Spitzer Launches Lawsuit Against Adware Provider

by Glen Shapiro, LawAndTax-News.com, New York

04 May 2005

It emerged last week that New York's attorney general Eliot Spitzer has filed a lawsuit against adware and spyware provider, Intermix Media.

The suit, which is the largest brought by the state of New York against such a firm to date, accuses Intermix of breaching its laws on false advertising and deceptive business practices, as well as its common law prohibitions against trespassing.

According to Spitzer, Intermix was responsible for the installation of large amounts of advertising and spyware software on the computers of internet users without their consent. He is seeking a permanent injunction on such activities, an examination of revenues which could be attributed to the covert installations, and the payment of appropriate penalties.

However, in a statement released last Thursday responding to the New York lawsuit, the firm announced that:

"Intermix does not promote or condone spyware, and remains committed to putting this legacy issue behind it as soon as practicable. We expect to continue our discussions with the New York Attorney General's Office and are still hopeful of reaching an appropriate and amicable resolution."

"Many of the practices being challenged were instituted under prior leadership, and Intermix has been voluntarily and proactively improving these applications and related consumer disclosure and functionality for some time. In an abundance of caution, we voluntarily ceased distribution of the applications at issue earlier this month."

It went on to add that:

"While the applications and technology at issue in this case, and related standards of business conduct, are continually evolving, Intermix has always been committed to protecting consumer privacy. 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."

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