Gator sued over pop-up ads
Posted by Steven Parker on 28 June 2002 - 10:18 · 11 comments & 40 views
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The suit was filed Tuesday in federal court in Alexandria, Va. The Washington Post, The New York Times, Dow Jones and seven other publishers allege that Gator's ads violate their copyrights and steal revenue.
Redwood City, Calif.-based Gator is "essentially a parasite on the Web that free rides on the hard work and the investments of plaintiffs and other Web site owners," according to the filing. "In short, Gator sells advertising space on the plaintiffs' Web sites without (their) authorization and pockets the profits from such sales."
Gator develops software that manages passwords and fills out forms for about 10 million Web surfers, who often download the application unwittingly through other popular file-sharing programs. Also bundled in Gator's software is a program called OfferCompanion, which monitors Web surfing behavior and delivers targeted pop-up ads to viewers. For example, a Web surfer may see an advertisement for Ford Motor--delivered by Gator--while visiting Toyota.com.
The lawsuit is the latest legal tussle for Gator. Last year, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) criticized the company for selling banner ads that obscure those sold by online publishers. Gator sued the IAB, alleging "malicious disparagement" over its statements, but the two parties found common ground when Gator agreed to stop selling banner overlays.
Also thanks Bigbooger for telling us that Yahoo! mail has a new layout, if you are a client go have a look, I am not so haven't seen.
Last July, The Register reported how Hotmail failed to stop the SirCam worm because, like this time, antivirus protection had not been updated. We understand Hotmail's protection is updated on Thursday nights, so hopefully things will be put right soon. In fairness Hotmail is one of the few Web-based email services to have any virus protection, but its failure to deal with the Yaha-E virus could contribute to a false sense of security - as well as acting a vector in the spread of the worm.
Managed services firm MessageLabs has intercepted 28,505 copies of the virus so far, 4,895 of which were caught today. Infection seems to be particularly prevalent in Britain and The Netherlands (and no, we're not sure why this is either).