In this consent agreement, Commission staff obtained strong injunctive relief that will put an end to practices that allowed DirectRevenue to foist unwanted software on untold millions of consumers . . . .  But the $1.5 million in monetary relief that the Commission obtained as part of the consent agreement is a disappointment because it apparently leaves DirectRevenue's owners lining their pockets with more than $20 million from a business model based on deceit.

On a separate note, I want to commend the New York Attorney General's office for its recent ground-breaking settlements . . . with Priceline, Travelocity, and Cingular Wireless in the context of its litigation against DirectRevenue.  Among other things, the settlements require the companies to do due diligence before advertising via adware, and periodically follow up to see how their online ads are being delivered.  These settlements are important because advertising dollars fuel the demand side of the nuisance adware problem . . . .