180 Solutions is the company that produces adware applications such as Zango and Seekmo. Formerly, they also produced the 180 Search Assistant (also known as 180sa) and ncase. A private company is a company that is independently owned. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Official website: http://www. ... A chief executive officer (CEO) or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or executive officer of a corporation, company, or agency. ... President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, universities, and countries. ... Chief Technical Officer or Chief Technology Officer, usually seen as CTO, is a business executive position whose holder is focussed on technical issues in a company. ... The Chief Information Officer or CIO is a job title for a manager responsible for information technology within an organization, such as a listed company or an educational institution. ... A screenshot of computer software in action. ... Generally speaking, advertising is the promotion of goods, services, companies and ideas, usually by an identified sponsor. ... It has been suggested that Product marketing be merged into this article or section. ... Ad-ware or advertising-supported software is any software package which automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertising material to a computer after the software is installed on it or while the application is being used. ... Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ... The front page of the English Wikipedia Website. ... Ad-ware or advertising-supported software is any software package which automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertising material to a computer after the software is installed on it or while the application is being used. ... Zango is an adware, but some said it is a rootkit. ...

Early History (prior to 2002)

When founded in 1999, 180 Solutions was known as epipo. It was one of the first "pay-to-surf" companies, following in the footsteps of All Advantage. This business model paid users a minimal amount to surf the Internet while running an application that showed banner ads. Users could also make money by referring others who would use this application.

After enjoying brief success, the pay-to-surf business model fell into ruin with the bursting of the Internet bubble in 2001, and 180 Solutions adjusted their technologies in several ways:

• To show popup ads rather than banner ads.
• To not have any visible GUI.
• To be bundled with other potentially valuable applications.

Gui is short for Guilherme or Guilhermo or an iteration of that, in English it translates to Will. ...

2002 - 2005

From 2002 through 2005, 180 Solutions' applications (ncase and 180sa) were distributed via various affiliates. While these affiliates were legally required (by 180 contract and other laws) to obtain the permission of the user prior to install, many did not; this resulted in millions of illegal non-consensual installs. Many other affiliates notified users only via the end user licence agreement EULA; this resulted in more millions of technically legal but still practically non-consensual installs. A software license is a type of proprietary or gratiuitious license as well as a memorandum of contract between a producer and a user of computer software — sometimes called an End User License Agreement (EULA) — that specifies the perimeters of the permission granted by the owner to the user. ...

180 Solutions' software shows popup ads while the user is surfing the Internet. This software was often, but not always, bundled with other pieces of free software which the user intentionally installed. Since permission to install the 180 Solutions adware was at best hidden in a EULA, most users were unaware of the fact that they were installing adware.

In some cases 180 Solutions' software was not bundled with any other software, but installed as a standalone install. Using this method, an ActiveX prompt simply asked the user to install the software so that they could receive "comparison shopping advertisements".

180 Solutions contends that the value of the bundled software or the comparison shopping advertisements makes up for the inconvenience of the popup ads. The value of this trade-off is contested by critics of the adware business model.

During this time, 180 Solutions' applications were often difficult to uninstall, requiring the user to download an additional 'uninstall' application made by 180 Solutions or to use a spyware or adware removal tool. In 2005, the software uninstall was standardized to use the Windows 'add/remove programs' feature.

In 2005, 180 Solutions implemented a number of initiatives that were intended to show that the company was serious about controlling the distribution of its software to eliminate non-consensual installs:

• March: Acquired one of their distribution partners, a Canadian company called CDT (dba LoudCash). This gave them direct visibility into and greater control of many of the formerly "third party" distributors.
• June: Claimed to have renotified its 20 million user customer base and implemented a program that notifies all users within 72 hours of install and re-notifies all users every 90 days thereafter.
• August: Filed suit against seven individuals alleged to have illegally distributed its software using a botnet.
• November: Announced an ongoing partnership with the FBI in breaking up a botnet ring in the Netherlands.
• December: Ended distribution of the 180 Search Assistant and closed LoudCash (a remnant from the CDT acquisition). They claim that this removes the financial incentive for fraudulent installs.

Recent history (2006 and later)

On January 23rd, 2006, a public advocacy group filed two official complaints with the Federal Trade Commission. The Center for Democracy and Technology complaints charge 180 Solutions with engaging in unfair and deceptive business practices, deliberately duping Internet users into downloading intrusive advertising software. [1] FTC headquarters, Washington, D.C. The Federal Trade Commission (or FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act. ... The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) is a Washington, DC based non-profit advocacy group that works to promote democratic values and constitutional liberties in the Digital Age. ...

Despite the initiatives of 2005, 180 Solutions recently admitted that it is possible for malicious users to hack their install routines and thus cause fraudulent installs.[2] They claim that the percentage of fraudulent installs has dropped from over 10% to under 1%.[] Critics claim that the business model is untenable because fraud against 180 (which therefore harms unknowning users via nonconsensual installs) can never be completely removed. [3] [4]

External links

• 180solutions.com
• 180solutions blog
• 180 Search Assistant
• Zango
• Metrics Direct
• 180solutions in 365 days
• Interview with 180 Solutions Regarding Practices