Notorious company forced out of business by legal actions.
After numerous lawsuits and fines, adware and spyware maker
Direct Revenue
is no more. The firm behind a swathe of intrusive and malicious software products has ceased trading thanks to cases brought by New York State and the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) challenging its devious business practices and resulting in hefty fines.
The firm, which has frequently hit the headlines with its
dodgy deals
and legal problems, settled the FTC’s demands in February after agreeing to cease engaging in drive-by downloads and other deceptive practices, and to pay up $1.5 million of its ill-gotten gains. Although the fine was
criticised at the time
for being too small, the case seems to have been enough to put a stop to the business.
The firm’s
website
now carries a brief farewell statement and uninstall instructions for some of its adware products. Comment on the demise is at
Sunbelt
here
and at
Sophos
here
.
Posted on 26 October 2007 by
Virus Bulletin
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