$6 million refunds for Phila. firm's 'scareware' clients
Ascentive LLC agrees to pay
Philadelphia software maker Ascentive LLC has agreed to set up a $6 million settlement fund to finance refunds to buyers of its PC SpeedScan Pro, PC Scan and Sweep, and ActiveSpeed diagnostic programs, marketed online through warnings designed to scare computer users into buying them as protection from computer bugs.
Subject to approval by US District Judge Petrese B. Tucker, the settlement would end a complaint brought by Minnesota resident Douglas Ledet last year.
Ledet accused Ascentive of "fraud" by using pop-up ads offering free computer scans. The scans would "falsely" identify computer problems and call them "'severe' in an attempt to scare consumers into purchasing its software," according to the complaint. Ascentive sold the protection software for around $30, subject to periodic renewal, "to fix fabricated and/or overstated computer problems."
The settlement offers purchasers of online SpeedScan Pro, PC Scan and Sweep, and ActiveFeed software refunds of $10, and refunds of an additional $8 to customers who bought computer disks.
The settlement also requires Ascentive to explain its software to potential clients in clearer detail, and to make it easier to cancel the service; and it pays lawyer fees and costs of up to $1.08 million to David S. Senoff and Richard C. DeFrancesco of Philadelphia-based Caroselli Beachler McTiernan & Conboy and to lawyers at co-counsel Edelson McGuire LLC in Chicago.
Gerald E. Arth, a lawyer for Ascentive, said he couldn't comment under terms of the settlement. Ascentive chief executive Adam Schran, a former Haverford College student who started the company with his brother Andrew in 1999, according to the company Web site, didn't immediately return calls or an e-mail seeking comment. The firm is based at 201 Spring Garden St.
Ledet accused Ascentive of "fraud" by using pop-up ads offering free computer scans. The scans would "falsely" identify computer problems and call them "'severe' in an attempt to scare consumers into purchasing its software," according to the complaint. Ascentive sold the protection software for around $30, subject to periodic renewal, "to fix fabricated and/or overstated computer problems."
The settlement offers purchasers of online SpeedScan Pro, PC Scan and Sweep, and ActiveFeed software refunds of $10, and refunds of an additional $8 to customers who bought computer disks.
The settlement also requires Ascentive to explain its software to potential clients in clearer detail, and to make it easier to cancel the service; and it pays lawyer fees and costs of up to $1.08 million to David S. Senoff and Richard C. DeFrancesco of Philadelphia-based Caroselli Beachler McTiernan & Conboy and to lawyers at co-counsel Edelson McGuire LLC in Chicago.
Gerald E. Arth, a lawyer for Ascentive, said he couldn't comment under terms of the settlement. Ascentive chief executive Adam Schran, a former Haverford College student who started the company with his brother Andrew in 1999, according to the company Web site, didn't immediately return calls or an e-mail seeking comment. The firm is based at 201 Spring Garden St.