Questions about 180 Solutions

[wwwb]

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An open letter to Tradedoubler


Dear Tradedoubler - please could you answer some questions about 180 Solutions

thanks for the nice day on Monday, however it doesn't make up for the fact that i have spent 3 hours this evening trying to remove 180 Solutions scum from my mothers pc....

So a couple of points...
1)She has not installed anything new on the pc for at least a month
2)She did not give her permission to install anything on the computer
3)She does not open any emails from unknown contacts (she has so had "how to use the internet" nagged at her for years) and does not use Outlook Express, so it aint a virus prob
4)The only sites she uses are yahoo, expedia and some other travel sites

On sunday night she was browsing looking for holidays when a message came up with a big warning asking her if she was suffering from slow connectivity, pop ups etc - at that time the pc had none of these symptoms. All of a sudden the pop ups started including porn, ads for gaming and travel sites...it then threw up a box saying she was infected and if she clicked here it could be removed. The poor bird could not close anything down as windows continued spawning and eventually the screen turned black and told her she needed a system restore.

We checked out the PC this evening and guess what? a little program called PAD Lookups by 180 Search Assistant (who are, suprise suprise, 180 Solutions) plus some of the lovely Ncase. (Which i'm pretty sure is a 180 Solutions product- but seems to get more bad publicity for some reason) There were also loads more, so if anyone wants the list of sites and .exes loaded on, just pm me.

So - uninstalling 180...well it tells you to be online to uninstall- but how can you go online when your browser is hijacked
The Questions
*Can someone please explain to me where permission to install this program was obtained? Remember, this wasn't through a program installation...

*Plus can Tradedoubler please explain why they are allowing these "companies" still use their network?

*Where is the easy to uninstall feature?

*Why do Tradedoubler continue to condone agressive advertising which hijacks your pc ?

I defy you to justify supporting this kind of atrocious behaviour when its your mother on the recieving end.. (Although she was disappointed not to see nakedness as she wouldn't click on the link to confirm she was over 18 and looking for porn!)

What about the poor users who are not technically minded or know anyone to help them? How are they supposed to clear this rubbish up?

Your reponse would be much appreciated

Cheers

Edited as i have to wait for confirmation from BT on one point, and out of politeness on another, and clarification somewhere else

[Julie H]

Have you heard anything from TD on this yet Jude?

Jules

[tobyt]

TD put themselves forward in the market as a professional organisation....

I will be very curious to see if TD are sufficiently professional to answer and address this letter in a public and appropriate manner....

I have family members that are frequent Internet users and online shoppers - is it right that their computers should become infected and filled with this junk. Surely any company that is prepared to work with and tolerate the scum that are responsible for the spread of this crap, are not only tolerating their behavior, but are in fact aiding and abetting by the very nature of their involvement in contributing to the profitability of these organisations.

How long can TD stay silent! How long can they bury their head in the sand? And if we can't ask these questions and receive the appropriate answers, is it not about time the BBC and other media organisations are asked to present these questions in an increasingly public manner?

...over to you TD!!!!

[wwwb]

Just an update-
i've spoken to TD, and they basicly reiterated what had been said already, although it has been stressed that the situation is under constant review- so nowt much new, really. I've got some info to pass onto them re the sites involved, which i'll do asap.

[Luke]

Maybe TD could try to make some amends by bringing on board a reputable spyware/adware remover as a merchant?

In fact why doesn't a network do this?

[Aquanuke]

Maybe TD could try to make some amends by bringing on board a reputable spyware/adware remover as a merchant?

lmao, what reputable adware remover company would want to be associated with TD!