Platte - I've been sent a bill

I have received several emails about the Platte software, asking for my advice on whether people should pay the £29.99 that Platte are billing them for, particularly from those who say that their computer was not in use at the time. It would be helpful if I answer that here.

Firstly, anyone who enters into a contract with Platte should (as I said in an earlier post) honour that contract. As I've made clear, I'm not enthused of Platte's business model or the nature of their software but the claim that a computer was not in use at the time the software was downloaded simply cannot be true. Unless a computer is connected to the internet and being used for browsing at the time no unsolicited software can download, whether it is with the owners permission or not. Windows does not permit the installation of Active X controls (a component of the Platte software) without specific consent. Nor do I believe that the software is downloaded entirely unknowingly; there is no need for it to given that there are enough damn fools in this world prepared to agree to just about anything regardless of liability or consequence in order to access pornographic material, particularly with the offer of a free trial.

Here's the warning displayed by Windows at the commencement of installation of the software:

And here's a subsequent Active X warning:

If you are the owner of a computer and find that the Platte software was installed without your consent, you should examine the browser history logs that are on your PC since you will be able to determine what site the download came from and hopefully also identify the culprit - in that case you should present the person concerned with Platte's bill (unless of course they are a minor). Whether you are yourself liable for the bill in those circumstances appears (and I must emphasise that I am no lawyer) to be unclear; you should go to the MBS/Platte Media Victims' Forum if you want to take the advice of others who found themselves in the same position. It is unfortunate that there appears to be no legal judgement yet (at least not one that can be found online) that settles the question of liability definitively in cases like this.

I will put up a post giving basic instructions on how to recover your browser history logs; computer owners owe it not least to themselves to determine who has been using their computer and installing software of this nature. At the very least this establishes that the computer concerned was indeed used to enter into a contract involving a financial commitment to Platte, and the user account that was used to do it.

If I found that the Platte software had been installed without my permission on my own PC by an adult, my anger would be directed at the person concerned rather than at Platte, and I would certainly ensure that they met the costs they had committed to. Having signed up myself, primarily for the purpose of determining the clarity of the contract at the time of the download, I can only say I found the current terms to be entirely clear (although my subsequent experience was of course that Platte failed to honour their side of that contract following my cancellation). Unless I had consented to the download, I doubt whether I would feel in the slightest obligated to settle the bill myself, but that is a matter where individual computer owners have to make their own decision and might be best obtaining legal advice.

I find pornographic material singularly distasteful but it is legal, and those who wish to access it should settle any financial liability they commit to. If you signed up with Platte, you should accept the responsibility you foolishly took on in doing so. So please, no more requests for advice of this nature.


Go to my next post on Platte Media