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FTC Fines Zango $3 Million
An anonymous reader writes "Wired is reporting that government regulators have fined rogue adware distributor Zango (formerly 180Solutions) $3 million. This is 'following charges that the company deceived internet users into installing its pop-up software and tried to prevent them from uninstalling it.' ZDNet mentions that 'Zango's executives pointed a finger elsewhere, claiming that the federal violations were due to third-party distributors rather than the software manufacturer itself.' Security researchers are still happily finding examples of Zango software being popped open in rogue distributions such as IM worms. Ben Edelman is claiming to have more evidence of their dubious business practices, casting into question their claims of newfound affiliate responsibility."
If these guys can pay a fine that size and still be in business, one has to wonder just how much loot they rake in with their wonderful little surprises.
The world is my oyster. That's why it's always in a stew.
First of all, I hate spyware as much as the next guy but this is just crazy. Zango did *not* create or distribute these IM worms or exploits. That is done only by independent resellers whose accounts are closed immediately when they are found or reported to Zango. All installations from Zango themselves occured when people clicked and agreed to install the spyware-- it's hardly the author's fault if ignorant users say "Yes" to anything that pops up on their screen. I do not want the government telling me what software I can and can not install, and the FTC shouldn't be fining software authors for their reseller's misuse of the product. The fair way to destroy Zango is to vote with our wallets by boycotting their software and sites that are sponsored by them, not to let the government tell programmers what otherwise legal code they can and can't offer to users.
It's not enough. It's not nearly enough!
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
I have to say I'm kind of torn on the issue of spyware. It's a terrible practice and causes serious problems with people's computers every day.
:)
At the same time, I've made my fair share of money cleaning it off PC's.
Seriously, it's about time that fines were imposed against the companies that propagate this. People who suffer actual damages from these programs should start bringing lawsuits against them.
DeviantArt Page
NSFWWhat else?
----Yours truly,
The American Spammers Association
Zango's executives pointed a finger elsewhere, claiming that the federal violations were due to third-party distributors
Yeah. And Pfizer isn't responsible for the spam sent by the third party distributors that they turn a blind eye to, and that they "don't control".
#1, you *had* third party distributors.
#2, you did nothing when they started doing Bad Things.
#3, you specifically set up the relationship in a way where they could basically do whatever they liked. If they did Bad Things, you would say "Shock! Horror! How did *that* happen!?"
#4, you're in the advertising business, and "viral marketing" is your favourite buzzword du jour.
"No problem. I have the capacity to do infinite work so long as you don't mind that my quality approaches zero."-Dilbert
tried to prevent them from uninstalling it.
If they were innocent they would make an easy and safe removal tool as widely available as possible. And this tool should block any further attempts to reinstall the software as part of the removal process. Also...
'Zango's executives pointed a finger elsewhere, claiming that the federal violations were due to third-party distributors rather than the software manufacturer itself.
Oh, isn't that clever. Point the finger. Not our fault. Get a clue stick folks. Nobody works to sneak software onto a user's system that they're not getting paid for doing. If Zango were to actually stop paying for any further installs by anyone this problem would quickly go away. In addition, the software certainly has to contact Zango servers for updates and ads to display. Have your servers refuse to accept connections from any previous versions of your software, rendering it effectively toothless before you give me your poor me tales of woe.
Better yet, use your software to advertise the removal tool referenced above to all current users.
And Dear FCC, go after the advertisers who have used Zango to flog their wares. A few hundred thousand in fines here, and a few hundred thousand there, and the message will get out while you're reducing the government deficit in the process.
The plain truth is, there are some business models that DO NOT DESERVE to survive.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
The problems here are:
1: It's hard to prove actual damages.
2: It's hard to identify the company to sue.
3: It's hard sue a company in small claims court that isn't in your county, let alone your state.
4: It's hard to serve them properly.
5: It's hard to defeat their argument that you agreed to a click-through license in allowing the install.
6: It's hard to collect, even if you win!
If it had been easy, all this would have already been done on a daily basis.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
i say, people who aren't smart enough to not install those "free screen savers" and "blackjack casino" games deserve to have their computers thrashed by ad ware. maybe they'll learn the lesson when 100 pop-ups launch every time they click on the blue "e" thing. same goes to the people who still believe that they can get a free alienware laptop by filling out surveys and "browsing" the web.
Check out Pandora by Music Genome Project
Is there any public holiday in America or something? I can see hardly any comments greater than +2 on any story in the last couple of days. Is this just me or am I missing something?
Just fining these guys isn't going to make the problem go away. Unfortunately, I heard somewhere that the FTC doesn't have the power to shut down shit like this, you need the Department of Justice to do that. The only good thing about the FTC ruling is that it opens the door and provides good cause to get the DOJ involved. Whether that actually happens is another story.
"It is a denial of justice not to stretch out a helping hand to the fallen; that is the common right of humanity."
"FTC Fines Zango for $3 Million Dollars"
Yes, I am a pedant.
Long story short: adware is peddled by vicious and unprincipled businesses, and it works because it takes advantage of the worst habits in both children and adults. Those who cash the checks aren't concerned about the mess that they leave for you and me to clean up!
It's time to put a stop to it, for the simple reason that Heinlein was right - There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch!
