Spyware Vendor Sued Over 'Invasive' Software
New York State has gone on the attack against spyware and adware by filing a lawsuit against a Los Angeles-based marketing company that allegedly installed "invasive" software onto consumers' computers without proper notice as part of free software downloads.
In an announcement today, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said he had filed the lawsuit against Intermix Media, a 6-year-old Internet marketing company.
The lawsuit (a downloadable PDF version is available) alleges that New York consumers received about 3.7 million downloads of free software from the company's Web sites, which offer screen savers, games, cursors, and other small programs. It also alleges that consumers were not adequately notified that the software contained invasive spyware and adware applications that would create pop-up windows, redirect Web browsers to other Web sites, and obstruct the users' online experiences.
"Spyware and adware are more than an annoyance," Spitzer said in the statement. "These fraudulent programs foul machines, undermine productivity, and in many cases frustrate consumers' efforts to remove them from their computers. These issues can serve to be a hindrance to the growth of e-commerce."
An Intermix spokesperson could not be reached for comment today, but the company issued a statement saying spyware and adware distributions were in its past.
"Intermix does not promote or condone spyware, and remains committed to putting this legacy issue behind it as soon as practicable," Christopher Lipp, senior vice president and general counsel at Intermix, said in the statement. "Many of the practices being challenged were instituted under prior leadership, and Intermix has been voluntarily and proactively improving these applications and related consumer disclosure and functionality for some time. In an abundance of caution, we voluntarily ceased distribution of the applications at issue earlier this month."
Lipp said Intermix "has always been committed to protecting consumer privacy."
"We expect to continue our discussions with the New York Attorney General's Office and are still hopeful of reaching an appropriate and amicable resolution," he said. continued>>
- Login or register to post comments
- Printer-friendly version
- 3148 reads
- PDF version
More in Tux Machines
- Highlights
- Front Page
- Latest Headlines
- Archive
- Recent comments
- All-Time Popular Stories
- Hot Topics
- New Members
digiKam 7.7.0 is releasedAfter three months of active maintenance and another bug triage, the digiKam team is proud to present version 7.7.0 of its open source digital photo manager. See below the list of most important features coming with this release. |
Dilution and Misuse of the "Linux" Brand
|
Samsung, Red Hat to Work on Linux Drivers for Future TechThe metaverse is expected to uproot system design as we know it, and Samsung is one of many hardware vendors re-imagining data center infrastructure in preparation for a parallel 3D world. Samsung is working on new memory technologies that provide faster bandwidth inside hardware for data to travel between CPUs, storage and other computing resources. The company also announced it was partnering with Red Hat to ensure these technologies have Linux compatibility. |
today's howtos
|
Recent comments
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago