Cingular and Travelocity Apparently Defy NY Attorney General

It was just the end of January when the security community was excitedly reporting the precedent set in a groundbreaking anti-malware settlement. Cingular Wireless LLC, Priceline.com and Travelocity.com agreed to discontnue serving up spyware in their advertisements. It wasn't the dollar amount of the settlement that caused the excitement but rather that there was finally a legally binding agreement in the Assurances of Discontinuance (PDF) .

Unfortunately, it appears that agreement has not meant much to Cingular and Travelocity.

"Cingular and Travelocity continue to receive spyware-originating traffic, including traffic from some of the web's most notorious and most widespread spyware, in direct violation of their respective Assurances of Discontinuance. That said, Priceline seems to have succeeded in substantially reducing these relationships -- suggesting that Cingular and Travelocity could do better if they put forth appropriate effort."

Ben Edelman illustrates six examples from mid-February through March 9 where both Cingular and Travelocity continue Advertising Through Spyware -- After Promising To Stop.

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On a side note, warmest congratulatons to Ben who has successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation and will be joining the faculty of Harvard Business School in April as an assistant professor in the Negotiation, Organizations & and Markets unit.