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Cingular, Others Fined For Using Adware

Posted by kdawson on from the about-time dept.

amigoro writes "Cingular, Priceline, and Travelocity have been fined for using adware by the New York Attorney General. The companies will each pay $30K to $35K as penalties and investigatory costs. More importantly, the companies agreed to a series of restrictions and best practices that, while they make eminent sense to consumers, will be loathsome to businesses accustomed to having their way with our computers."

5 of 109 comments (clear)

  1. Thanks again to the NY Attorney General by Jeff1946 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This is just one of many cases where the NY Attorney General is doing what the Federal Govt should be doing instead of taking away our rights. I would love to see a pro active US Attorney Gereral going after big business abusing consumers the way that has happened in NY. Oops I forgot he and his boss are from the party of the rich and selfish.

  2. Re:How much did they make from it? by garcia · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If it was more than 30-35K, this is only a cost of doing business.

    I'm 100% sure that Cingular/AT&T makes more than that in one minute selling the usage stats and personal information of their customers. Why the fuck isn't the AG going after them for that opt-out "experience"?

  3. corporations don't made decisions... by zogger · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...humans do. They need to stop fining "corporations" and instead determine which named human made the offending decision, the guy who finally issued the order to do such and such offending thing, then freeze that guy's salary and compensation for five years (or more, to make sure they don't just raise it quickly to cover the loss to his check) and make that human pay the fine out of his own wallet, exactly the same as when joe sixpack gets a fine.

    1. Re:corporations don't made decisions... by Mr_Tulip · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Very good point.

      I've always been of the opinion that equivalent fines and punishments should be imposed on corporations compared with persons.

      Instead of jail time, perhaps a 'cease trading' time, where the gross income of a company for a period of time is taken away by the state.

      Instead of the death penalty, a complete dissolution of the business, with all proceeds going to the state.

      Instead of an individual fine, the fine an individual would receive for the crime should be multiplied by the number of employees in the corporation.

      My $0.02 worth

  4. Re:How much did they make from it? by Creepy+Crawler · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Well, you really oughtta read my journal. Problem is Im a known troll, and many people dont like that.

    That and also people have low intelligence and retention spans. If they understood, they would understand that Corporations pay no taxes, no fines, and no other forms of monetary penalties. Thats because it's offloaded to the customers every time.

    But *im* a troll, so nothing I write is valid.

    --