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Microsoft, Washington AG Sue, Charging Spyware
John Stith
Staff Writer
2006-01-26
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
Redmond-based software monolith Microsoft and Washington state attorney general filed suits against antispyware vendor Secure Computer LLC. They charge the company's "Spyware Cleaner" product not only doesn't remove the spyware, but also makes those computers less secure.
The first lawsuit filed under Washington's 2005 Computer Spyware Act covers 16 counts and was filed in Seattle's U.S. District court on Tuesday. The suit comes after full investigations by both the AG's High Tech Fraud Unit and Microsoft. Besides the Spyware Act counts, the Secure Computer LLC was also charged with violations of the Commercial Electronic Mail and Consumer Protection Acts and the CAN-SPAM Act.
Attorney General Rob McKenna told the IDG news service in an interview, "What this company has been doing is marketing its Spyware Cleaner product using false and deceptive means and also corrupting computer users' hard drives as a result of the so-called free scan that they offered to consumers."
The government suit includes a number of people involved with the company including the president Paul E. Burke, web domain owner Gary T. Preston, both of whom reside in New York. They also named Zhijian Chen of Portland Oregon, Seth Traub of Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Manoj Kumar of Maharashtra, India; all are believe to be connected to the advertising side of this product.
Microsoft's suit focuses on trademark issues, stating the company suggested in their advertising that Microsoft had endorsed the product.
Punishments on this could be quite vicious as the Washington Spyware Act runs about $100,000 per violation. The CAN-SPAM Act costs $100 per violation and the others cost $500 and $2000 per violation respectively.
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About the Author:
John is a staff writer for SecurityProNews covering cyber security.
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