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US officials use trade laws to halt spread of spyware

The US government has moved for the first time to block unsolicited circulation on the Internet of spyware, a type of software that can inundate Web users with pop-up ads, secretly take control of their computers and spy on their online activities.

The Federal Trade Commission announced on Tuesday that it had used existing fair trade laws in asking a federal court to shut down some of the leading distributors of this cyberspace tool.

"Consumers don't deserve to be pestered and spied on by people who illegally hijack their computers," said Lydia Parnes, acting director of the commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection.

"Were putting purveyors of spyware on notice: This is our first spyware case, but it won't be our last," she said.

According to legal experts, there is no guarantee the trade legislation would be enough to clean the Internet of the scourge of spyware that experts say can cause computers to malfunction, slow down and even crash.

But US officials are said to be emboldened by recent advances of anti-spyware legislation in Congress and growing consumer sentiment in favor of curbing the practice.

The lawsuit targets Seismic Entertainment Productions, a Rochester, New Hampshire-based company, Smartbot.Net, a firm from Richboro, Pennsylvania, and the man behind them, Sanford Wallace.

Riding the wave of popular alarm over misuse of the Internet, the US House of Representatives last week approved the so-called Spy Act requiring that consumers receive a clear and conspicuous notice before any spyware downloads.

The measure prohibits deceptive behavior such as key-stroke logging, computer hijacking, phishing and pop-up ads that cannot be closed.
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