"Advertising.com Settles FTC Adware Charges
Associated Press
Aug 3, 2005 8:47 PM (ET)
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20050804/D8BOMB601.html
WASHINGTON (AP) - Advertising.com Inc., a unit of Time Warner Inc. (TWX)'s
America Online, agreed to settle federal charges that the company offered
free security software without adequately disclosing that it also came with
adware.
Under a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, Advertising.com will
be required to "clearly and prominently" disclose that consumers who
install the program, SpyBlast, will receive pop-up ads based on their
Internet browsing habits.
The settlement also requires that Advertising.com comply with standard
record-keeping and other provisions to allow the FTC to monitor compliance
with the order. The proposed consent order doesn't cover AOL, which bought
Advertising.com for $435 million in 2004.
The FTC complaint charged that when consumers installed SpyBlast - a
software intended to protect against hackers - they were not required to
read the agreement alerting users about receiving potential marketing messages.
Adware and spyware have become major nuisances for consumers. Both types of
programs typically are installed with little or no disclosure. While adware
is less dangerous than spyware, consumers complain adware programs bombard
them with pop-up ads, slow their computers and are hard to remove.
Andrew Weinstein, a spokesman for AOL, said Advertising.com distributed the
software as an experiment in 2003. The experiment ended the same year,
before AOL acquired the company.
"We support the FTC's efforts to fight spyware and we will continue to
protect our member from those problems," Weinstein said.
In June, Intermix Media Inc. (MIX) agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle
charges filed by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer that it illegally
distributed adware.
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
antunes at uh dot edu
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