Adware company sues former distributors

Belleview, Washington-based 180solutions Inc. alleged that seven former distributors "surreptitiously installed its search software without notice or consent".

The complaint, filed in King County Superior Court, named defendants as Eric de Vogt of the Netherlands, Jesse Donohue of Australia, Khalil Halel of Lebanon, Imran Patel of the United Kingdom, Zarox Souchi of Canada, Youri Van Den Berg of the Netherlands and Anton Zagar of Slovenia.

According to the complaint, each defendant used botnets to secretly install the company's software on the computers of unsuspecting users.

"Our top priority is to ensure that everyone who has downloaded 180solutions software has done so through proper notification and consent prior to installation," said Daniel Todd, co-founder and president of 180solutions in a statement. "We have implemented strong policing efforts to detect distributor wrongdoing, and have a no-tolerance policy through our Distributor Code of Conduct. When we discover a partner in violation of our code, we shut them down and, when necessary, take legal action to avert future bad behavior."

The company is seeking unspecified damages from the defendants and said it will place any monies awarded into a fund to "foster pro-consumer practices for downloadable software".