Movieland - Complaints By The FTC

Complaints By The FTC

The expired trial and payment options screens as presented by the Moviepass software, as illustrated in the FTC's complaint. These pop-up windows blanked the entire screen and forced the user into continuing the process of purchasing the service, with no visible method of closing them.

On August 8, 2006, the FTC filed a complaint in United States District Court "to obtain preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, rescission of contracts, restitution, disgorgement and other equitable relief for Defendants' deceptive and unfair acts or practices in violation of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act".

The complaint alleged that the defendants were demanding payment to fix a problem that they themselves created, and were installing disruptive software that could not be removed through reasonable means. According to the FTC complaint, Movieland repeatedly bombarded consumers with pop-up windows, accompanied by music that lasted nearly a minute. They demanded a minimum payment of $29.95 to end the recurring pop-up cycle, claiming that consumers had signed up for a three-day free trial and did not cancel the service before the trial period was over.

The complaint charged that:

Installation of Defendants' download manager is merely a smoke screen concealing Defendants' true purpose: to install software and other files onto consumers' computers that enable Defendants to launch pop-up windows on consumers computers demanding payments to Defendants. These pop-up windows, which display both textual and audiovisual payment demands, significantly disrupt consumers' use of their computers. After Defendants cause these pop-up payment demands to display on a particular computer for the first time, they cause them to redisplay again and again with ever-increasing frequency."

The pop-ups had a large dark background and took up much of the screen, blocking access to other windows, and did not contain close or minimize buttons; forcing the user to continue. The first pop-up showed the date and time "our content access software was installed on your system and your 3 day free trial began", the text "Click 'Continue' to purchase your license and stop these reminders", and a graphic reading "STOP THESE REMINDERS NOW" and "CLICK CONTINUE". The only option offered was the button labeled "Continue".

Clicking "Continue" brought up the next pop-up, a 40-second audiovisual clip featuring a woman who introduced herself as "your personal customer service representative" and stated "Because you did not cancel during your trial period, you are now legally obligated to make your payment as per the terms and conditions you agreed to when you installed our content delivery software." As the clip neared its conclusion, a new dialog box entitled "PAYMENT OPTIONS" appeared. Choosing its "Close this window" option ended the pop-ups until the unvarying cycle began again.

In addition, the complaint alleged that the defendants made numerous false statements in attempting to collect payments from consumers, claiming that the computer owner or someone else consented to receiving the pop-up payment demands until they paid, the owner of any computer that received the pop-ups was legally obligated to pay Movieland, and that the computer owner was obligated to satisfy any contract that any other person entered into while using the computer. The only customer service telephone number provided was a 900 number. When consumers called it, a recorded greeting told them that they would incur a $34.95 charge if they did not hang up within three seconds.

The complaint also alleged that the defendants made it difficult or impossible for consumers to uninstall the software. Those attempting to remove it through the Windows Control Panel "Add or Remove Programs" function were redirected to a web page telling them that they had to pay the $29.95 fee to stop the pop-ups. The only way many consumers could regain control of their computers was to pay the fee, or pay a computer technician to remove the software.