Public Comment of Ben Edelman In The Matter of DirectRevenue, et al

g:: From the Desk of Benjamin Edelman March 20, 2007 Federal Trade Commission Offce of the Secretary, Room 135­600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. , DC 20580 WashingtonRE: DirectRevenue LLC, et aI., FTC File No. 052 3131 I write in response to the FTC' In the Matter of DirectRevenue s call for comments as to LLC, DirectRevenue Holdings LLC , Daniel Kaufman, Alan Murray, and , Joshua AbramRodney Hook FTC File No. 052 3131. I commend the injunctive relief provisions of the proposed settlement. The proposed settlement appropriately requires that Direct Revenue cease showing ads to users whose installations occurred, in most or all cases, without informed consent. The proposed settlement requires that Direct Revenue obtain users' express consent for any future installations, and the proposed settlement defines express consent with appropriate rigor. Finally, the proposed settlement confirms Direct Revenue s responsibility for the actions of its distributors. That said, I struggle to understand the size of the proposed payment to be made by Direct Revenue. The proposed settlement contemplates a payment of just $1. 5 million. Yet publicly-available documents demonstrate that this amount is far less than Direct Revenue s profits to date. Relevant documents: Direct Revenue s statements to the New York Attorney General (available at h11p'j! tm. Qr.g!!?PY.W !.Dy' Qr.!. g.f#.P' 4, Bates number DR349500) report 2004 revenues of $39.3 million and Q1-Q3 2005 revenues ...