My computer is clogged with spyware and adware as I write this.
I’ve erased pop-up porno and poker ads. A useless toolbar mysteriously appeared atop my browser. I discovered a program on my hard drive called Power Scan. “Don’t get caught with porn in your PC!” reads its start button.
My research takes me to many unusual websites, so I don’t know where I got this stuff. Erik Strom, The Denver Post’s assistant managing editor of technology, took one look at the mess and said it would take at least an hour to clean up.
My only hope is that whoever did this to me will someday meet New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
On Thursday, Spitzer sued a Los Angeles-based Internet marketer, claiming the company illegally sticks hapless computer users with spyware and adware.
Intermix Media Inc. runs popular websites – including MyCoolScreen.com and CursorZone.com – where Web surfers can download screensavers, cursors, games, gags and greetings.
Spitzer alleges that many of Intermix’s downloads come with spyware and adware that install unnecessary toolbars and direct computers to unwanted websites with pop-up ads. He says his six-month investigation revealed that Intermix dumped 3.7 million unwanted downloads on New Yorkers alone.
Spitzer has made his mark going after Wall Street brokers, mutual funds, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and others. Last year, he won a $50,000 settlement from Westminster-based OptInRealBig.com, headed by e-mail spam king Scott Richter. But Intermix marks Spitzer’s first strike at an alleged spyware and adware pusher.
“Spyware and adware are more than an annoyance,” Spitzer said in a statement. “These fraudulent programs foul machines, undermine productivity and in many cases frustrate consumers’ efforts to remove them from their computers. These issues can serve to be a hindrance to the growth of e-commerce.”
Intermix issued a statement Thursday saying that it has voluntarily stopped distributing all applications and is working to resolve matters with Spitzer.
“Intermix does not promote or condone spyware and remains committed to putting this legacy issue behind it as soon as practicable,” the company said. “Neither the company’s toolbar nor redirect application has been used to collect personal information or ‘spy’ on the Internet or other activities of the user.”
Spitzer takes a lot of heat for squeezing settlements out of companies without ever taking them to trial. But I can’t think of an industry that deserves his nasty brand of litigation more.
It’s a sneaky business at best. Most companies involved in disseminating spyware and adware do so with computer users’ unwitting consent. Often the consent language is buried in licensing agreements that are difficult to read.
“They sometimes make the (computer screen) window where the licensing agreement appears only 1 inch tall,” said Jay Greenwald of Greenwood Village-based Nerd E-Solutions. “They do this on purpose. They know you won’t scroll.”
These disclosures, however hidden, have made it difficult for regulators to deal with spyware and adware companies. The Federal Trade Commission did not file its first case against a spyware company until October, though the problem has been festering for years.
It will take a ruthless prosecutor like Spitzer to discredit these disclosures. Spitzer claims Intermix’s disclosures are either inaccurate or insufficient. If this argument is successful, all Internet marketers will have to be a lot more transparent in the future.
Greenwald runs a fleet of orange Honda Elements he calls “Nerd mobiles.” He said two-thirds of his business involves driving to homes and businesses to remove spyware and adware. “The average users cannot clean it up,” he said.
John Hogan of Denver-based PC Answers is in the same business. “It’s a fantastic lawsuit,” he said Thursday as he toiled on a jammed computer.
Why would he cheer a lawsuit that could put an end to his business?
“There’s so much of this going on,” Hogan said, “that 10 years from now, people are still going to need my help.”
Al Lewis’ column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at 303-820-1967 or alewis@denverpost.com.
