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FTC Shuts Down Fraudulent Antispyware Company
spewey writes "The Federal Trade Commission has shut down MaxTheater, Inc., alleging the company participated in fraudulent practices with its Spyware Assassin site, which purportedly scanned user machines for spyware and reported infections, even though no scan was done and in most cases, the user machine was clean. The site then offered the user a $30 product to remove the spyware, which the commission reports 'didn't do a thing.'"
with its Spyware Assassin site
I'm getting a blank page with the title "New Page 1"
Here is a google cache.
I'm a virgo and on Slashdot. Coincidence? Yes.
> in most cases, the user machine was clean.
Yeah, right. Where the hell did they get clean windoze boxen from??
Do daemons dream of electric sleep()?
FTC: bad
:)
Spyware: bad
FTC's action to shut down spyware: ????
I can't wait to hear the conspiracies on this one.
FTA:
"[MaxTheatre's Media] represent that they have "scanned" or otherwise examined the consumer's computer and have detected that spyware already resides on it."
I smell precedence!
Almost every single pop-up ad proclaims to have found spyware on my machine, and not all of them are SpywareAssassin. Can we use this to take down other phony antispyware companies?
And so on... Any others?
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
The FTC should have put up an 0WN3D message explaining why the site was taken down, and what to do if you were defrauded by the company in the past.
Much more informative than a blank page, and it's what the MPAA does for sites it takes down (ie. lokitorrent.com)
Then again spywareassassin.com still resides at the same IP address (66.172.78.113) that it did before, so the order was probably to remove all content. Perhaps an A record change or domain transfer to an FTC controlled server (with informational message) is iminent.
- Cary
--Fairfax Underground: Where Fairfax County comes out to play
Yeah, thanks, because people reading an article called "FTC Shuts Down Fraudulent Antisypware Company" obviously need your comment telling them not to use this product.
There needs to be SEVERE penalties to discourage others from picking up where this left off. I vote for jail time for the company executives AND those developers who knew exactly what they were doing (or in this case, weren't doing).
The risk/reward ratio is still tilting too far toward reward for those who would defraud others using the internet.
-S
--- What parts of "shall make no law", "shall not be infringed", and "shall not be violated" don't you understand?
From the website (google cache):
SpywareAssassin creates an iron clad line of defense that protects your computer in multiple ways. Not only will it scan your entire system and remove all spyware programs and files, but it will continually monitor your computer in the background and prevent any future breaches.
IRON CLAD? Iron-Clad in ANY software description makes me run for the hills!
I'm glad to see spyware assassin gone, but the extortionware I see most on computers I work on is ad destroyer. Let's hope the FTC b!tch slaps them next.
What is that I hear? I think I hear a choir of angels singing exultations and glory to the FTC on high. Worthy worthy is the man who kiled that company.
for adding to your hosts file (if you havent already)
h tm
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.
Don't all those ads saying "Your computer is infected! Clean it now!" (or something like that) and "Windows is running slow! speed it up Blah blah blah bullshit bullshit" fall into this same category?
http://216.239.63.104/search?q=cache:X4Tox_tOdDAJ: www.spywareassassin.com/+spywareassassin&hl=en
Hopefully this will have a positive affect for those of us who develop free software but have to constantly deal with the paranoia of malware and spyware.
Free Firefox news reader.
It's covenient to make false assertions in order to be a Troll but get modded insighful
ooh another site to add to our DNS blacklist, keep those spam ip's coming
CoolWebSearch / Adzilla / Look2Me / Miraclesearch?
Personally I see this as doing really nothing for (or against) spyware.
If someone wants to buy a "spirit healing rock" from me, why shouldn't he be able to? If he's dumb enough to buy it, well, what do they say about a fool and his money?
Honestly, when I read this, I had flashbacks to all of those TV news investigative reports of mechanics, exterminators, plumbers, etc. who climb under/behind your car/sink/house and come back with "evidence" of a problem that you need to pay them $$$ to fix.
So... back to the auto shops with the bums! That's what I say! :)
Buy anti-spyware software and get a product that does nothing.
......
Use free anti-spyware software and get something that works.
