Adware War Heading to Federal Court

SEATTLE — Is all fair in love, war and adware? A federal court may help decide – as far as adware goes, at least – in a case involving software from one company uninstalling a rival’s computer code.

Avenue Media, based in the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao, is suing New York-based DirectRevenue in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

According to court documents, Avenue Media noticed in mid-November a considerable drop in the use of its product, the so-called Internet Optimizer. Avenue Media, which says it has lost millions of users and thousands of dollars in advertising as a result, blames DirectRevenue’s software, which included a tool to delete Avenue Media’s.

In a response this week, DirectRevenue said that Avenue Media had signed a distribution agreement with one of its subsidiaries to distribute DirectRevenue’s technology. DirectRevenue claims that agreement inferred the right to uninstall rival products.

Both companies make technology, commonly known as adware, that directs users to advertisements based on their Web-surfing habits. Such software usually piggybacks onto users’ machines when they download free programs, such as online games.

Many people consider adware to be a major annoyance because it can skew search results toward paid listings and blast pop-up ads.