June 5, 2006
The ConsumerAffairs.com mailbag was crammed full of complaints this week about Moviepass, their pop-ups, irritating music, and "Kate" the image of a woman that won't leave the screen.
No matter what you call it -- Moviepass, Movieland, or Mediapipe -- it's annoying, seems to download without warning and is definitely not wanted by the consumers that wrote us to say "why me?"
Whether you are trying to conduct business, homework or just chatting with friends, these constant pop-ups are trying people's patience and costing companies that depend on the Internet, money and time.
David of Pottstown, PA wrote to say, "Every time we get on-line a Moviepass.tv ad shows up saying we owe them money for a service we didn't cancel." He said he is the only person that can install software on his computer so he knows he never okayed this program. He said he purchased pop-up blockers and spam catchers but the pop-ups still get through.
Melanie of Nampa, ID told ConsumerAffairs.com, "I was using my computer and suddenly this Movieland notice popped up, playing horrendous music, saying I owed money for a service I didn't subscribe to. I know for fact I never downloaded it especially at the time and day they say I did". A student, Melanie said she could not do her research because she couldn't get the notice to go away. She said, "I can take a lot of things, but don't mess with my family, my dogs, my money and especially, my computer".
Nancy of Gadsden, AL did some investigating and found the Movieland popup comes from http://images.movieland.com/images/notifier_nrun.gif -- but users infected are not authorized access. While it is running, and you click on Ctrl-Alt-Delete, you find a file named notifier_nrun and another named notifier_060316.
If these files are deleted it goes away but somehow it reappears later." She hopes that maybe someone with more knowledge can find a way to get rid of the pop-ups.
Unfortunately Claude of Antioch, CA, a software developer writes, "I decided to get rid of the pop-ups once and for all, but it turned out to be a very difficult task. I can assure you that few people would be able to remove it."
The pop-up are the biggest annoyance, but obviously the music and "Kate" are just as irritating. As Melanie said "My mind went into the twilight zone from hearing the music play over and over." And Janice of Tampa, FL wrote in to say, "the music is very annoying. I was almost willing to pay the 30 bucks to get rid of it, but I was telling someone at work and they said this company would keep debiting my credit card. I do not know what to do."As frustration grows, JD of Broken Arrow, OK wrote, "If it had a physical address, I would be inclined to pay a personal visit to this organization and demand this scam be stopped immediately. They should be fined and placed behind bars for what they are doing to the public!"
