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.

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