Spyware maker Direct Revenue closes doors

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