New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is suing an Internet advertising
firm he claims surreptitiously installed millions of pop-up ad
producing programs on individuals' computers.
The suit seeks a court order preventing New York City-based Direct
Revenue from secretly installing spyware or sending ads through spyware (define) that
has already been installed on computers. It also asks the court to impose
monetary penalties and force the company to provide an accounting of its
revenues.
Direct Revenue's executives called the lawsuit an attack on the company's
"past practices of distributing its advertising software."
"This lawsuit is a baseless attempt by the Office of the Attorney General
to rewrite the rules of the adware business," according to a statement
posted on the Direct Revenue Web site. "It focuses exclusively on the
company's past practices - practices we and other industry leaders changed
long ago - and says not a word about what we're doing today."
Spitzer's lawsuit claims that Direct Revenue advertised free applications
such as games or browser "enhancement" software but did not inform consumers
that spyware would accompany the applications.
Once consumers downloaded the applications, surreptitious code placed on
their computers caused Direct Revenue's own servers to install its spyware,
without notice to consumers. Among the names of the programs that Direct
Revenue bundled with its applications are "VX2," "Aurora" and
"OfferOptimizer," each of which tracks consumers' Web behavior and then
delivers sequential pop-up ads to them.
"Surreptitiously installed spyware and adware (define) harm consumers and
businesses, and my office will continue to prosecute these practices
aggressively," said Spitzer, whose office last year filed a suit against
adware distributor Intermix Media, which resulted in a $7.5 million
settlement.
This article was first published on InternetNews.com. To read the full article, click here.
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