In hot digital pursuit of those Internet "gangstas" Eliot Spitzer, the New York attorney general has sued another Internet advertising company on Tuesday, with the accusation that it secretly installed malicious programs on personal computers and also sent ads via their "spyware" that was pre-installed.
Direct Revenue LLC is the recipient of the suit which has millions of pop-up ad programs installed on computers that also track users Internet activity. He has asked the state to ban the practice.
Spitzer said "These applications are deceptive and unfair to consumers, bad for businesses that rely on efficient networks to do their jobs, and bad for online retailers that need consumers to trust and enjoy their online experience, we will continue to side with consumers in their fight for control of their desktops."
This is not the first Internet company Spitzer has went after as he also sued Intermix Media Inc., the developer of the popular site MySpace. That case was eventually settled for $7.5 million in penalties over three years.
The lawsuit claims that Direct Revenue or its distributors were offering free products without disclosing that they came with VX2, Aurora, OfferOptimizer and similar adware downloads.
Besides unknowingly tracking consumers' online activity and the delivery of pop-up ads, they also had things in place to make it very difficult for consumers' to remove the spyware.
Normally I wouldn't personally be bothered by this happening, but in this case it's a little troubling. You see, Spitzer is running for governor of New York, and I think with some of the words he is using is a little too much postering.
For example he calls the adware "drive-by downloads," equating it with "drive-by shootings." He's making it sound like he's Eliot Ness pursuing Al Capone. Hey, you don't think that he thinks...ah nevermind.
The point is that he is postering to get media coverage and turning it into something of a circus, rather than a legitimate pursuit of possible lawbreakers. I guess he's getting what he wanted: publicity.
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