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PC World has learned that some Windows Media files on peer-to-peer networks such as Kazaa contain code that can spawn a string of pop-up ads and install adware. They look just like regular songs or short videos in Windows Media format, but launch ads instead of media clips. When we ran the files, we noted over half a dozen pop-ups, some attempts to download adware onto our test PC, and an attempt to hijack our browser's home page.
You can take steps to guard your PC against this ad invasion (see "Protect Yourself"). But such ads aren't the only ones coming your way: Expect lots more multimedia ads and new networks that track users online to deliver ads that match their interests (see "Ads Get Flashier, More Personal").
Off-Key Experience
A reader initially alerted PC World to an ad-laden Windows Media Audio file, titled "Alicia Keys Fallin' Songs In A Minor 4.wma." We then found two other WMA files and two Windows Media Video files that had been similarly modified. A firm called Overpeer released these files, we discovered.
Overpeer (owned by Loudeye) first made news in mid-2002 by offering its services to record companies looking to stop P-to-P pirates. It creates fake audio files that purport to be popular songs but play only a short loop of the track or an antipiracy message; then the file pops up a window offering the downloader a chance to buy the song. By flooding file-sharing services with spoofed files, Overpeer makes finding real music files more difficult.
Marc Morgenstern, Loudeye vice president and general manager of digital media asset protection, says the files we found come from a different division of the company--one that targets users with promotions or ads based on the keywords they search for on P-to-P networks or in other venues.
Though the two businesses differ, the result is likely the same--a further reduction in the effectiveness of P-to-P networks. Morgenstern characterized Overpeer's actions as just deserts for people who illegally trade copyrighted works for free. "Remember, the people who receive something like [the media adware files], in some cases, were on P-to-P, and they were trying to get illicit files," he says.
