Spam King Sanford Wallace Gets Sued By FTC Over Spyware

The FTC just announced they are going after distributors of "spyware." Specifically they have sued Sanford Wallace (spam king extraordinaire) for his involvement.

The term Spyware seems to get thrown around - covering software that delivers pop-up ads (adware), actually tracks user metrics or does something generally evil and unwanted (malware) - this can include sending spam, disabling anti-virus / spam email blocker software or attacking other computers.

It's largely unclear what subset of this software is actually illegal. Mr. Wallace of course claims everything he's done is perfectly legal - just like his spamming.

Spyware is commonly bundled with free software applications such as screen savers. It can also be distributed via websites requiring plugins - often linked to from spam email.

Many of the legal problems with spam are also present in spyware. Often, the user does something that can be interpreted as giving legal permission to the perpetrator. Like the legal agreement on the back of a receipt, it may be binding even if you aren't aware of it.

To protect yourself from spyware ridden unwanted email - look into getting a spam e-mail filter such as SpamButcher. SpamButcher can be used as a spam filter for Outlook, Outlook Express or any other mail client that can use the POP3 protocol.

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