On December 18, 2007, the Dutch independent authority regulating postal and electronic communications services (Onafhankelijke Post en Telecommunicatie Autoriteit — OPTA) imposed a fine totaling one million euros on three Dutch companies operating under the name DollarRevenue. These small businesses had surreptitiously installed spy- and adware on over 22 million computers belonging to Internet users in the Netherlands and elsewhere. This practice allowed them to spy on consumers’ online behavior and triggered pop-up windows with advertising material. This is the first time that OPTA has imposed a fine on the distributors of undesirable software and this action was welcomed by EU Telecoms and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding in a press release on December 19, 2007.
For additional information, please consult these press releases (in English) at: http://www.opta.nl/asp/en/newsandpublications/pressreleases/documentasp?id=2459
