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Micro Bill Systems, also known as MicroBillSys, MBS and Platte Media, is an online collection service with offices in Leeds, England, considered to be malware.〔 The company states that it is a professional billing company offering "software management solutions that can aid your business in reducing uncollectable payments."〔 The company's best-known clients are online gambling and pornography sites offering three-day free trials of their subscription-based services.〔 If users do not cancel during the trial period, the MBS software begins a repeating cycle of full-screen pop-up windows warning users that their account is overdue and demanding payment. 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,〔 with up to four daily periods of 10 minutes when the pop-up payment demand is locked and cannot be closed or minimized.〔 Users have complained about the unexpected bills, feel victimized, and deny ever accessing the video sites they are being billed for. MBS denies installing its software by stealthy means and says that the software is downloaded by consent.〔 Many consumers are unaware that they have agreed to the download.〔 Security software company Symantec describes MicroBillSys as a potentially unwanted application that uses aggressive billing and collection techniques to demand payment after a three-day trial period, and says that there are reports of these techniques leaving the computer unable to browse the Internet.〔Symantec, (MicroBillSys )〕 ==Operation== When a user first accesses an online service whose collections are managed by MBS, the sign-up software creates a unique identifier based on the user's computer configuration and IP address. This identifier permits MBS to maintain a history of user access to supported sites and to send billing notices directly to the user's computer without the consumer ever having entered a name, credit card number, or other personal information.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Our Expertise )〕 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. Typical amounts are ₤19.95 (US$35.00) or ₤29.95 (US$52.50).〔 The pop-ups cover a substantial area of the screen and often cannot be closed, effectively preventing use of the computer for up to ten minutes. Their number and frequency increases over time, and to stop them consumers must pay.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=OFT accepts undertakings from Micro Bill Systems Ltd )〕 According to the company's terms and conditions, the agreement can be canceled and the software uninstalled only when no balance is outstanding.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Terms & Conditions of Service )〕 For some who don't pay, Platte sends letters addressed to "the computer owner" threatening legal action in small claims court. The letters, described by one recipient as a "sham county court notice", include a "pre submission" information form which could mislead the unwary into thinking it comes from "Issuing Court Northampton County Court". It is unclear how Platte derives street addresses from IP addresses for these mailings, as ISPs interviewed deny providing such information. By filling out the information form and returning it, users provide Platte with their full name in addition to their correct mailing address. Similarly, users who complain to Platte by email or telephone are asked for their names and addresses so that uninstall codes can be mailed out. Payment demands follow.〔(【引用サイトリンク】last=Pollitt )〕 More recently, Platte has been using a debt collection agency to try to pressurise people into making payments. In these cases, a charge is added to the 'subscription'. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Micro Bill Systems」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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