One of the banes of an internet-user"s online time - spyware - is now facing its first day in court. Smartbot.net and its owner, Sanford Wallace,
have been served with a civil lawsuit seeking an injunction against the company and its practices for violation of a federal law prohibiting "unfair
or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce."
www.chron.com
The Federal Trade Commission formally announced Tuesday its first assault against spyware — bits of computer code that surreptitiously install
themselves on the computers of Internet users to track their activities, push them to Web sites, barrage them with advertisements, and otherwise wreak
havoc with their machines.
The commission filed a civil lawsuit in a federal court in New Hampshire last week against Sanford Wallace, the owner of Seismic Entertainment
Productions and Smartbot.net, contending that Wallace and his companies had violated a federal law that prohibits "unfair or deceptive acts or
practices in or affecting commerce."
"This may be our first case," said Lydia Parnes, the acting director of the commission"s Bureau of Consumer Protection. "But it won"t be our last."
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Wallace had previous careers in fax-blasting and spam emailing before turning to the spyware business.
Two bills intended to cut back on spyware passed the House last week: the Internet Spyware Prevention Act and the Safeguard Against Privacy Invasions
Act. Congress has not yet passed either Act.
) but it is a nuisance nonetheless 