Bellhead
I wonder what using the dollar unit twice means in your title? Maybe it's the standard method to denote inflation?
I was worried for a minute. I misread it as Zombo Thank God my favorite intarweb site won't be going anywhere.
I only post comments when someone on the internet is wrong.
What you have to do is applying recursive fines. Those guys enjoy using lots of "sub-contractors" to "share responsibility" for the inherently evil actions. Instead of applying a fine of 3 millions on the 1st guy in the chain, they should apply similar fines to all the nodes in the tree. So if there are 16 contractors in all, 3 millions each. This would effectively fight the problem bottom-up. Since the small contractors make less money individually than the root company, they would suffer immediate bankrupt. The business chain won't run anymore if there's just the "root", or "front" company that can survive the fines. What usually happens (as in this case I think?), the root company makes MUCH more $ than they lose in fines so they laugh all the way to the bank.
Theory is often inaccurate(TM)
Actually no. I remember a time long ago when there was tons of free software out there you could trust. I'm not talking about the open-source stuff (which I generally still trust when it's from SF.net or freshmeat), but demos, freeware utilities, shareware games, freeware episodes, etc.
There was a ton of free stuff out there without spyware, adware, or malware of any sort. Yes, you could get free screensavers (though many sucked). You could get free games (though most were demos). Nowadays, I see lots of things that look useful, but I just can't trust them to be *safe*.
There still is some safe free (non-os) software out there though, such as:
Skype talk to other computers, call phones in N. America for free?! Would you have trusted it
Screensavers and more Screensavers
Compression utilities
and more
The problem is that unless you have a lot of references on the software (and sometimes even then) you just can't trust them to be clean nowadays. The above are some ones that I do trust, but it's sad that I have to second-guess most things that seem free nowadays because there are too many scams and pieces of crapware out there.
Owned.
I hope the DOJ attacks from here but I wish the FTC had fined them at least $50 million. If the fines get big enough crapware will get strangled.
Professional Politicians are not the solution, they ARE the problem.
If the user is stupid enough to buy Winblows, he/she deserves what he/she gets. -1 troll, blaablaa, but that's the fact of life - users of proper operating systems have to deal with NONE of this crap.
'Once scientists, even the dim-witted social scientists, get muzzled, the Western Civilization is finished.' - oldhack
6: It's hard to collect, even if you win!
Yeah, I'd like to be a mouse in the corner when the FTC tries to collect. The FTC needs the authority to add another mill a day for every day they drag their feet writing the check IMNSHO. Or the legal ability to audit, and THEN set the fine at about 100k more per person in a responsible position within the company than they have in assets so the CEO's of such questionable operations lose their beemers and boats, maybe even their houses at sheriffs sale.
Seems only fair to me anyway. The only way to take the crime away from society is to make it a losing proposition at the end of the day, with some jail time if theres no assets to pay the fine with by the time it gets down to that.
Jeff Schilling only getting 24+ years for all the billions he helped bilk out of his investors is a classic case of a gross miss-carriage of justice. I think a few public burnings at the stake would clean things up a hell of a lot faster in corporate america. He likely won't serve anywhere near that 24 years as they'll release him for humanitarian reasons related to old age long before that. Bet the farm on it, then go vote the incumbents out of office tuesday, every one of them thats on the ballot and has an opponent, vote for the opponent even if he's not in your favorite party. We have got to shake them up, send a message, whatever it takes to reclaim our country.
--
Cheers, Gene
Why not just have George W just make a law/royal decree that all adware and spyware makers are terrorists! Then he could just imprision them without any due process, and take all their property. This problem of spyware and adware could be cleared up (From the US side anyway) quickly!
Advertisers know exactly what is going on with their dollars when they hire a company to distribute their ads, etc. The way to clear this up is to allow people to sue the advertisers. That'll stop it quickly. I remember, there's some site that has a wall of shame (or something like that) about advertisers who are doing business with these malware groups. That needs to be made more public.
You can lead a man with reason but you can't make him think.
Can we sue if we get infected? :D
The Republican Party in Tennessee has commissioned a third party to generate disgusting ads against Democrat Harold Ford, Jr. This allows the Republicans themselves to announce that they, too, are "shocked" by the grossness of the ads while stating that they have no control over them and that it would be against the law for them to intervene. Hmm...adware companies and Republicans seem to be more alike than previously thought.
...'But spyware researcher Ben Edelman doubts that the company has reformed its ways. "I commend the FTC's efforts here, but serious diligence will be required to assure that [the company] actually complies with its many obligations under the settlement," Edelman said in an e-mail on Friday. "At this instant, I am confident that [the company] is not in compliance."...
..."[The company] continues plenty of bad practices, including some unlabeled ads and installation attempts predicated on security exploits," said Edelman. "I have the proof, and I expect to post this on my Web site in the coming weeks, subject only to my busy travel schedule." Zango's adware has been installed over 70 million times, according to the FTC. Its adware includes programs such as Zango Search Assistant, 180Search Assistant, Seekmo, and n-CASE. Often installed by third-party affiliates, the software monitors Internet use to display pop-up advertising. To date, the adware has displayed some 6.9 billion pop-up ads."'...
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