Micro Bill Systems, also known as MicroBillSys, MBS and Platte Media, is an online collection service with offices in Leeds, England,[1] considered to be malware.
"[3] The company's best-known clients are online gambling and pornography sites offering three-day free trials of their subscription-based services.
The eleven-page MBS end-user license agreement contains a clause stating that unless the bill is paid, the software will disrupt computer use longer each day,[5] with up to four daily periods of 10 minutes when the pop-up payment demand is locked and cannot be closed or minimized.
[3] The billing notices take the form of repeating pop-up windows warning users that their account is overdue and demanding payment for a 30-day subscription.
[9] For some who don't pay, Platte sends letters addressed to "the computer owner" threatening legal action in small claims court.
By filling out the information form and returning it, users provide Platte with their full name in addition to their correct mailing address.
The OFT said it was acting in the interests of those consumers whose access to MBS sites was confirmed, but it had no legal jurisdiction to deal with the issue of software being downloaded without consent.
[2] A journalist investigating the complaints called the installation process "unmistakable", with "a download, clicking through screens, and entering a four-digit number.
On 27 March 2008, the OFT announced MBS/Platte Media "undertakings", or pledges, to make the sign-up process more fair and setting limits on the amount of disruption the pop-up payment demands could cause.
[6] The company promised to make clear in the sign-up process that the customer is entering into a contract, and that billing pop-ups will appear after the trial period ends.
[15] No specific reason was given for this withdrawal, but it is fair to assume that the continued resistance by British consumers to what they regarded as an unfair business model must have played a part in its decision, along with the threat of action by HM Revenue concerning possible non-payment of VAT.