According to the FTC, D-Squared made use of the Windows Messenger function (unrelated to the instant messaging software of the same name), which was created to allow company network administrators to alert employees to possible internet connection problems, to display advertising message windows on the computer screens of internet users.

Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, Howard Beales observed last week that, given that the product being pushed by the firm is software designed to kill the very same types of adverts, D-Squared had taken internet advertising "beyond annoyance to a new level".

"This is nothing more than a high-tech version of a classic scam,” he explained, adding: "The defendants created the problem that they proposed to solve - for a fee. Their pop-up spam wasted computer users’ time and caused them needless frustration."