New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer yesterday filed a lawsuit against an internet marketing firm, alleging that it was the source of spyware and adware that has been secretly installed onto millions of home computers.
The suit seeks an injunction against Los Angeles-based Intermix Media Inc, an account for all revenues earned, and damages.Spyware, software that is used to collect information about an individual or organisation without their knowledge, and adware, which generates pop-up ads, can be deposited on a computer as an e-mail attachment or as a web site download."Spyware and adware are more than an annoyance," Spitzer said. "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."He accused Intermix of installing a wide range of such software on home computers without giving consumers proper notice – all in breach of state laws that ban false advertising and deceptive business practices.The company, according to the Attorney General's office, owns and operates a wide range of web sites that advertised "free" software available for download, including screensavers, screen cursors and games.However, along with these programs, Intermix secretly downloaded a number of ad-delivery programs, says the suit. One such program was called "KeenValue" and it delivered pop-up ads to its unsuspecting users. Another program, "IncrediFind," redirected web addresses to Intermix's proprietary search engine. Other programs placed advertising "toolbars" on users' screens.The Attorney General documented at least 10 separate web sites from which Intermix or its agents were downloading spyware, providing either no warning or other misleading disclosures.In this way, Intermix and its agents are thought to have downloaded more than 3.7 million programs to New Yorkers alone, and tens of millions more to users across the nation.Intermix also went to great lengths to protect the spyware and adware it secretly installed, says the Attorney General's Office. The programs were hidden in unlikely locations on the computer and could not be removed through a computer's "Add/Remove" function. In addition, the programs omitted "un-install" applications, and even reinstalled themselves after being deleted.In a statement, Intermix responded:
"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.""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."
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