U.S. targets "Pop-Up Spam" Scheme

acidosmosis · Nov 6, 2003

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US regulators announced an effort to clamp down on a new type of "pop-up" advertising scheme that exploits a loophole in Microsoft Windows designed for network administrator messages.

The Federal Trade Commission said it had obtained a court order barring one company's use of the Windows Messenger system to barrage consumers with pop-up advertising.

Microsoft designed the Messenger Service for system administrators to notify users about the network, but acknowledged that some advertisers have found a way to use the service to send advertising messages and possibly viruses. It advises consumers not using the system to deactivate it

The FTC action targeted D Squared, claiming the company "engaged in an unfair practice by interfering with consumers' use of their computers, specifically by causing a stream of multiple, unwanted Windows Messenger Service pop-ups to appear on their computer screens."

Ironically, the messages instructed consumers to visit sites that suggest that the barrage of pop-ups could be stopped by purchasing software at a cost of 25 to 30 dollars, the FTC said.

"This is nothing more than a high-tech version of a classic scam," said Howard Beales, the FTC's consumer protection chief.

Yahoo Link: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20031106/tc_afp/us_internet_spam_031106204340

It's about time.

StormBringer · Nov 6, 2003

New? Wow, they must have recently crawled from under a rock too.
I think its a safe assumption that most of us have known about this for quite some time.

Matter of fact I think that ad, or one very similar is the one that made me realise I needed to disable that service...about
two years ago.

TechSpot

U.S. targets "Pop-Up Spam" Scheme

acidosmosis TechSpot Chancellor

StormBringer Newcomer, in training