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Date Posted: 22:35:03 10/09/04 Sat
Author: Repost
Subject: Sanford Wallace returns

Resending this, it doesn't appear to have worked. At least on this
news server. Sanford, are you cancel ling posts? Heh.


Sanford Wallace of Cyberpromo fame is back in the news.
Apparently he is running a New Hampshire company that uses IE exploits
to install a tool that disables user's computers. Then it attempts
to bully them into buying his anti spyware product.

The author apparently doesn't know whom Sanford Wallace is or his
history. That seems amazing to me. Terrible journalism.

http://www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/legalissues/story/0,10801,96528,00.html

FTC files suit against Internet spyware firm
It's the first such case brought by the federal agency


News Story by Andy Sullivan

OCTOBER 08, 2004 (REUTERS) - The U.S. government has sued a
New Hampshire man in its first attempt to crack down on Internet
spyware that seizes control of a user's computer without permission.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission yesterday asked a federal court to
shut down an operation that it said disables users' computers in an
attempt to bully them into buying antispyware products.

Internet users unwittingly download the software when they visit Web
sites that contain certain banner ads, the agency said. The software
exploits a hole in Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer Web browser to
work its way onto computers without users' knowledge, according to the
lawsuit.

A Washington consumer group, the Center for Democracy and Technology
(CDT), had demonstrated the software before it filed a complaint with
the FTC in February. The software hijacks Web browsers, causes CD-ROM
trays to mysteriously slide open and slows down computers or causes
them to cease working altogether. It also spews out a torrent of
pop-up messages urging consumers to buy programs called Spy Wiper or
Spy Deleter to clean up the mess.

The FTC has taken action against companies that redirect browsers
before but has never sued a company for secretly installing software.

Spyware comes in many forms -- from keystroke loggers that can capture
passwords, credit card numbers and other sensitive data to relatively
harmless programs that deliver pop-up ads.

Currently, there are no national antispyware laws on the books, though
several states have them. The U.S. House of Representatives passed two
antispyware bills this week, and another is pending in the Senate.

The FTC used deceptive-business laws to go after New Hampshire
resident Sanford Wallace and his two companies, Seismic Entertainment
Productions Inc. and SmartBot.Net Inc. The FTC asked the court to shut
down Wallace's operations and force him to return any money he has
made.

Wallace couldn't be reached for comment.

"We're glad to see that they've taken some action. It was a really
egregious case," said CDT Associate Director Ari Schwartz.

The FTC is expected to discuss its suit at a news conference on
Tuesday. An FTC spokeswoman declined to comment.

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