIPTION WOULD BE THE PREREQUISITE FOR ANOTHER BENEFIT (E.G. CONTENT LOCKING) WILL BESIDES OF BEING FRAUDULENT ALSO BE REGARDED AS MISLEADING

 

Also certain aggressive commercial practices are prohibited such as:

  • Use of harassment, coercion and undue influence (including but not limited to physical force, threatening, exploit of misfortune)
  • Displaying a trust mark, quality mark or equivalent without having obtained the necessary authorization
  • Making an invitation to purchase products at a specified price and then refusing to show the advertised item to consumers with the intention of promoting a different product (bait and switch)
  • Falsely stating that a product will only be available for a very limited time
  • Making a materially inaccurate claim concerning the nature and extent of the risk to the personal security of the consumer or his family if the consumer does not purchase the product.
  • Promoting a product similar to a product made by a particular manufacturer, in such a manner as to deliberately mislead the consumer into believing that the product is made by that same manufacturer, when it is not.
  • Establishing, operating or promoting a pyramid promotional scheme where a consumer gives consideration for the opportunity to receive compensation that is derived primarily from the introduction of other consumers into the scheme rather than from the sale or consumption of products.
  • Claiming that products are able to facilitate winning in games of chance.
  • Falsely claiming that a product is able to cure illnesses, dysfunction or malformations.
  • Claiming in a commercial practice to offer a competition or prize promotion without awarding the prizes described or a reasonable equivalent
  • Describing a product as ‘gratis’, ‘free’, ‘without charge’ or similar if the consumer has to pay anything other than the unavoidable cost of responding to the commercial practice and collecting or paying for delivery of the item.
  • Including in marketing material an invoice or similar document seeking payment which gives the consumer the impression that he has already ordered the marketed product when he has not.
  • Making persistent and unwanted solicitations by telephone, fax, e-mail or other remote media except in circumstances and to the extent justified under national law to enforce a contractual obligation.
  • Including in an advertisement a direct exhortation to children to buy advertised products or persuade their parents or other adults to buy advertised products for them.
  • Creating the false impression that the consumer has already won, will win, or will on doing a particular act win, a prize or other equivalent benefit, when in fact there is no prize or other equivalent benefit;

SUCH RULES REGULATIONS ARE EXISTING IN ALL OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD OUTSIDE THE EU AS WELL

 

:: PROHIBITED MARKETING PRACTICES ::

In particular, (but not only) the regulatory Telecom and/or Consumer Protection Authorities as well as the Mobile Carriers have set up rules regarding deceptive advertising practices, sometimes even going beyond the legal requirements.

These rules include the unlawfulness of (all are examples and not limited to these):

– GENERAL MISLEADING PRACTICES

  • Untrue free offers
  • Misleading competitions, especially exaggerating the chance of winning or suggesting a prize has been won
  • Illegal content lockers
  • SEO/SEM which misleads,
  • Bite and switch offers

– UNTRUE WARNINGS OR PRESSURE

  • Scareware
  • Ransomware
  • Warnings or implying that user’s device may be infected with a virus,
  • Fake virus scans, warnings a program or app is running out or will no longer be available
  • Timers or other words or mechanics that suggest time pressure

– TRAFFIC BUSTERS

  • False redirects
  • Snowball system ads
  • Artificially generated clicks or impressions or created sessions on the relevant website, whether by way of a robot or software program or otherwise.

– TECHNICAL FRAUD

  • iframe masking and click jacking
  • Typo squatting
  • Like jacking
  • Malware, spyware, viruses
  • Pop ups, pop unders that execute action without user interference or that hide significant information

– ILLEGAL AD CONTEXT

  • File sharing or other copyright infringing pages
  • Pages promoting or displaying pornography, racism, violence, hate speech or any other indecent, libelous, defamatory contents or other content unsuitable for children.

– BRAND HIGHJACKING / BRAND BIDDING

  • Use of third party´s brands, company or product names without legal ground. Implying offers, news or warnings coming from such companies or brands.
  • Ads triggered by keywords using any trademarks of 2MANYAPPS or Advertised Company or by any other third party brand without permission.

– OTHER

  • In General no advertising targeted at children, For the UK (other markets may follow) no ads in apps or on websites targeted at or attractive to children
  • Creatives including the links provided by 2MANYAPPS must not be changed without the prior written consent of 2MANYAPPS.
  • No free trials may be offered or implied without 2MANYAPPS´ prior approval in writing.
  • Any other campaign restrictions and specifications agreed between the parties remain unaffected and in full force and effect.

 

RELIABILITY

The Publisher warrants that it performs regular reputational checks of any sub-partner that he contracts with and only uses sub-partners that are well known to the Publisher.

The publisher shall use traffic monitoring tools in order to understand how sub-partners generate their traffic. The Publisher shall closely monitor the sub-partner´s traffic for irregularities as well as he shall have sophisticated tracking technology and fraud detecting systems and shall immediately report any issues found to 2MANYAPPS.

SPECIAL REGULATION

The publisher guarantees that he made himself and his sub-publisher aware of the applicable regulatory and legislative landscape on an international level.

If required by the law or regulation (such as currently in AUS) the publisher shall ensure that all creatives contain full and understandably legible product and pricing information as provided by 2MANYAPPS

PENALTY

For each culpable breach of the above listed campaign restrictions, Publisher agrees to pay to 2MANYAPPS a penalty of one thousand euros, regardless if the breach was committed by Publisher or by a Third Party sub-publisher.

GENERAL LIABILITY

2MANYAPPS reserves the right to claim higher damages, however, in such case, the penalty amount will be offset.

In addition to any rights or remedies available to us we may terminate the Agreement withhold (and you agree you are not eligible for) any fees and charges payable to you under the Agreement, if we determine that you or other persons that we determine are affiliated with you or acting in concert with you:

  • have not complied with any requirement or restriction described in these Guidelines or other operational documentation;
  • have not properly tracked or reported a lead(s);
  • have obtained and/or contributed a lead(s)
    • (i) from an historic and/or stored database;
    • (ii) which are not submitted in real-time or within more than 5 minutes of being submitted; or
    • (iii) which were not collected using the relevant data entry forms and/or processes.