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11.15.06
FTC Pops The Clutch On Media Motor
 By
David Utter
Notorious PC hijacker software Media Motor had its doors blown off by the Federal Trade Commission, which persuaded a US District Court to shut down its distributors. That's just the start of ERG Ventures' troubles.
Trojan purveyor ERG has plagued millions of computers with its Media Motor spyware Trojans, but the FTC has put a stop to the operations of a few people who distributed the insidious software.
The FTC petitioned the US District Court in Nevada to put a permanent halt to ERG Ventures, LLC, and its principals: Elliott S. Cameron, Robert A. Davidson, II, and Gary E. Hill, as well as Timothy P. Taylor d/b/a Team Taylor Made.
That group has more to worry about than getting shut down and losing their ill-gotten gains. An FTC statement on the case also noted the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, D.C. is engaged in a parallel criminal investigation of the defendants in which search warrants were executed.
Cameron et al not only have to worry about the civil penalties sought by FTC, but the potential for the Department of Justice to seek criminal charges against them for the distribution of Media Motor.
It even gets worse for ERG's principals. Microsoft decided to follow the FTC filing with a similar legal action against them.
"These defendants were packaging a broad array of unwanted and intrusive programs with seemingly innocent programs," said Scott Stein, senior attorney with the Internet Safety Enforcement Team at Microsoft.
"They didn't tell users about the numerous hidden programs that would be installed with the screen savers, and provided only an illusory option to stop installation. We have a responsibility to help protect our customers and to do whatever we can to prevent this kind of practice."
Microsoft said in a statement it will seek damages from ERG Ventures and its principals on the grounds that their installation practices violate the Washington Computer Spyware Act and the Washington Consumer Protection Act.
System administrators everywhere should appreciate ERG's dilemma, as they are caught between federal investigators and the world's richest technology company, all seeking ERG's neatly severed head delivered on a fine china platter.
About the Author:
David Utter is a business and technology writer for SecurityProNews, WebProNews, and InternetFinancialNews.
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