Company accused of selling fake antispyware settles suit

["Richard M. Smith" <rms () computerbytesman com>]

Company accused of selling fake antispyware settles suit 

By Joris Evers
 
<http://news.com.com/Company+accused+of+selling+fake+antispyware+settles+sui
t/2100-7350_3-6140656.html>
http://news.com.com/Company+accused+of+selling+fake+antispyware+settles+suit
/2100-7350_3-6140656.html 

Story last modified Mon Dec 04 16:03:25 PST 2006 

 
<http://adlog.com.com/adlog/i/r=6465&s=690416&t=2006.12.05.02.47.19&o=1009:7
350:&h=cn&p=2&b=5&l=en_US&site=3&pt=2102&nd=7350&pid=&cid=6140656&pp=100&e=3
&rqid=00c18-ad-e145744A45805227/http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/Ads/common/dotcle
ar.gif> 

A company accused of selling phony antispyware tools has settled a lawsuit
filed by Washington State's attorney general. 

White Plains, N.Y.-based Secure Computer has agreed to pay $1 million to
settle charges that it violated Washington's computer spyware law, the
attorney general's office said in a statement Monday. The case was the first
lawsuit under the law. 

Filed in January, the suit accused Secure Computer of marketing software
that
<http://news.com.com/Washington+state+sues+over+spyware/2100-7348_3-6031108.
html> falsely claimed PCs were infected with spyware, then enticing
consumers to pay $49.95 for a program called Spyware Cleaner that claimed to
remove it. The suit alleged violations under Washington's 2005 Computer
Spyware Act, federal and state spam laws, and the state Consumer Protection
Act. 

"This settlement with Secure Computer is a significant victory," Washington
Attorney General Rob McKenna said in the statement. "It sends a strong
message to Internet businesses that they must promote their products
ethically and legally. We won't tolerate deceptive marketing such as
scareware that preys on consumers' fears about spyware and online threats." 

 
<http://news.com.com/Anti-spyware+guidelines+get+final+version/2100-7349_3-6
026632.html> Spyware and adware have become widely despised for their sneaky
distribution tactics, unauthorized data gathering and tying-up of computer
processing power. The terms are used to describe software that pops up ads
on a PC screen or that logs keystrokes, makes screenshots or tracks a user's
Web-surfing habits. 

Secure Computer allegedly used deceptive links on search engine Google's
site, as well as in pop-up advertising and in spam e-mail for Spyware
Cleaner. Additionally, the company was accused of using a Windows feature to
pop up warnings on users' PCs, telling them their system had been
compromised by spyware, when it had not. 

...

 

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