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L.L. Bean Suing Competitors For Spyware-Linked Ads
httpamphibio.us writes "According to this article on CNN, L.L. Bean is suing 'Nordstrom and three other companies it alleges used pop-up ads that appeared when some customers visited the clothier and outdoor gear retailer's Web site.' The article mentions Claria Corp, a maker of spyware . This is an interesting route to go about getting rid of spyware, attacking its source of income instead of the manufacturer."
Time for those flannel-wearing, shotgun-toting, cap-wearing L.L. Beaners to shoot 'em some cyberspace trespassers.
The coolest voice ever.
"Hell, people, we gotta come up with a new name, because most likely our company will have a bad name after this..."
"How 'bout Gator ?"
"Ohwait..."
Oh, and I thought they were going to sell the info to my health insurance company.
This guy primairly buys beer and tv dinners.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU RAISE HIS PREMEUM
-Grump
Is it true that more people vote for the winner of American Idol, than vote for the president? -Ali G.
I think a nickname of "The Spyware artists fomerly known as Gator" should be attached to them...
:)
But hey, it's an easy on-topic first post for me to swing for whenever I see a Claria story as a subscriber.
hah... and for the longest time i was sitting here thinking, "why would an allergy medicine company go into the spyware business too?"
No, but seriously, I was really pissed off at one of my friends so I installed in on his computer on purpose. You would not believe how must data the downloader intalled if I told you. It is such a terrible and invasive program that we were not on speaking terms for over a month after that.
a lot of customers would complain about getting coupons for products they don't like instead of the ones they actually use.
I'm sure you told them that all they had to do to get the coupons they wanted was buy the products they didn't like, right?
paintball
I actually had a user once that told me right off the bat when I sat down at her computer "dont touch my gator, I know you tech guys hate it but I use it for all my passwords". I thought she was a moron but I didnt touch it.
So do I. It's called "Claria", so there's no reason to call it Gloria. :)
I meta-mod all positive moderation Unfair, because it's abuse of the system.
I happen to live in the same town as L.L. Bean, Freeport, Maine, United States. Here, we ahve two very strange laws: "Hand guns must be brought to all churches, in the case of a Native American (Indian) attack", and "The purchase of mercury thermonitors is prohibited". You would think there would be a law agaisnt being jerks and recently laying off alot of their employees...
What I'd like to see is something along the following lines:
- I get email in my email client
- I mark the email as spam (or my spam filter does), and any URLs in the spam message are logged
Some time later, I decide to go to a site that has been referenced in spam sent to me. My Web browser gives me a popup window warning me "You're about to hit a site that's previously spammed you. Do you want to continue?". I think "Hmm, maybe I don't want to buy my new car/toy/whatever from these guys after all; I'll go somewhere else instead"...
In other words, the spam *I* get is used to create filtering rules about the sites *I* visit.
I'm sure the spammers would get smart about avoiding this if it ever caught on, and maybe the logging would have to be made progressively smarter over time. However, I'd *really* like the capability of being notified when I visit the site of a vendor who's previously spammed me.
Bottom line: if vendors realise that they'll be missing out on sales from a *real* potential customer as a direct consequence of their spamming, maybe they'll stop paying the spammers to do their advertising.
Fine, furnish your email address here on Slashdot, and we'll make sure your right to view ads ON YOUR VERY OWN MACHINE is protected.
to see how this one shakes out. This could open a whole rash of lawsuits, where people go for the wallet instead of the technology. Advertising is all about the wallet, emptying yours into theirs.
I've always thought this was the way to kill SPAM too. Sue the companies paying for it.
Professional Politicians are not the solution, they ARE the problem.
A funny take on this was taken by RTmark who once put a $10,000 (I think) reward for the first judge to sentence a corporation to death , on the basis that if a corporation has the same rights as a living breathing human, then it ought to face the same responsibilities and peril.
I believe the brits actuall can do this with 'wind up orders'.
Excuse the Unicode crap in my posts. That's an apostrophe, and slashdot is busted.
Two words: Arthur Andersen.
holy shit, somebody on slashdot who has the testicular fortitude to admit to being wrong? welcome to my friends list
Three words --
;-)
Santa Claus Operations
Well, if you didn't get alarmed when the random, suspicious-looking fellow you were playing poker with was crawling around behind your TV with pliers...
Information wants to be free.
Entertainment wants to be paid.
You just want to be cheap.
"Assault victim beaten over head with frying pan dies in Portland Maine hospital, boyfriend charged with murder...SHOP AT NORDSTROM HOUSEWARES - NON-STICK PANS ON SALE NOW!"
Now that is wonderful product placement!
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.