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Senior Internet Alert
FTC Targets Company Secretly Installing Spyware that
Can’t Be Uninstalled
Lure of anonymous music file sharing exposed
consumers
Oct. 5, 2005 – A good example of the dangers to
your computer from lack of safe habits on the Internet is highlighted in
a recent case brought by the Federal Trade Commission against Odysseus,
an operation that secretly installed spyware and adware. The software
could not be uninstalled on the computers of those who fell for the lure
of free software to hide peer-to-peer music file sharing.
According to the complaint filed by the FTC,
Odysseus Marketing and its principal, Walter Rines, advertised software
they claimed would allow consumers to engage in peer-to-peer file
sharing anonymously. With claims like “DOWNLOAD MUSIC WITHOUT FEAR,” and
“DON’T LET THE RECORD COMPANIES WIN,” the defendants encouraged
consumers to download their free software.
The agency charges that the claims are bogus.
First, the software does not make file-sharing anonymous.
Second, the cost to consumers is considerable
because the “free” software is bundled with spyware called Clientman
that secretly downloads dozens of other software programs, degrading
consumers’ computer performance and memory.
Among other things, this accumulated software
replaces or reformats search engine results. For example, consumers who
downloaded the spyware may try to conduct a Google or Yahoo! search.
Their screens will reveal a page that appears to be the Google or Yahoo!
search engine result, but the page is a copy-cat site, and the order of
the search results is rigged to place the defendants’ clients first.
The bundled software programs also generate pop-up
ads and capture and transmit information from the consumers’ computers
to servers controlled by the defendants.
The FTC charged that the defendants have an
obligation to disclose that their “free” software download caused
spyware and adware to be installed on consumers’ computers. But instead,
the FTC alleges, they hide their disclosure in the middle of a two-page
end-user licensing agreement buried in the “Terms and Conditions”
section of their Web site.
In addition, the FTC alleges that the defendants
deliberately make their software difficult to detect and impossible to
remove using standard software utilities. Although the defendants
purport to offer their own “uninstall” tool, it does not work. In fact,
it installs additional software, according to the FTC’s complaint.
The FTC charges that the practices of Odysseus
Marketing and Walter Rines are unfair and deceptive and violate the FTC
Act. The agency will seek a permanent halt to the practices.
The defendants are based in Stratham, New
Hampshire.
The FTC, asked a U.S. District Court to permanently
halt the operation, alleging the stealthy downloads violate federal law.
The Commission vote to authorize staff to file the complaint was 4-0.
The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of
New Hampshire.
NOTE: The Commission files a complaint when it has
“reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated, and it
appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest.
The complaint is not a finding or ruling that the defendant has actually
violated the law. The case will be decided by the court.
Copies of the complaint are available from the FTC’s Web site at
http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center,
Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. The FTC
works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair
business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help
consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or
Spanish (bilingual counselors are available to take complaints), or to
get free information on any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free,
1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at
http://www.ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity
theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a
secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law
enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
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