RSS - Regulations, Statutes and Standards TMC

Adware Marketer To Pay $1.5 Million To Settle FTC Complaint

February 20, 2007
Adware distributor Direct Revenue LLC will pay $1.5 million to settle U.S. Federal Trade Commission charges that it and its affiliates installed adware and pop-up generating software on the machines of unsuspecting users.

The FTC complaint said that Direct Revenue and affiliates accomplished these installations by means of exploiting Web browser flaws. The FTC labeled these practices "unfair and deceptive methods to download adware onto consumers' computers and then obstruct them from removing it."

The FTC decision was 4-1. Dissenting Commissioner John Leibowitz thought the punishment was too mild.

Man did he ever:

"The $1.5 million in monetary relief that the Commission obtained as part of the consent agreement is a disappointment because it apparently leaves Direct Revenue's owners lining their pockets with more than $20 million from a business model based on deceit," Leibowitz said. "I would rather go to trial and risk losing than settle for a compromise that makes an FTC action just a cost of doing business."

As part of their punishment for what the FTC is terming "ill-gotten gains," Direct Revenue is also proscribed from delivering ads of any type to any user who installed their software before October 1.

My suspicion is that not a lot of people did that.

The only exception: users who specifically agreed to terms in opt-in messages.




Related Tags:

Email Author Feedback

See this page in TechnoratiTechnoratibook mark Adware Marketer To Pay $1.5 Million To Settle FTC Complaint in del.icio.usDel.icio.usAdware Marketer To Pay $1.5 Million To Settle FTC Complaint to Slashdot.comSlashdotSubmit Adware Marketer To Pay $1.5 Million To Settle FTC Complaint to Digg.comDiggBookmark Adware Marketer To Pay $1.5 Million To Settle FTC Complaint in FurlFurlBookmark Adware Marketer To Pay $1.5 Million To Settle FTC Complaint in SpurlSpurl

Listed below are links to sites that reference Adware Marketer To Pay $1.5 Million To Settle FTC Complaint:

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for Adware Marketer To Pay $1.5 Million To Settle FTC Complaint:
http://blog.tmcnet.com/mt3/t.fcgi/31887

Comments to Adware Marketer To Pay $1.5 Million To Settle FTC Complaint


(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)