USInternet Retailer Reacts Against Spyware

US retailer L.L. Bean is setting an international precedent by suing four online marketers including Nordstrom and JC Penney over their alleged use of pop-up ads enabled by a software infiltrator, called Claria. Bean's complaint alleges that pop-up ads for the companies that appear on LLBean.com infringe on L.L. Bean's trademark rights.

Software such as Claria's - software that's also known as "spyware" - is often bundled in when web users voluntarily download an application they want, such as the ability to share files. The spyware "reads" the user's activity on a web site, such as Bean's for example, and it can trigger pop-up ads for competing products and companies depending on what it sees the user is searching or browsing for on the site.

Because users may not be aware they've downloaded the ad-triggering application into their browser themselves, if annoyed by the pop-up ads that appear while visiting a site such as Bean's, they may mistakenly blame the site itself for serving up the ads.

"It's bad enough that there are companies out there wantonly poaching consumer activity on our site and redirecting it to themselves. But even worse is the fact that our reputation is injured by a consumer perception that suggests L.L. Bean is authorizing these activities or is even receiving compensation for it," says Mary Lou Kelley, L.L. Bean vice president of e-commerce.