The Ripple Effect of the Eliot Spitzer Suit
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Written By Reprise Media | April 29, 2005 | Share This
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By now most of you have heard that NY State Attorney-General Eliot Spitzer is spittin’ mad over spyware and he’s not going to take it anymore. The state of New York is suing online ad software makers Intermix Media, accusing the company of planting software on consumers’ computers without their consent. Intermix, who incidentally holds […]
By now most of you have heard that NY State Attorney-General Eliot Spitzer is spittin’ mad over spyware and he’s not going to take it anymore. The state of New York is suing online ad software makers Intermix Media, accusing the company of planting software on consumers’ computers without their consent. Intermix, who incidentally holds a minority stake in social networking service MySpace, is denying the claims.
There’s a great post on the InternetStockBlog, titled The Internet Danger List: Stocks at Risk from Spitzer’s Attack on Adware, which talks about the more far-reaching implications of this suit and what it means for others in this market.
Other than the obvious about this case: 1. It’s not the first, 2. It won’t be the last, 3. A win will give the green light for other litigants, there’s a lot to think about in terms of how other companies will be affected.
According to author Jackson, these companies fall into 4 major categories:
- Spyware/Adware Makers: The Jeeves merger with IAB means they’re (in a way) a significant player in this market. Same with FindWhat, who owns Comet Systems. Both could become victims of by proxy.
- Spyware/Adware Distributors: CNET owns download.com, a popular mechanism for distributing these types of programs. Conveniently (or really super wisely) enough, CNET announced that they’re banning all adware-supported programs from their site. Let’s hope it’s not too late.
- Those Who Sell Paid Search or Affiliate Ads to Spyware/Adware Firms: Yahoo, ValueClick, LinkShare and others all receive substantial commissions from their role as the middleman. Will they be legally liable as well?
- Those Who Advertise via Spyware/Adware: These aren’t ‘bop the monkey’ type advertisers, this set includes big names like Monster, Cingular, Orbitz, and 1-800-FLOWERS. What will hurt more, the bad PR or the potential loss of a customer acquisition channel?
Before you go applauding Spitzer for his efforts to speed up your browsing time and get rid of all those annoying pop-overs/unders/sideways, etc. - take a look back at this post from a few weeks ago and remember that not all are so satisfied with the Spitzer camp. For the record, we’re staying out of it.
Topics: Legal Issues |
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