Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

FTC Shuts Down 'Pop-Up Trapping' Sites

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the and-good-riddance dept.

Masem writes: "The FTC today ordered the shutdown of 5,500 sites owned by John Zuccarini, all of them the so-called 'typo' sites that common mis-entered URLs for popular sites (such as Annakurnikova.com); when the user visits these sites, their back button behavior in most popular browsers is modified as to open multiple pop-ups featuring ads for adult entertainment and gambling sites when pressed, and uses other technology to basically 'trap' the browser until the entire application has to be closed. While some sites are still operating, the FTC is going to take this matter to court, which may decide exactly how much control a web site can take over the end browser using JavaScript and ActiveX. CNet has the full story." Le Marteau contributes a link to the same story at the Washington Post.

9 of 442 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Thank God! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    You can still get the porn you enjoy from here. Fuck off, SI, you trollbusting asshole.

    - The AC Avenger

    I like to take it up the ass!

  2. Update: by linux4life · · Score: 0, Troll

    I'm not sure if he was taken in for questioning or if he was actually arrested for this. I didn't know that this was an actual arrestable offence, but there's an image of him being (what looks like) actually arrested on Linux Today.

  3. Re:How cool can it be? by MadAhab · · Score: 0, Troll

    Offtopic? Give me a fucking break. Slashdot has always had some bug that causes posts to end up on the wrong article now and then.

    --
    Expanding a vast wasteland since 1996.
  4. so... by davey23sol · · Score: -1, Troll

    who is going to send the FTC a tip about Goatse.cx??

    (Weren't they the guys that put up the link that opened up 20k windows that breaks the OS??)

    --


    "Yes.. no matter what the culture, folk dancing is stupid." -MST3K
  5. Re:good! I've always hated Zuccinni by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll
    I've seen a few sites who grab a typo site and just use it to promote their own (not indecent) site, but also provide a link on their site to the site that "you might have wanted" instead. I think that's fair enough, no big harm there, but to intentionally trap people. Wow. I never thought I'd be praising government intervention on the internet...

    Funny you mention typos and the governement. There is an interesting article just about that on the whitehouse site.

    Cheers,

    --fred

  6. Re:Thank God! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    I've got a popup that I like to show to people! I'm quite proud of it!

  7. Re:another step towards the ruin of the web. by Alsee · · Score: 0, Troll

    Yep, it's a broswer problem.

    Anyone adding features and creating standards needs to be more careful. Before adding a new useful feature the possibilities for abuse need to be carefully considered.
    Heck, having the operating system constantly listening to download and run arbitrary code could be useful for automatic updates and such.
    Oh, wait a minute - that already exists in several Microsoft products to recieve the free CodeRed and NIMDA patches.

    --
    - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  8. Re:hmmm.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    I'm not wearing any pants.

  9. Alternate article... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    An article that is very similar to this one, yet a lot more informative is at TacoInspector.com.