On a risk level, is it worth spending the money?
Now I know there was research done between Free and commercial anti-spyware that showed that free software worked better, but
I guess this is a real strong statement regarding obvious motives between the two...
Besides, should anyone have to pay for protection against thse with intents to invade privacy?
What a racket.... Now If I can just convince someone to turn off the MS anti-spyware update notices intrupting my work flow.
Everyone responsible needs to be put in prison. We need to send a message that you can't hide criminals behind a corporate logo.
the FTC has shut down mandrake because on
the box it gives the impression that it runs
windows games
I'd call it "moronware". It's designed to troll for idiot users who believe everything they see and fall for stupid schemes. We can lump the Nigerians into this category too, with their stupid cashier's check and phony inheiritence schemes.
I've said before, I really have less of a problem with these types of unscrupulous operations. They're like financial darwinism, and anyone stupid enough to fall for them deserves to be separated from their money.
Ironically, there are lots of other schemes that defraud the populace that are based on deception that are protected by the government. I look at this crackdown as the government protecting idiots from small-time operators so that big corporations can continue to prey on them.
Wake me up when the FTC starts cracking down on the overwhelming deceptive ad practices of all the major U.S. corporations.
These are the guys that made Spyware Assassin. Their other products should be next...
twits. But then again it's handy that criminals are stupid by default, it makes them easier to catch.
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
OrgName: Sunwave Communications
OrgID: SUNWA-1
Address: 895 B Street
Address: Suite 509
City: Hayward
StateProv: CA
PostalCode: 94541
Country: US
NetRange: 66.172.64.0 - 66.172.95.255
CIDR: 66.172.64.0/19
NetName: SUNWAVE-BLOCK-1
NetHandle: NET-66-172-64-0-1
Parent: NET-66-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Allocation
NameServer: NS1.SUNWAVE.COM
NameServer: NS2.SUNWAVE.COM
Comment:
RegDate: 2003-07-31
Updated: 2003-07-31
OrgAbuseHandle: DM1084-ARIN
OrgAbuseName: McCole, Donna M
OrgAbusePhone: +1-510-889-5200
OrgAbuseEmail: mccole@prado.com
OrgTechHandle: DM1084-ARIN
OrgTechName: McCole, Donna M
OrgTechPhone: +1-510-889-5200
OrgTechEmail: mccole@prado.com
# ARIN WHOIS database, last updated 2005-03-11 19:10
# Enter ? for additional hints on searching ARIN's WHOIS database.
Wow, that's a hellova pr0n list there. You've just made my saturday night!
Go ahead and read the 'sales pitch' on this pig and try to keep a straight face. Bottom feeders here, folks. i love me some generalized, buzzword-ridden, sales pitches for junks that will:
Exponentially explode your online sales like you have never imagined!
Well damn, who could pass that up eh? Shady-tree ops indeed.
Coupla solid Ben'$ on a bet you will be sorry for doing "biz" with these fools.
Yeah, that's who these ho'tards appear to be DNSed from - looks like my profits and penis will be larger "within minutes"!!!!
Hot Damn! Call the bank, i can cover my overdue loans now!!!!
w00tz!
sure, mod me as flamebait and then slashdots very next post is about microsoft doing the same fucking thing.... imagine that.
But....but....but...what about the double-taxation that people with standard corporations have to pay (if they're not smart enough to plan around it)? Isn't that worth any number of scams? Ok, I'll be back later, time to pry my tongue out of my cheek.
"Your Computer Is Broadcasting An IP Address!!"
"Your House Is Broadcasting A Street Address!!"
Caveat Emptor is not a business model.
But then again it's handy that criminals are stupid by default, it makes them easier to catch.
No, its just the stupid (and unlucky) criminals that get caught. You never hear about the smart ones, almost by definition.
"You saved 1968." - Ms. Valerie Pringle to the crew of Apollo 8
not everyone got to go to college. everyone has to scam in their own special way. and sorry, but there are few bigger scam industries than the computer business, its no more 'noble' than any other
This is exactly the kind of anti-market government regulation we don't need! If customers don't like the service Spyware Assassin is providing, they can consider the alternatives made available to them in a purported free market. With a Republican administration in power, I would have hoped for better.
