'Million Dollar Money Drop' Show Sued by Contestant
A couple has brought a lawsuit against the Fox game show Million Dollar Money Drop for "tricking" them out of a $580,000 prize, reports TMZ.
Back in 2011, Andrew and Patricia Murray appeared on the game show and were asked the question: "According to the data security firm IMPERVA, what is the most common computer password?"
The answer choices were:
A) Password B) 123456 C) I Love You
Based on personal knowledge and things they've read, the couple incorrectly guessed B: 123456. Instead, they were told the correct answer was A: Password. Thus, they lost their money, reports TMZ.
The losing contestants now claim that the question was unfair. According to the couple, IMPERVA's survey of computer passwords consisted of an analysis of a single hacking incident involving the website RockYou.com in 2009, where the most popular password on that particular website was "Password."
The couple claims that had they known that the survey was regarding a single incident, and not a true survey of many users across a spectrum of websites, they would have hedged their bet, reports TMZ.
Does the couple have a valid claim against the game show? On the face of it, one would probably guess not. The question did state that the answer came from IMPERVA and did not indicate that the password would be the most popular on the entire world wide web.
In addition, who actually knows that "123456" is the most common computer password as opposed to "password." There is no comprehensive data on all computer passwords, and at some point, it's all guesswork and surveys will be limited by the pool of people they survey.
Fox chose one survey (which had a limited pool of one website) as opposed to another survey. It's hard to see how the network or Million Dollar Money Drop can be sued for that.
Related Resources:
- Couple sues Fox game show after losing $580,000 'despite answering question correctly' (Daily Mail)
- Dating Service Sued Over Background Checks (FindLaw's Injured)
- No Dice: Casino Lawsuit Filed by Terry Watanabe (FindLaw's Injured)