Priceline.com Policy Regarding Use of Spyware and Adware

Priceline.com is committed to marketing its products and services in ways that provide incremental value, while protecting the privacy of its visitors and customers and preserving their ability to control their online experience and options.

Recent media coverage has focused on software applications that deliver personalized marketing content based on a consumer's Internet activity. Some of these applications deliver timely, relevant and welcome marketing information to consumers. Others do not and can become an actual threat to a consumer's privacy. Unfortunately, explanations often fail to distinguish between the good and the bad among these applications. In order to advance public understanding of these marketing applications and establish priceline.com's position regarding their use, priceline.com has adopted the following policy and definitions.

Spyware

Spyware refers to types of software programs, downloaded to a consumer's personal computer either as a stand-alone application or as part of a software bundle, that collect (i) information about a consumer's internet activities or (ii) other personal information, without providing meaningful notice to the consumer or obtaining the consumer's consent. Spyware may gather personally identifiable information, such as e-mail addresses and credit card information, and may even alter personal computer settings. Spyware is often extremely difficult to remove once installed. Priceline.com believes that Spyware is a threat to consumer privacy and forbids any priceline.com employee, agent, partner, affiliate or contractor to deploy or use Spyware as defined in this policy. Any use of Spyware by any priceline.com employee, agent, partner or affiliate will not be tolerated and will be considered grounds for dismissal, contract termination and/or loss of payment.

Adware

Adware refers to types of marketing applications, downloaded to a consumer's personal computer either as a stand-alone application or as part of a software bundle, whose primary purpose is to deliver advertising content and messages that may or may not be based on an individual's internet activity. Adware can be useful to many consumers because it provides timely, relevant and money-saving information, or it helps defray the cost of free linked software programs. Adware should provide meaningful notice and explanation of its key features and functions. Adware companies should obtain the consumer's informed consent before launching any adware applications on a consumer's computer system. Adware should be readily identifiable and easily removed at the consumer's discretion. When offered and executed in this manner, priceline.com believes that Adware can deliver meaningful benefits to consumers and endorses its use. Priceline.com expects its Marketing Partners who utilize Adware to adhere to the following Adware usage policy. Use of noncompliant Adware by a Marketing Partner will be considered grounds for contract termination and/or loss of payment. "Marketing Partner" shall mean those entities (including such Marketing Partner's marketing affiliates and distribution partners, whether related or third party) who engage in marketing activities for priceline.com Incorporated and/or its subsidiaries.

Adware Policy

Any Marketing Partner who utilizes Adware must:

Provide full disclosure of (i) the Adware provider's identity; (ii) the Adware product brand (if distinct from the name of the Adware provider); and (iii) the name of any software bundled or co-branded with such Adware, each in a consistent way across all mediums in which the Adware provider interacts with the consumer.

• Provide a prominent means by which the consumer can easily identify the relationship between the product brand of the downloadable application and its true corporate owner, including corporate name, address and Web URL associated with that product brand.
• Conspicuously and consistently label pop-ups and other advertisements generated by a branded Adware application with the Adware brand and provide a means to identify the brand owner. Also, ensure that the brand name of any downloadable application remains consistent during the lifecycle of the downloadable application and is consistent across all ways in which the consumer interacts with the downloadable application.
• If the pop-ups or other advertisements were displayed because of certain third-party software bundled or co-branded with the Adware, such pop-ups or other advertisements (a) must contain a prominently labeled link to, or (b) directly identify in the advertisement itself, the co-branded or bundled software that caused the pop-up or other advertisement to launch onto the customers' desktop.

Obtain contemporaneous, affirmative consent from the consumer to download the application, obtain that consent to install the application, and provide an easy-to-find, easy-to-understand and prominent articulation of the application's functions and identify the information monitored, stored and/or distributed in the performance of those functions.

• Prior to downloading and installation, the Adware company or affiliate must clearly and conspicuously communicate to consumers - in a manner that is not misleading - the nature of the program and what it will do once installed on the computer. This explanation should be provided apart from the Terms & Conditions and in a conspicuous manner. Consumers should easily be able to reject the offer and return directly to their previous activity.
• Require the consumer to proactively accept an easy to understand agreement prior to proceeding with the download and execution of the Adware application. The agreement shall ensure that the consumer knows what the program is, what it will do, and provide an "accept" capability allowing the consumer to acknowledge that they wish to proceed. Subsequent action by the application shall halt until such acceptance is acknowledged. The Adware company or affiliate must make its agreements available for consumers to review either on its Web site or other readily available location, and be able to provide summary metrics around the number of consumers who have accepted each agreement for future reference.

Provide the consumer an easy-to-find, easy-to-understand and easy-to-use means to un-install the application.

• Install, at the same time a consumer downloads the Adware program, an un-install capability that the consumer can use at any time to easily and completely remove the Adware program. Un-install applications should clearly identify all programs and applications that will be removed as part of the un-install. This includes, but is not limited to, all programs contained in a bundled software offer and the creator/source of the Adware offer. Un-install applications should be available from the Add/Remove Programs facility in the consumer's operating system.
• All pop-ups and other advertisements generated by the Adware company or affiliate must contain an easily visible single-stroke way to close the pop-up. An easy means to disable subsequent pop-ups through an "exit" application function should also be made available.
• Maintain on its own Web site an area in a readily identifiable location (e.g. behind a "support" link) where consumers can follow simple instructions to un-install the Adware company's or affiliate's software on their computers. In addition, priceline.com will include these un-install instructions and links on priceline.com's own Web site.

In addition to obtaining consent from and providing notice to any and all new prospective consumers, the Adware company must also obtain consent from and provide notice to all consumers who previously received Adware from the Adware company (i.e., "Legacy Users"). For the avoidance of doubt, Priceline.com will not support any Adware Company who continues to deliver advertisements to a Legacy User base, where (i) such Legacy Users have not given consent and been provided notice as set forth in this policy and (ii) the underlying Adware delivering the advertisements is not in compliance with this policy.

Establish or already have in place, comparable policies with their marketing affiliates and/or any third party distribution partners.

• The Marketing Partner shall be responsible for monitoring its practices and the practices of its marketing affiliates and distribution partners. If the Marketing Partner becomes aware of any activities by itself or their affiliates that are counter to this policy and the prohibitions contained herein, they must promptly correct such activities and report such activities to priceline.com.

While this policy is to become effective immediately, to the extent that advertising solution providers (who have existing insertion orders with priceline.com) may not be able to certify full compliance regarding their entire Legacy User base, priceline.com will assess these relationships and consider a continuing relationship, provided it is clear that full compliance can be and is achieved by July 1, 2006. Nothwithstanding the foregoing, priceline.com will not allow the delivery of any priceline.com or priceline.com affiliated or sponsored advertisements to any Legacy User or new consumer where (i) such Adware that delivers such advertisements is not in full compliance with this policy and (ii) such Legacy User or new consumer has not given consent and been provided notice as set forth in this policy. For the avoidance of confusion, priceline.com endorses TRUSTe's Trusted Download Certification Program and considers certification under said program to constitute compliance with this policy.

Because technology is evolving rapidly, priceline.com reserves the right to review this policy on an ongoing basis and make appropriate revisions at any time.