Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Subscribe
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Subscribe
    Home Applications
    • Applications

    FTC Slams Pop-Up Spammer

    Written by

    Dennis Callaghan
    Published November 6, 2003
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      The Federal Trade Commission Thursday took action against a company that it alleges was exploiting a security hole in Microsofts Messenger Service utility to send full-screen pop-up ads to consumers advertising software that would block the very same pop-up ads.

      At the FTCs request, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Maryland issued a temporary restraining order against D Squared Solutions LLC, and its officers, Anish Dhingra and Jeffrey Davis, blocking them from continuing their business practices. The FTC plans to seek further legal action against the defendants, including recovering any revenue the company earned from selling its software.

      The FTC complaint alleges that the defendants caused Messenger Service windows to pop up on consumers computer screens as often as every 10 minutes, advertising software that would block future pop-up spam messages.

      According to the FTC, the defendants placed their pop-up ads near the center of users computer screens, blocking the users work. The ads appeared as long as the users were connected to the Internet, leading to particular trouble for users with always-on broadband connections. The FTC alleges that these users continued to be bombarded by the pop-ups, even when they working in other applications such as word-processing or spreadsheet programs.

      The complaint states that the defendants allegedly either sold or licensed their pop-up-sending software to other people, allowing them to engage in the same conduct. The defendants Web site allegedly offered software that would allow buyers to send pop-ups to 135,000 Internet addresses per hour, along with a database of more than two billion unique addresses.

      The defendants advertised their product at a number of sites including broadcastblocker.com, defeatpopupspam.com, directadstopper.com and easypopupblocker.com. D Squared Solutions, of San Diego, has long been vilified for its practices at anti-spam Web sites. The company, usually doing business under the brand name BroadcastMarketer, had been in a running battle with America Online Inc., which was trying to block D Squareds pop-up ads from its Internet service.

      Next page: FTC calls the practice “extortion.”

      Page Two

      D Squared Solutions has allegedly licensed the software to another San Diego company, Scintillant Inc., which sells the software from the byebyeads.com and endads.com sites. The FTC is considering action against that company as well, though those sites remain up.

      “Its an unfair practice to [send] advertisements that create a problem and then charge consumers for the solution,” said Howard Beales, director of the FTCs Bureau of Consumer Protection. “We call that extortion, and its not any different in the high-tech world.”

      Beales recommended that consumers turn off Messenger Service, which he noted “serves no function” for most home users. He also suggested home users install firewall software to protect from pop-up ad intrusions.

      Most enterprises are protected from the security hole by firewall software. Microsoft has issued a patch for the hole and has changed default settings of Windows so that Messenger Service is turned off. Messenger Service has been included in Windows since Windows 2000. It was originally developed to allow network administrators to send pop-up alerts to users, such as when printing jobs are done before being exploited by pop-up ad spammers.

      Beales said the FTC will seek restitution on behalf of consumers from D Squared Solutions. “We dont know how much they got, but well find out in the course of the litigation,” he said. He said he expected the figure was in the “hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

      Phone and e-mail messages left for Dhingra, Davis, D Squared Solutions and Scintillant were not returned.

      Discuss This in the eWEEK Forum

      Dennis Callaghan
      Dennis Callaghan

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Artificial Intelligence

      9 Best AI 3D Generators You Need...

      Sam Rinko - June 25, 2024 0
      AI 3D Generators are powerful tools for many different industries. Discover the best AI 3D Generators, and learn which is best for your specific use case.
      Read more
      Cloud

      RingCentral Expands Its Collaboration Platform

      Zeus Kerravala - November 22, 2023 0
      RingCentral adds AI-enabled contact center and hybrid event products to its suite of collaboration services.
      Read more
      Artificial Intelligence

      8 Best AI Data Analytics Software &...

      Aminu Abdullahi - January 18, 2024 0
      Learn the top AI data analytics software to use. Compare AI data analytics solutions & features to make the best choice for your business.
      Read more
      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Video

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2024 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.