On vit, on code et puis on meurt.
I'm curious whether there is any good Open Source anti-spyware. Personally whenever I use windows, I go with Spybot, but I'd feel much more confortable with a OSS one, instead of one that is proprietary.
:)
P.S.: I know "Linux" is a F/OSS anti-spyware. Save it, you'd be speaking to the converted anyway.
As another related question...why is it more expensive to be poor than rich?
Actually, it's more expensive to be rich. Most people incur expenses that are outside their ability to afford, and they do it roughly proportional to their incomes. As a function of dollars per capita, it's much more expensive to be rich.
(Note: "Poor" = 15,000-30,000 gross income, "Rich" = 60,000-500,000 gross income. People who make more or less than that skew the results.)
I got my Linux laptop at System76.
and the feeling I had - there was something fishy about it. Even if I've cleaned my machine with several freeware utilities, it has reported about 20 potential problems. It has pointed on one file, as infected with virus which was a text file, one of the info files for GNU Emacs. So I have deleted whatever I've downloaded and forgot the whole story - till I saw this news.
Sure, Spyware Assasian did nothing, but there are even worse pseudo-anitspyware products out there. The article links to this chart, where PC Mag found spyware removal tools that added additional spyware or did things that aren't real good for Windows, like delete one of the driver folders.
So it looks like there are even shadier companies out there
I have blog like everyone else
Was that falling for a troll, or a counter-troll? Perhaps you might have noticed that this was titled "The Libertarian Response"? Libertarians are neither Republicans nor Democrats. They're a different political party entirely, generally agreeing with liberals on issues pertaining to the individual (such as drugs, abortion, and so on), and agreeing with the conservatives on economic issues (such as fiscal responsibility (Bush aside), corporate regulation, and the minimum wage).
Commonly, libertarians make a distinction between the personal and economic aspects of liberal thought; the popular Nolan Chart makes the political spectrum a plane, rather than a line.
Or, as I usually put it: in legislative sessions, the Conservatives sit to the right, the Liberals sit on the left, and the Libertarians are the baboons swinging from the chandeliers. (And it's suprising how many Libertarians will cheerfully agree with that description when asked....)
The libertarian position stated was a trifle extreme... but does thus highlight the problems with the libertarian's more extreme free-market faction.
//Information does not want to be free; it wants to breed.
"Microsoft's Anti-Spyware (formally giant)"
formally or formerly?
Which one? You decide.
This is one of the few areas where libertarians want the government to get involved. It is a clear cut case of contract violation. They promised to remove spyway, and didn't do it. Simple violation of contract.
Libertarians are not anarchists. There is a time and place for government. Libertarians want government to deal with crimes against people (murder and other assult), property. (theft, vandalism), and enforcement of contracts. (This is not a complete list)
Yes, Libertarians believe in the enforcement of contracts. But I would guess most of them would rather see that enforcement take place through civil rather than criminal courts. They would argue that those wronged should sue the company (using the court to enforce the outcome of their lawsuit) rather than criminal penalties from a federal agency.
I have blog like everyone else
One of the greatest viral tools for distributing your digital products.
Wow, I've never seen a spyware maker admit they make a virus before!
I'm guessing this is supposed to be some sort of reference to viral marketing (word of mouth type thing), but you have to be a moron to include the word "viral" when you are describing a software product
I have blog like everyone else
They have a web-forum!
./ it?
Perhaps we could
My UID is prime and so is this number: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0.
I'm guessing a moderator failed to recognize humor.
Er, not in my experience. Libertarians, big fans of the 2nd that they are, generally say "If anything calls for guns ablazing, it's going to be my guns ablazing."
//Information does not want to be free; it wants to breed.
Ok, I'll grant that there might be some unseen criminal mastermind class that we never hear about because they never get caught - anything's possible, I guess. However, presumably then there'd also be people who almost didn't get caught - people who were caught only because law enforcement worked really, really hard or was lucky a few crucial times.
Where are those stories? Are they just not reported? (Or is this where we bring in the story of Al Capone, who beat every rap except tax evasion?)