Software firm D Squared Solutions this week settled Federal Trade Commission charges that the frequency of its pop-up ads crippled some computers.
The company used pop-up ads to sell its own pop-up blocking software (Dec. 16, XTRA).
The FTC filed suit in November 2003 to halt the ads, which were sent through Windows Messenger Service, an instant-messaging feature in Microsoft’s Windows software. The FTC charged that ads popped up as often as every 10 minutes, and froze or crashed some recipients’ computers.
D Squared, founded by two University of California students, initially fought the charges. Its settlement agreement bans D Squared from sending pop-up ads, selling blocking software, or selling software for sending pop-up ads. The agreement also bans instant-message advertising and deceptive return e-mail addresses, and requires D Squared to provide an opt-out on all its Internet advertising.
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