Gator sued by NY Times & more for illegal pop ups.
 

Gator sued over pop-up ads
Thu Jun 27, 7:38 PM ET
Stefanie Olsen

A group of publishers this week sued the Gator online advertising network ( news - external web site) in a bid to bar the company from serving pop-up ads on their Web sites without their permission.

The suit was filed Tuesday in federal court in Alexandria, Va. The Washington Post, The New York Times, Dow Jones and seven other publishers allege that Gator's ads violate their copyrights and steal revenue.

Redwood City, Calif.-based Gator is "essentially a parasite on the Web that free rides on the hard work and the investments of plaintiffs and other Web site owners," according to the filing. "In short, Gator sells advertising space on the plaintiffs' Web sites without (their) authorization and pockets the profits from such sales."

Gator develops software that manages passwords and fills out forms for about 10 million Web surfers, who often download the application unwittingly through other popular file-sharing programs. Also bundled in Gator's software is a program called OfferCompanion, which monitors Web surfing behavior and delivers targeted pop-up ads to viewers. For example, a Web surfer may see an advertisement for Ford Motor--delivered by Gator--while visiting Toyota.com.

The lawsuit is the latest legal tussle for Gator. Last year, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) criticized the company for selling banner ads that obscure those sold by online publishers. Gator sued the IAB, alleging "malicious disparagement" over its statements, but the two parties found common ground when Gator agreed to stop selling banner overlays.

Earlier this year, catalog retailer L.L. Bean sent Gator a cease-and-desist letter, attempting to stop the company from launching ads on its site. Gator countersued, and a case is still pending in Oregon.

The latest suit highlights mounting tension over tactics used by Gator and others. Earlier this year, WeightWatchers.com sued rival DietWatch.com for using Gator to deliver ads to visitors of its site. On June 11, a court granted WeightWatchers a permanent injunction barring DietWatch from serving ads on its site.

This week's action charges that Gator violates the publishers' copyright and trademark rights. By delivering unauthorized pop-up ads, Gator is altering the intended display of the work, a right that has been recognized by the Supreme Court, said Terence Ross, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.

The rest of the article is here...
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...0104&printer=1

Good, Gator is bullshit.

Good. Bury the fuckers in legal fees.

I hope those fucks go out of business, they install their program without newbees knowing about it and other bullshit

:BangBang: Gator

fuckers

good fuck the gator

Take em down and while youre at it can someone take down the ad networks that go ahead and promote gator.... sheesh, talk about cutting their own tails off.

I kinda like gator...I think its the coolest thing since scat.

mmmmmmmmmmmmm

i smell another dot com failure,,,,

and they say porn ruins the internet,, LOL

GATOR! UGH UGH UGH UGH!

I installed them on this box a looong time ago, back when they billed themselves as a password management utility.

I've tried and tried to get that shit off this box, but it never fails, something comes back, sometimes a month later. Now it's freaking GAIN instead of Gator that I've got, and I know it's the same motherfuckers since that eguard. whatever is the server it's trying to connect thru.

I hope they rot in hell.

It sucks they work by preying on newbees. I remember I saw my cousins computer he has a decent box but its really slow because of crap like comet gator etc

mmmmmmm

fried gator bites

YUMMY!

I didn't know they were in the Bay Area or I would have, drove over to there office...2 or 3 times a week and shot here windows
with my sling shot....loaded with marbels...:helpme

To late I've moved out of the Area..... I got there shit on my computer once.... and jumped through all kinds of hoops getting it off.. God that pissed me off to no end...

:321GFY Gator rot in hell:321GFY

Doesn't everybody in this industry, prey on the newbies. If they knew where to find the good porn for free, and get access to it, they wouldn't have to pay us to see it?

But, I do agree with you Foe.

However, Gator isn't as bad as those fuckers at lop.com.

Gator is mad annoying, installs without asking for notification, finally it's over :)

i went to ifriends.com and date.com ad pops up cuz of that BS, they are doing adult as well now so you all are loosing revenue.

Could you add the Gator url to your hosts file, and just have it point to localhost instead? Then when it tries to launch one of it's ads streamed from that server (listed in your hosts file), a nice page not found appears instead of the ad?

It could be an interesting virus. Propogate, and "fix" peoples hosts files!

-Just a joke, I hate virus's more than Gator

get Lavasoft's Ad Aware

if you do get it... you might be surprised....
it reports sextracker as spy-ware

yes. die gator die.

LMAO!!
I thought I already explained this to you?

Gator Got Spanked! FINALLY!