NebuAd In Trouble After Congress Suggests Its Entire Business Is Illegal

from the oops dept

Wed, Aug 6th 2008 3:58pm — Mike Masnick

We've covered the saga of companies like NebuAd and Phorm, who basically worked with ISPs to access your clickstream data and place advertisements based on your overall surfing habits, rather than the specific page that you're on at that moment. It didn't take long before people realized that such services (beyond just being somewhat deceptively implemented by ISPs) were probably illegal. And, of course, given the public outcry over these services, it didn't take long for Congress to get involved, suggesting that it felt these activities were illegal.

So, of course, if you happen to work at Phorm or NebuAd, you've got a bit of a business model problem (not to mention the potential legal problem). The Register is reporting that NebuAd has now laid off a bunch of employees -- and also dumped its PR firm. Considering the fact that no amount of PR probably could have stopped consumer outrage over how these services were implemented, it seems like the PR firm may have been something of a scapegoat --- or, perhaps, the company just realized that any PR work at this point is simply futile.

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

Filed Under: clickstream tracking, isps, legality
Companies: nebuad, phorm

12 Comments

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

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 6 Aug 2008 @ 4:43pm

What a shame. Maybe after these companies fall, their high-class executives will have to move out of their fancy branded communities and live with the rest of us.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 19 May 2009 @ 9:50pm
  
  Re:
  Fat chance. They'll find some other company to act unethically for. Many of the rich become rich, not because they are smarter than anyone else, but because they are more willing to act unethically. These people have already demonstrated their intent to act unethically if it means becoming rich and they will likely become rich again (until criminal sanctions are imposed. Of course that's highly unlikely in the U.S. Bayer got away with selling Aids tainted blood and no criminal sanctions were ever imposed, not to mention the Vioxx scandal without criminal sanctions).
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Sam I am not, 6 Aug 2008 @ 5:27pm

I do not like green eggs and spam
It is bad enough that this is being thrust upon the unsuspecting public .... but at the same time some ISPs are implementing caps and BW surcharges. So, in effect they are asking you to pay for the ads being thrown at you. No wonder some people are not happy with it.

And in a related topic, with wireless providers charging for incoming SMS messages and an increase in SMS spam how long till a major change in that market ?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
inc, 6 Aug 2008 @ 7:34pm

Too bad they don't think that same about homeland security and King George's raping of our rights...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Abdul, 7 Aug 2008 @ 9:37am
  
  Re:
  What has the homeland security get to do with this one? May be u need some UFO to tell you that the days of privacy are long gone with the coming of the internet as As this article shows
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
zcat, 6 Aug 2008 @ 7:44pm

But who's going to monitor your ISP?
I just can't link to this often enough...

Switzerland is an open source software tool for testing the integrity of data communications over networks, ISPs and firewalls. It will spot IP packets which are forged or modified between clients, inform you, and give you copies of the modified packets.

http://www.eff.org/testyourisp/switzerland

Lets put an end to this bullshit. I want my IP traffic delivered exactly as it is, not 'enhanced' with advertising.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Enrico Suarve, 7 Aug 2008 @ 2:33am
  
  Re: But who's going to monitor your ISP?
  That's ace, thank you loads
  
  BT - your ass is mine "brewhoohooarrr!!" (evil laugh)
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Truthseeker, 7 Aug 2008 @ 6:21am

They should have known . . .
Only the Government is allowed to secretly monitor, track, record and categorize all your private activities . . . the nerve of these companies.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
MrScott, 7 Aug 2008 @ 5:20pm

Phorm should not be allowed to buddy up with ISP's!
Well, good. Now that the word is out about NebuAd and Phorm, I have something for you. Steve Gibson at Gibson Research Center did a podcast with Leo Laporte talking about Phorm just a few weeks ago, and it's all bad. Not the podcast, Phorm is bad. REAL bad. I'd even say 'unbelievably bad'!

If you have some time, listen to their podcast where Steve explains in detail what this so-called company does and how it operates. They're dirty, sneaky and underhanded practices to make money, will just simply piss you off. It's a long podcast, but it's worth it. By the time they're done explaining Phorm, you'll hate Phorm's guts! The mp3 link is: Security Now Episode 151.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Jonah, 11 Aug 2008 @ 10:51am

What's this TCP/IP Protocol
What I need is an Opaque Envelope to stop these ISP Snoopers, Postmen aren't supposed to even read or divulge the contents of postcards though!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Jonah, 26 Oct 2008 @ 1:46pm

Wake I you've only won the first battle not the War!
Wake Up Americans I don't think this is over Yet!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Bettawrekonize, 19 May 2009 @ 9:51pm

Last post was by me.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]