| Recurring |
one_organization |
[a] The software failure incident related to bot-makers artificially inflating Twitch channel audiences has happened again within the same organization, Twitch. Twitch had previously sued another bot service owner, twitchstarter.com, in a similar case last March [66966].
[b] The incident involving bot-makers artificially boosting Twitch channel audiences is not explicitly mentioned to have occurred at multiple organizations in the provided article. Therefore, there is no information to suggest that a similar incident has happened at other organizations or with their products and services. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) |
design, operation |
(a) The software failure incident related to the design phase can be seen in the case of Twitch suing bot-makers for artificially inflating channel audiences. The defendants developed automated programs that added fake viewers and followers to broadcasters' streams to manipulate Twitch's analytics software, resulting in a higher position in the directory of available content. This design flaw introduced by the bot-makers contributed to poor-quality content becoming more prominent on the platform [66966].
(b) The software failure incident related to the operation phase is evident in the misuse of the bot software by users. The bots were designed to post fake chat messages on streams to deceive Twitch's checks for channels with high viewers but low engagement. This misuse of the system by bot users led to a negative impact on real viewers' experience, as they encountered bots spewing random words instead of engaging in meaningful interactions on Twitch chat [66966]. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system |
(a) The software failure incident reported in the articles is primarily within_system. The failure occurred due to the actions of bot-makers who were manipulating Twitch's platform by using automated programs to add fake viewers and followers to channels. This artificial inflation of audience numbers was aimed at boosting the popularity of certain broadcasters unfairly, allowing them to earn more money and gain entry to Twitch's Partner Programme. The bots used different IP addresses for each fake viewer and posted fake chat messages to evade detection by Twitch's analytics software. This manipulation within the system led to poor-quality content becoming more prominent and affected the real viewers' experience on the platform [66966]. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) |
non-human_actions, human_actions |
(a) The software failure incident in this case was primarily due to non-human actions, specifically the use of automated bot programs by the defendants to artificially inflate viewers and followers on Twitch channels. These bots were designed to manipulate Twitch's analytics software and boost the popularity of certain channels, ultimately leading to poor-quality content becoming more prominent [66966].
(b) However, human actions were also involved in this software failure incident as the defendants, Michael and Katherine Anjomi, actively marketed and sold their bot services to users, charging fees ranging up to $760 a month. They promoted their bots as "undetected" and used tactics to make the fake viewers and followers harder to spot, such as using different IP addresses for each fake viewer and posting fake chat messages on streams [66966]. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
software |
(a) The software failure incident in the article is not related to hardware issues. It primarily involves the use of software bots by the defendants to artificially inflate viewership numbers on Twitch channels, leading to unfair advantages for broadcasters and poor-quality content becoming more prominent [66966].
(b) The software failure incident in the article is directly related to software issues. The defendants developed and sold software bots that added fake viewers and followers to Twitch channels, manipulating the platform's analytics software and impacting the quality of user interactions on the platform [66966]. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
malicious |
(a) The software failure incident described in the article is malicious in nature. The court documents state that the defendants were involved in creating and selling bots that artificially inflated Twitch channel audiences, leading to unfair advantages for broadcasters and poor-quality content becoming more prominent. The defendants marketed their bots as "undetected" and used tactics to make the fake viewers harder to spot, such as using different IP addresses for each fake viewer and posting fake chat messages to fool Twitch's checks. This behavior was aimed at manipulating Twitch's analytics software and gaining entry to the Twitch Partner Programme, which required a high number of viewers and followers. The court banned the defendants from providing any service that interacted with the streaming platform and ordered them to pay damages [66966].
(b) The software failure incident is non-malicious as it was not caused by unintentional factors. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
poor_decisions |
(a) The intent of the software failure incident was poor_decisions as the bot-makers were intentionally charging users to artificially boost Twitch channels' audiences, resulting in poor-quality content becoming more prominent. The defendants marketed their bots as "undetected" and used tactics to make the fake viewers harder to spot, ultimately harming the real viewers' experience on the platform [66966]. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
development_incompetence |
(a) The software failure incident in the article can be attributed to development incompetence. The individuals involved were creating and selling bots that artificially inflated Twitch channel audiences, leading to poor-quality content becoming more prominent and negatively impacting real viewers' experience on the platform. Twitch sued the bot-makers for their alleged bot-related activity, which involved using automated programs to add fake viewers and followers to streams in order to manipulate analytics software and gain entry to the Twitch Partner Programme [66966]. This incident showcases a failure due to contributing factors introduced by the lack of professional competence in creating and promoting these bots.
(b) The software failure incident in the article does not seem to be accidental. The actions of the bot-makers were intentional, as they marketed their bots as "undetected" and programmed them to use different IP addresses for each fake viewer to evade detection by Twitch. Additionally, they posted fake chat messages on streams to deceive Twitch's checks for channels with high viewers but low engagement. These deliberate actions indicate that the failure was not accidental but rather a result of intentional manipulation of the platform [66966]. |
| Duration |
temporary |
The software failure incident reported in the articles is more aligned with a temporary failure. The incident involved the use of bots by the defendants to artificially boost Twitch channels' audiences, leading to unfair advantages for broadcasters and poor-quality content becoming more prominent. Twitch took legal action against the bot-makers, resulting in a court order to ban the defendants from providing any service that interacted with the streaming platform, hand over earnings, and pay damages. This indicates that the failure was temporary and specific to the actions of the defendants rather than a permanent issue affecting the entire platform [66966]. |
| Behaviour |
omission, value, other |
(a) crash: The articles do not mention any instance of a system crash.
(b) omission: The software failure incident in this case can be categorized under omission. The bot-makers were using automated programs to add fake viewers and followers to broadcasters' streams, which omitted the actual engagement and interaction that real viewers would provide [66966].
(c) timing: The articles do not mention any instance of timing-related failures.
(d) value: The software failure incident can be categorized under value. The bots created by the Anjomis were designed to artificially boost the popularity of Twitch channels, allowing broadcasters to gain entry to the Twitch Partner Programme without genuinely earning the required viewership and engagement [66966].
(e) byzantine: The articles do not mention any instance of a byzantine failure.
(f) other: The software failure incident can be categorized under other as well. The bots created by the Anjomis not only omitted genuine viewer engagement but also provided fake chat messages to deceive Twitch's checks, leading to a degradation in the quality of social interactions on the platform [66966]. |