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Direct Revenue Spyware Infected Company's Own Investors
from the whoops dept
We've followed the saga of spyware maker Direct Revenue for years. Back in 2004, they claimed they were changing their ways and becoming more transparent. Since then, we've noted repeatedly how the company continued its sneaky ways, eventually leading to a lawsuit filed in NY earlier this year. That lawsuit meant that a lot of internal documents were made public, revealing a lot about what went on at the company, suggesting it wasn't at all interested in really cleaning up its act. Business Week has now put together a very thorough piece using those documents and additional reporting to look at what was really happening inside Direct Revenue the past few years.
The story isn't likely to surprise many people. As if to answer our own question of how the company could possibly make money if it wasn't sneaky, the internal documents show that as soon as the company tried to be more transparent and less evil, people didn't want their software. That resulted in an email from one of the company's founders (that was written after those promises to be a good actor in the space) stating: "We need to experiment with less user-friendly uninstall methodologies." However, one of the more interesting stories concerns some of the investors who threw millions at the company (allowing its founders to pocket millions on their own as well). According to the Business Week piece, a managing director at one of the company's investors got infected by Direct Revenue's software, and couldn't get rid of it (of course). Eventually the company had to send its customer support director over to their investors' offices to fix the machine. Makes you wonder just what sort of due diligence the investors actually did before investing in this company.
Reader Comments
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Take them out in the streets and shoot them
The investor got what he deserved....too bad the company founders won't.
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Maybe that investor got infected before
Maybe that investor got infected before investing, and that was the reason why he invested. Two-for-one, he finally got rid of the spyware, and he finally found a company as evil as he was?
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Now if only...
and RIAA exec were to buy a CD and have to find out the hard way that couldn't copy it to his iPod.
I know someone will whine about turning an unrelated story in a RIAA bash but I couldn't help it.
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Re: Now if only...
Whine...
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actually, the investors will get what they deserve when this business closes its doors after wasting every dime the investors put into it.
getting infected with their own malware is just gravy...
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Business Week/DR
Newer employees were left in the dark, too. The HR Director (Who now works at another Spyware company) made it seem like all was ok when asked about adware. But then the company dwindled to a few, with many gone, and prospects and clients leaving. Employees were fired with no warning, and a black spot to put on their resumes. DR is a company that hurt many people, not just those on the outide.
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Cynthia kurtz
real estate
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