Court Halts Spyware Operations

Finally the courts do something right!

An operation that deceptively downloaded spyware onto unsuspecting consumers' computers, changing their settings and hijacking their search engines, has been halted by a federal court at the request of the Federal Trade Commission.

The judge has ordered the operators to give up to more than $4 million in ill-gotten gains. The court also ordered a halt to another spyware operator's stealthy downloads and barred the collection of consumers' personal information, pending trial.

The FTC sued both operations charging that the stealthy downloads of spyware were unfair and deceptive and violated federal law. Although the companies used different techniques to direct consumers to their Web sites and implement the downloads, the FTC alleged that both operations hijacked consumers' computers without the consumers' knowledge or approval, secretly changed their settings, and barraged consumers with pop-up ads.

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