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D Squared To Stop Sending Pop-Ups
bizpile writes "D Squared Solutions, the company created by college students Anish Dhingra and Jeffrey Davis, has agreed to stop bombarding computer users with Internet pop-up ads to advertise its ad-blocking software, avoiding a court battle with the Federal Trade Commission. They were sending pop-up ads using the Messenger function enabled on many Windows operating systems. Their attorneys claimed the pair were not trying to extort consumers with their ads and only intended to send one a day to computer users. Lawyer Anthony J. Dain has said the ads are 'annoyances you have to deal with in a free society.'" (The San Diego Union-Tribune also has a story.)
'annoyances you have to deal with in a free society.'
No, no I don't. Thank you, FTC.
Hunt your preferred prey at Aliens vs Predator MUD. Join the war at avpmud.com port 4000
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D Squared agreed not to send pop-up ads using the Messenger function enabled on many Windows operating systems; such ads do not require an open Web browser to display. The company also won't sell ad-blocking software any longer, and it is barred from sending other ads unless users can choose not to receive them.
Looking at this it looks like their advertising days are over. That last bit will be hard for them to get around since they'll likely be heavily scrutinized by the FTC for some time to come.I certainly won't feel sorry for them, they were sending their popups using the windows Messaging function, making them even lower down than most popup advertisers. Kudos to the FTC for going after these guys!
Messenger should never have been exposed as a default running service on Windows XP, 2000, & NT computers.. with no authentication and no option to turn it off without going deep in to a services menu.
This proves that software developers in general were caught flat-footed by the internet, and that they failed us as customers by claiming that their computers were now "internet ready" and only meant by that that they gave us integrated no-choice branded browsers and instant messengers to save their market share, they didn't even think about us, just themselves.
Bottom feeders like Square D exist and will always exist. The real failure are software developers, and they should take the blame for the decisions they made from 96 - 01 (when XP was released with Messenger ON) and do better.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to run a virus scan and delete my tracking cookies.
There is a rage in me to defy the order of the stars, despite their pretty patterns.
He's just trying to equate unwanted advertising with constitutionally-protected free speech. Idiot ... the vital principle of being allowed to speak one's mind without fear of retaliation by a vengeful government has nothing to do with abuse of one's fellow citizens for fun and profit. I have the feeling that if junk mail, junk faxes and spam had existed during the Revolution there'd be specific provisions against them in the Constitution.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
annoyances you have to deal with in a free society.
Yep, we dealt with them all right. Same way we deal with shoplifting,
I am NOT a number! I am a - oh wait, I'm number 761710. Look! 761710!
of how the government can properly work with the internet community in policing legitimate nuisences. I'd almost go as far as to say this is evidence we don't need a ton of laws specially tailored to the internet.
only intended to send one a day to computer users
... that still seems like a lot.
Only once a day?
-K
they already do, it's called a surgeon general's warning
Gee, let's think about this for a 1/2 second. What's stopping me from plastering a billboard right on your front lawn for a miracle drug that cures cancer?
I can't do that because sometimes property rights and deceptive trade practices trump free speech rights. It's not a difficult concept. The two college kids want to take over your computer to pitch false claims at you. Damn straight that should be illegal.
---Technology will liberate us if it doesn't enslave us first.
nuff said. what a strange excuse for bad marketing habits. "Hey it's a free world, that is, no rules... or isn't it?" I don't want a free world without rules, I want a free world with proper rules. That's a difference.
Lawyer Anthony J. Dain has said the ads are "annoyances you have to deal with in a free society." Hmmm...let me see. According to Mr. Dain, a Free Society is characterized by a lack of property rights. For example, strangers are allowed to use my PC in an unauthorized manner and, in the process, disrupt my activities. All of this done with impunity on thier part. Hmmm...this doesn't sound like Freedom to me!
...annoyances you have to deal with in a free society
They seem to be very selective about that freedom.
I assume they're more than willing to call on the agents of the government (the police, for instance) to protect them from people exercising their freedom to visit the company offices and beat the living crap out of them. And I'm sure that they would not be so dedicated to people's freedom to slam every system they own with a DOS attack. The only "freedom" they're concerned about is their freedom to commit extortion without that mean ol' FTC interfering.
They're all fired up about their rights (is there a right to commit extortion?) but they're conveniently ignoring one thing: rights come with attached responsibilities. You can't separate the two, and when you try, you get problems. For instance, if you have the right to swing your fist around, it comes with the responsibility to stop short of my nose. If you have the right to drive a car, it comes with the responsibility not to squash pedestrians. A society which granted those rights but does not acknowledge the associated responsibilities would be murderous chaos.
In a truly civilized society, people are as aware of their responsibilities as they are of their rights, and act accordingly. Only in such a society can there truly be freedom.
In modern US society, right and wrong have been equated with legal and illegal -- or, even worse, with getting away with it and getting caught. Rights are everything. Responsibilities are not in the picture at all. Civilized behavior is mocked. This has cost us many things, including the expense of feeding an ever-more-bloated government. But most of all, it has cost us freedom.