Two Class Action Lawsuits Filed Against CJ/BF/ValueClick on Behalf of Affiliates and Merchants
Two separate class action lawsuits were filed on April 20, 2007 against Commission Junction, BeFree and ValueClick. One names CJ and BeFree publishers (affiliates) as the plaintifs. The other names CJ and BeFree merchants as the plaintiffs. So what do these lawsuits center around? Adware.
The lawsuits allege breach of contract, negligence and unfair business practices on CJ/BF’s part by allowing adware affiliates to operate within their Network. The gist of it seems to be that CJ/BF has knowingly allowed adware affiliates within their Network which commit commission theft and fraudulent transactions through adware applications. The suit is seeking monetary damages to both affiliates and merchants. More importantly, in my opinion, they are seeking a change in ValueClick’s corporate policy related to adware and compliance.
I’ve always hoped that Networks would wise up by implementing fair business practices and enforcing them. My views on the subject matter certainly aren’t an Industry Secret. Unfortunately, the changes haven’t happened. As I was thinking about this, I realized that the adware issues have been ongoing for 6 or 7 years now. Wow, time certainly does go by quickly. It probably hasn’t been a matter of if such a lawsuit would be brought against someone, but a matter of when. Well, it looks like the “when” is now here.
How this may impact the Industry as a whole, well I just don’t know. It’s certainly bound to shake some things up. And I can’t imagine that other Networks aren’t going to be watching this case closely. I can only hope this will result in some real postive change within the Industry.
You can find more information on the case here.
A copy of the affiliate claim is here and a copy of the merchant claim is here.
As we feel these cases are important specifically to the affiliate marketing industry, more so than any other case related to adware/spyware to date, we will be dedicating a special area of this blog to information on these lawsuits as they progress. We will limit the posting to official sources and will avoid commentary and speculation.
This is great news in my opinion. I’m sick of corporations getting away with what ever they want to. I have had problems with CJ in the past, and even presently they are causing difficulty in my life. I do hope these lawsuits have a positive effect on Affiliate Marketing
Comment by Brian Free — June 12, 2007 @ 4:58 pm
Excuse my legal ignorance, but in a class action suit, are the plaintiffs anonymous?
I skimmed the claims for a few seconds and saw one name for the affiliates and none for the merchants.
Comment by Shawn Collins — June 12, 2007 @ 6:07 pm
Shawn,
INAL, but if I get your question right every person who is covered under the class action would not be listed. I’ve gotten notices before that I’m part of a class action and there’s probably been 1000’s of individual in the class action. Each person isn’t going to be listed on the filing. That’s what makes it a class action..it’s representing a group or a class of similar individuals.
Comment by Kellie AFP — June 12, 2007 @ 6:56 pm
2 ADWARE Class Action Lawsuits against CJ - ValueClick…
Just found out about 2 class action lawsuits one by affiliates and one by merchants - both against CJ/BeFree/ValueClick. So if you believe you have been affected adversely by adware affiliates that have been allowed on those networks read up.
……
Trackback by 5 Star Affiliate Marketing Blogs, Google and SEO Blog — June 12, 2007 @ 7:05 pm
Class Action Lawsuit against CJ for Adware…
Adware has been a hot topic in the affiliate community for years. For far too long some networks have skated a thin line and many times they’ve knowingly crossed it. Some networks like Shareasale and……
Trackback by 5 Star Affiliate Marketing Forums — June 12, 2007 @ 7:09 pm
It’s been out there for a while, always threatening to happen , and it finally has. I will be very interesting to watch how it progresses and how the other Networks react as it does progress.
Comment by Chris Sanderson — June 12, 2007 @ 10:03 pm
Our exec’s have seen this and gave me the greenlight to dump all known parasite’s in our program today — now they get it (fyi, prior to this, anyone in the US were generally allowed into the program).
Comment by Todd Taylor — June 13, 2007 @ 12:35 pm
I have begun my boycott of CJ’s services. I am tired of them taking advantage of me and many of their customers.
Comment by Brian Free — June 13, 2007 @ 12:44 pm
“prior to this, anyone in the US were generally allowed into the program”
Yeah, I know Todd.
Brian, is DenverFabrics on CJ as well as SAS? Or are the issues you have unrelated to DF? I have a hard time keeping up with which networks programs are on at times since I don’t do affiliate stuff myself anymore.
Comment by Kellie AFP — June 13, 2007 @ 1:12 pm
June 12 2007, the day the documents posted to the public, is a watershed day for Affiliate Marketing that I’ll remember for years to come.
Watershed: landmark, an event marking a unique or important historical change of course or one on which important developments depend.
The crapola has gotten deep enough to resort to legal action and it’s “official” announcement / availability yesterday was something I’ve waited for years to come.
The outcome isn’t certain - the courts generally don’t understand technology - but we can finally witness a real attempt at real progress. Until now, some have gotten wiser, but for the most part, we’ve just become jaded. I’m ready for change no matter what the outcome.
I’m am sickened by the slick feeding off of the busy and uninformed and unsuspecting.
Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!
Comment by Pat Grady — June 13, 2007 @ 2:05 pm
[…] I read about this lawsuit over on 5 Star Affiliate Blog. Reading Kellie Stevens’ take on this is helpful too. I, for one, am glad to see this happen, since the networks have not tried very hard to get adware companies off their sites even when such behavior is against their TOS. […]
Pingback by CJ, ValueClick and BeFree Sued Over Adware » Aspects of Home Business Blog — June 13, 2007 @ 3:39 pm
[…] Thanks for visiting the Affiliate Tip blog. Subscribe to my RSS feed or enter your e-mail on the top right to get updates by e-mail.Kellie Stevens, President of AffiliateFairPlay.com, has reported that two separate class action lawsuits were filed on April 20, 2007 against Commission Junction, Be Free and ValueClick. One names CJ and Be Free publishers (affiliates) as the plaintiffs. The other names CJ and Be Free merchants as the plaintiffs. […]
Pingback by Class Action Lawsuits Against CJ, Be Free, and ValueClick at Affiliate Tip Blog by Shawn Collins — June 13, 2007 @ 4:57 pm
[…] Here is what AffiliateFairPlay.Com had to say; The lawsuits allege breach of contract, negligence and unfair business practices on CJ/BF’s part by allowing adware affiliates to operate within their Network. The gist of it seems to be that CJ/BF has knowingly allowed adware affiliates within their Network which commit commission theft and fraudulent transactions through adware applications. […]
Pingback by Commission Junction, BeFree and Value Click Named In Class Action Lawsuit | AffiliateWatcher.Com — June 14, 2007 @ 10:07 am
We’ve come a long way since brainstorming the official ABW position paper to presented at the Nov 2000 Affiliate summit meeting. I was a Adwhore gunslinger before then … and more so today. Great news as I’ve warned all the powers running the networks this day was coming. Quote to Messer & Todd in 1998. “the further you distance yourselves from the advertising industry and mindset, the more legitimate you’ll become.” No one listened as they plotted and enabled the perfect forced cookie cannon to monitize every known way to a network enabled merchant’s site…. THE BHO contextual affiliate.
No commissions should ever have been paid that didn’t come from a proven physical click from a network generated link…. period. Now they’ll rue the day they didn’t learn the meaning of my affiliate action tag line for years… “What have you done today to put real value into a click…. from a shoppers viewpoint!”
Abestweb might try and silence me by banning me 2 months ago for no reason … but behind the scenes I’m demanding and getting action from abusive affiliate cookie cannons and their network enablers. Let the law suit uncover all the money trails and moves to purposely cut the domain bound affiliates out of the revenue streams by the automated cookie setters.
Comment by Mike HYland — June 14, 2007 @ 9:54 pm
[…] Blog 1 […]
Pingback by CJ Network Quality at Commission Junction Needs Taking Down A Peg or Two » Affiliate Marketing Blog — June 15, 2007 @ 6:32 am
They saw it coming or looked away and try to live in a world of self inflicted illusion. Good news travel in packs. Spammer busted and going to be tried for crimes that mean long prison time if found guilty and now this.
Even if the lawsuit fails because of some technicalities will it still change the legal landscape. It will draw the lines a bit further and clear and make some players double check their business practices.
Comment by Carsten Cumbrowski — June 16, 2007 @ 10:48 am
Another example of why this industry needs some regulation
Comment by Jason — June 19, 2007 @ 10:18 pm
[…] Two Class Action Lawsuits Filed Against CJ/BF/ValueClick on Behalf … The lawsuits allege breach of contract, negligence and unfair business practices on CJ/BF?s part by allowing adware affiliates to operate within their Network. The gist of it seems to be that CJ/BF has knowingly allowed adware … […]
Pingback by Adware » Adware June 12, 2007 4:44 pm — July 18, 2007 @ 3:01 pm
[…] While there has not seemed to be much discussion in the affiliate marketing community regarding the two class action lawsuits filed against VC/CJ/BF on behalf of merchants and affiliates, the legal process has been progressing. Of course, there wasn’t a whole lot to discuss as the only information available has been the two actual claims filed. […]
Pingback by » ValueClick Respondes: We Don’t Track, Advertisers Do — July 27, 2007 @ 3:10 pm
[…] Kellie Stevens at AffiliateFairPlay has the in-depth story and will be following this case as things develop. She writes: “The lawsuits allege breach of contract, negligence and unfair business practices on CJ/BF’s part by allowing adware affiliates to operate within their Network. The gist of it seems to be that CJ/BF has knowingly allowed adware affiliates within their Network which commit commission theft and fraudulent transactions through adware applications. The suit is seeking monetary damages to both affiliates and merchants. More importantly, in my opinion, they are seeking a change in ValueClick’s corporate policy related to adware and compliance. ” More… […]
Pingback by 2 ADWARE Class Action Lawsuits against CJ - ValueClick - BeFree - 5 Star Affiliate Marketing Blogs — May 26, 2008 @ 1:51 pm