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Utah Sees First Spyware Case

Posted by simoniker on from the i-spy-controversy dept.

denlin writes "According to a story at The Register: 'Overstock.com is set to become the first company to take action under Utah's new anti-spyware law. The company has filed a complaint against online retailer SmartBargains in the third district court in Salt Lake City. Utah's spyware law, the world's first, only made the statute book on 3 May. Utah is the only state with current spyware legislation, although California and Iowa are considering their own versions of the law.'"

9 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. This might work. by LPrime · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Patrick Byrne's comments regarding the hijacking of affiliate profits are dead on.

    I haven able to gather some interesting statistics about the "Parasitic" methods discussed in the article. The conversion of Visitors to Customer is about .2% of what you would normally get by traditional targeted banner advertising but the cost of the campaign is about 30% of the price. When you consider that in a commercial banner campaign your best hope is a 2% clickthrough (and even that is not that easy anymore) I can't see anyone except the ad companies making any money.

    In my humble experience the spyware companies and their affiliates target small startup companies luring them in with the cheap cost of getting new customers. Heck that's how they got me to spend 350$ on a campaign that ran on WhenU. For the money spend I received 0 Customers, 3 Complains and my CC being charged triple that took almost 30 days to resolve. But I receive at least 5 e-mails daily and at least 1 call per week from people advertising this exact same product.

  2. This will be interesting... by Dozix007 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I wonder if they will actually get anywhere. While Spyware is annoying and intrusive, the people who put it on your computer are generally in the right by their agreements. Most people that get spyware are uninformed, and ignorant. If you open unsolisited email, or if you download P2P, and other such software, you will end up with spyware.

    1. Re:This will be interesting... by lakeesis · · Score: 5, Informative
      The only problem is that some of the ignorant masses don't actually download the programs causing the banner ads -- they get webjacked into doing so.

      Though the "software license agreements" that most adware pushers have people page through seemingly give them the right do produce the pop up ads, this particular lawsuit addresses the end result -- the software equivalent of hiring someone to wear a billboard for your store to stand in the doorway of your nearest competition. Your hireling wouldn't necessarily prevent them from going in, but it annoys the heck out of the consumer, and infringes on the space of your competition.

      --

      sig: I'm not here right now, or busy. Please leave new sig after the tone.

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      sig: I'm not at home, or busy. please leave new sig after the tone.
    2. Re:This will be interesting... by Jaysyn · · Score: 5, Informative

      A friend of mine ran Adaware last night & it found 2 tracking cookies, not a huge deal. I tell her to download Spybot & run it, and she found *118* more spyware related files. The moral of the story is use em both if you want to be sure you're clean.

      Jaysyn

      --
      There is a war going on for your mind.
  3. A question by neilcSD · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Here's what I have always wondered - why do merchants say the 1st amendment protect intrusive advertising? Seems to me that if someone doesn't want to hear it, they shouldn't be forced to. Faxers, spammers, all try to hind behind the constitution. I thought the First Amendment only protects free speech, it does not guarantee an audience. Also, it really isn't free speech if it costs people something is it (bandwidth, etc)?

  4. not in the right anymore by r00t · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Spyware authors may have been "in the right"
    prior to this law. Why do you think the law
    was passed? :-) An EULA contract is nothing
    when it goes against the law.

  5. glad to hear it by Rick+and+Roll · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I am glad to hear that the state of Utah has an anti-spyware law. I would like to see my own neighboring state, Arizona, get one.

    I run linux and have never had to deal with spyware or adware on my own computer (though I hear one company is using .xpi to add a "search bar" to Mozilla). My parents, however, run Windows. My little sister installs programs from cereal boxes that are full of spyware, and I swear one of those programs caused porn pop-ups to be displayed on my computer.

    So what I'm getting at, is that spyware is a huge problem and it's long time someone did something about it! It's just a pity that there hasn't been a government agency or a court brave enough to bring a big judgement against the industry. The fact of the matter is, these programs vandalize people's systems. They are a form of property damage. Plus they expose people to pornographic ads. They break so many laws already. It is too bad that there has to be legislation before someone can make them pay.

  6. While they are filing suit... by jwcorder · · Score: 5, Informative

    I want to get on the band wagon and file a suit against Overstock.com! I bought one thing from them and I have been getting bombarded with emails sometimes two or three times a day.

    I even tried to opt out of their email list and the onslaught continues. So before they start sueing people they need to examine their in house activites.

    --
    http://jayceecorder.blogspot.com
  7. PEACE OFFERING - Re:While they are filing suit... by jonfullmer · · Score: 5, Informative

    Hello, jwcorder. I'm the Senior Network Engineer at Overstock.com. I was sorry to hear that you're having trouble unsubscribing from our emailing lists. We are continually doing our best to make sure that the only people receiving our e-mails are those that actually want to receive them.

    Long story short, if you've unsubscribed via our website, and you are still receiving e-mails (promoting the latest deals), please contact postmaster@overstock.com

    As a further peace offering, to be absolutely certain you are no longer bothered by unwanted e-mails (from us), feel free to contact me directly at: jon@overstock.com. I'm offering you this address as a token of my sincerity.

    Overstock, as a company, is opposed to SPAM. I, as an engineer and administrator, detest SPAM, so please believe me that I sincerely want to make sure that you're not getting pestered by unwanted e-mails (from us).

    This offer stands for any of the rest of you loyal Slashdot readers. Overstock has some great deals to offer you, but if you don't want to hear about them, please let us know (you can unsubscribe on the website, or contact us via either e-mail addresses I've mentioned). Thanks for your patience. I look forward to hearing from you and serving you.

    - Jon Fullmer