Annoying The Users Of Your Trial Software Until They Pay Is Not A Legitimate Business Model

from the about-time dept

Mon, Aug 14th 2006 4:46pm — Mike Masnick

One of the well known distribution tactics of the spyware/adware industry is to bundle the adware with another application people want, such as a file sharing system. Usually, this is seen as a business model for those products. However, it seems that some others are viewing adware as a different type of business model: leveraging the annoyance factor of adware until you break down and pay up to remove it (in some places, this may be known as extortion). Washington's Attorney General is apparently now going after Movieland.com, which appears to be the software that is bundled with a nasty bit of adware. According to the complaint, Movieland promised a three-day free trial -- but it also installed some adware in the process. Following the expiration of the "trial," the user would get bombarded with popups that could not be closed -- until the user agreed to sign up for the full service.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

30 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

MissingFrame, 14 Aug 2006 @ 5:08pm

My copy of Windows does the same thing!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
ijakings, 14 Aug 2006 @ 5:23pm

Re: My copy of Windows does the same thing!
Yet another person who does not realise that Comments my extend beyond the subject box.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 14 Aug 2006 @ 5:39pm

Re: Re: My copy of Windows does the same thing!
Yet another person who doesn't realize that a short message in the subject box doesn't need an extra copy in the comment box.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
My Turn, 14 Aug 2006 @ 5:44pm

My copy of Windows does the same thing!
Yet another person pointing out a person that pointed out that comments may extend beyound the subject box........ next....... monkeys on fire throwing their own poo
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Vince Ferg, 14 Aug 2006 @ 5:47pm

Post Something Good!
This site attracts every kind of spammer there is huh? Not a single post filled with knowledge of some clever witty remark. Just a guy finishing off a statement talking about poo. I feel bad for the wasted money this site throws away on people wasting there space.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Literally "none", 14 Aug 2006 @ 5:52pm

this
I never apologize.
I'm sorry, but that's just the way I am.
-Homer Simpson
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 14 Aug 2006 @ 6:03pm

first actual comment on the story
thats not a legit buisness model, i agree. there are lots of software that does that and i agree it should be illegal and they should have to pay some hefty fines!!!!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
MissingFrame, 14 Aug 2006 @ 6:05pm

Re: Post Something Good!
The only post filled with knowledge is the one everyone is complaining about!

Should I really need to point out that the largest software creator in the world, based in the state that the lawsuit is originating from, pops up nag windows similar to the lawsuit for similar reasons?

No.

But for you, I will.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
rijit (profile), 14 Aug 2006 @ 6:17pm

The difference in what Microsoft does with it's Genuine Windows Program and what Movieland.com are 2 totally different things. If you are running pirated software you deserve some annoying pop-up telling you to pay for it. If something is installed without your permission and wrecks your computer, you should not have to pay to get it removed. In fact, as mentioned in the article, that is a crime called extortion. If I were one of the users of Movieland.com software, I would have sued. Maybe even press extortion charges on them.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 14 Aug 2006 @ 7:28pm

Re:
But what if was installed with their permission?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
ted, 14 Aug 2006 @ 8:39pm

"Yeah, I said they could install their FREE trial and if I didn't pay for it they could lock up my computer..."

Fortunately no reasonable person (jury...) is going to take that "permission fine print" argument seriously.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 14 Aug 2006 @ 8:55pm

Re:
AC above has a good point, things like adware are generally agreed to in the EULA, people just don't pay attention, so really... whose fault is this? I will admit this sounds a little shady on movieland's part but seriously, pop-ups you can't get rid of? That's laughable... I'm almost interested in installing this software just to see these "invincible ads"
[ link to this | view in thread ]
tenjin, 14 Aug 2006 @ 9:45pm

Re: Re:
As some one who is paid to help remove software like this crap...

i can say it isnt impossible to remove it, but it may as well be.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Xcetron, 14 Aug 2006 @ 10:39pm

All these companies should be required to do is post a warning that the person installing things will get pop ups and the suchs. If the users continue to install it then thats totally their fault.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Zidd, 14 Aug 2006 @ 10:54pm

Re:
its called the EULA its the thing most people dont even bother reading they just mindlessly click thru it.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Xcetron, 15 Aug 2006 @ 12:08am

I know what an EULA is, I'm just saying that its all the distributor should be required to post.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
drak, 15 Aug 2006 @ 12:34am

The best thing to do is to read a review of the software by download.com or some similar site. Look at it this way: if the review is good, download. They usually mention these things in reviews. If there is no review, search round for something that you can find a review for. Adware/Spyware is usually bundled with "shady" software anyway. The kinda stuff you can't take to your tech guy and say "Hey, i bought this and this happened". In any case, download.com themselves shouldnt be trusted. Their "download manager" comes bundled with some rather persistent spyware itself.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Sanguine Dream, 15 Aug 2006 @ 6:03am

I know!
Just eliminate fine print!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Sanguine Dream, 15 Aug 2006 @ 6:09am

Re: I know!
By eliminate I mean make illegal.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
over, 15 Aug 2006 @ 6:48am

your house
Read the EULA next time lol
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Lay Person, 15 Aug 2006 @ 8:39am

Yeah right!
Some business model...

