Cingular, Others Fined For Using Adware

amigoro writes "Cingular, Priceline, and Travelocity have been fined for using adware by the New York Attorney General. The companies will each pay $30K to $35K as penalties and investigatory costs. More importantly, the companies agreed to a series of restrictions and best practices that, while they make eminent sense to consumers, will be loathsome to businesses accustomed to having their way with our computers."

The money is trivial, what really hit them...

[Bananatree3]

is the agreement they were forced to sign. If you RTFA:

The three companies have agreed to only advertise through companies that provide to consumers full disclosure of the name of the applicable adware program and any bundled software, brand each advertisement with a prominent and easily identifiable brand name or icon and fully describe the adware and obtain consumer consent to both download and run the adware. Advertising companies must make it practicable for consumers to remove the adware from their computers, obtain consent to continue serving ads to legacy users and require their affiliates to meet all of these same requirements. The agreements also require Priceline, Travelocity, and Cingular to engage in due diligence with respect to selecting and utilizing adware providers. Prior to contracting with a company to deliver their ads, and quarterly thereafter, the companies must investigate how their online ads are delivered. The companies must immediately cease using adware programs that violate the settlement agreements or their own adware policies.

Re:Thanks again to the NY Attorney General

[ffsnjb]

Oops I forgot he and his boss are from the party of the rich and selfish.

You do know that Elliot Spitzer (Governor, prior AG) and Andrew Cuomo are Democrats, right?

They made at least that much, according to the Mia

[User 956]

Well, going by what they were charging this guy in Florida [heraldtribune.com], they made at least that much.

Re:Thanks again to the NY Attorney General

[Anonymous Coward]

Democrat, Republican, same difference. They're both rich and selfish, right?

Badly worded summary

[Ken_g6]

The summary makes it sound like these companies produced adware. Actually, it's almost the opposite. Cingular, Priceline, and Travelocity have been fined for buying advertising displayed through adware programs produced by others.