Yeah it's a business model for the low lifes of the world right up there with date rapes, telemarketing, and time -sharing opportunities!

Anything that has to be slipped in, unknown to the user, is underhanded and sneaky. It's like some guy buying a girl a drink, slips her drink a spanish fly, it knocks her out, he f---- her, then acts like they had mutual sex.

In fact both parties involved suffer the consequences the vendors whos software is being piggybacked and the piggybacker. Because once the owner finds out they avoid both like the plague.

So vendors, next time you consider this as a model, stick this in your pipe and smoke some.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 15 Aug 2006 @ 10:11am

Re: Re: Post Something Good!
Not so similar if you ask me. An unremovable nag window for software you don't want is one thing - an unremovable nag window for software that you have not activated (which is part of the agreement when you purchase it) is an entirely different thing.

One you have not agreed to and don't want to use and hijacks your computer for a period of time - the other you do (you can always use a different OS if you like).
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 15 Aug 2006 @ 10:15am

Re: Re:
common, don't be a weiner.

So many laymen computer users out there don't know how to do anything more than use the 'Add/Remove Programs' section in their control panel. If a company hijacks a computer by making it so difficult to remove that you have to be a more advanced computer user to do so it is essentially the same as making the ads impossible to remove.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 15 Aug 2006 @ 10:21am

Re:
Popycock.

Companies should not be allowed to take advantage of people to the point that they can fully control eveything we do on our PC's.

I should never have to hire a lawyer to be sure I'm not going to get bent over and nailed by some dick-head company just to install software. That mindset is bullshit.

If this kind of thing continues to get worse it could become a serious problem for the software industry - people will stop buying software from no-name companies out of fear they're going to get screwed. That does nobody any good and these jackass startups that create this kind of crap shouldn't be allowed to exist in such a manner.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Lay Person, 15 Aug 2006 @ 10:39am

O.K.
I'm a network/software/hardware consultant...been doing it for 15 years.

I recall having to support people after they've installed AOL.

AOL was the biggest pain in the ass to remove back in '98. Litterally, if you installed AOL it took your whole machine hostage. I found it alter things that it had no business altering. Yet people used it all day long untill the install failed or caused other problems. I take a certain level of pride in my skills but I have never seen a more insideous piece of code than that of AOL.

People needed AOL but didn't want all the crap that it caused to fail. In fact, in order to correct some things required 10-15 registry settings and that was after uninstalling AOL!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Dan, 15 Aug 2006 @ 11:35am

Basic Rule
Never download free software. There's a reason it's free. If it's worth using, it's worth $20.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Josh, 15 Aug 2006 @ 12:17pm

Re: Basic Rule
That's funny, I haven't had to pay anything for Linux or any of the massively valuable software available for it that I use on a daily basis.

Go figure, $0 does have some value.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Lay Person, 15 Aug 2006 @ 2:26pm

Re: Re: Basic Rule
Gee, O.K. Josh so you use Linux WOW.

In fact there are many reliable distributions of software but the sources need to be trusted first.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Tortel, 15 Aug 2006 @ 5:07pm

Well, look here
I quote, " BY PARTICIPATING IN THE MOVIELAND / MEDIAPIPE FREE TRIAL OFFER THE MEDIAPIPE SOFTWARE WILL ENABLE YOU TO ACCESS THE AVAILABLE CONTENT FOR THE PERIOD OF TIME THAT SPECIFIED ON THE ADVERTISMENT YOU HAVE CLICKED THROUGH.

IF YOU DO NOT PROVIDE PAYMENT INFORMATION DURING THE TRIAL PERIOD OUR BILLING SOFTWARE WILL BE ENABLED UPON THE EXPIRATION OF YOUR TRIAL PERIOD. THE BILLING SOFTWARE WILL RUN ON YOUR COMPUTER, DISPLAYING POP-UP WINDOW REMINDERS THAT PROVIDE YOU WITH VARIOUS METHODS OF PAYMENT FOR THE ANNUAL LICENSE. THESE POP-UP WINDOWS WILL APPEAR MORE FREQUENTLY UNTIL YOU CHOOSE ONE OF THE PAYMENT OPTIONS AND PAY FOR THE LICENSE. THE BILLING SOFTWARE IS SOLELY DESIGNED TO PREVENT FRAUDULENT AND UNAUTHORIZED USE OF THE MEDIAPIPE SOFTWARE." from movieland.com/terms
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Renee, 11 Nov 2006 @ 9:14pm

Unwanted Ads and Offers
The unwanted offers on new computers are now outrageous. I bought a new Dell laptop and it came with six ISP 30 day trial offers I don't want not to mention some useless software packages "free for 30 days". Best Buy Geek Squad will remove them all for $99 and another computer local for 50. Is there anything I can do to get them off, and what can be done to stop this INSANITY?
[ link to this | view in thread ]