Is It Possible To Outlaw Spyware?

from the might-be-difficult dept

Now that Congress is rushing around trying to outlaw spam, some are wondering if they should turn their attention to the next big annoyance online: spyware. The problem is that it's very very difficult to write a law outlawing spyware that doesn't also outlaw any number of completely legitimate applications. Right now, many spyware products are perfectly "legal", because they hide the details of what they're doing in the very very very fine print within huge, unreadable license agreements that most people agree to without even getting through the first sentence.
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  1. identicon
    AMetamorphosis, 18 Nov 2003 @ 1:10pm

    Some Help ...

    I found a nifty little program that can assist you in clearing your machine of spy ware ...
    Ad Aware , available @ www.download.com has been downloaded over 22 million times. It is free for personal use. I use it on both office as well as home workstations and have had excellent results in the removal of Xupiter, Gator, Alexis & a host of other intrusive software.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Nov 2003 @ 1:35pm

    No Subject Given

    and spybot s&d cleans up the messes that adaware leaves behind.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Nov 2003 @ 1:49pm

    Re: No Subject Given

    What messes ?
    How about a source for spybot ?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. icon
    Mike (profile), 18 Nov 2003 @ 2:17pm

    Re: No Subject Given

    Yeah, I actually use both AdAware and Spybot on my home computer. I've found that in combination, they do a pretty good job. Each one misses a few things, but the other tends to catch them.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Chris Reuter, 18 Nov 2003 @ 6:58pm

    It's the license

    The problem with the legality of spyware is that the warning flags are buried in a huge, obfuscated license agreement that nobody ever reads anyway. (This isn't just a problem with spyware, either.) So my idea is this: legally require that all new shrinkwrap or click-through licenses begin with a simple plain-English point-form abstract of 200 words or less which outlines all of the terms of the license. If they omit or obfuscate something from the abstract, that part of the license can be ruled invalid.

    That way, all the dirty licensing tricks will come to light. Spyware makers will either need to say right out front that their programs do stuff behind the user's back or open themselves up to prosecution under existing laws.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    suzi, 18 Nov 2003 @ 10:44pm

    Spybot links

    http://security.kolla.de

    http://spybot.eon.net.au/

    Those ridiculous EULA's which purposely try to hide the disclosure of the spyware ought to be part of what's outlawed. The disclosure should be clear and up front.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    eeyore, 19 Nov 2003 @ 5:08am

    spybot DoD

    Without actually mandating it DoD is actively encouraging sysadmins to install spybot on all their systems. A recent audit discovered a staggering number of PCs infected with Gator "we're not spyware just really good marketing" software.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    aNonMooseCowherd, 19 Nov 2003 @ 4:39pm

    Re: It's the license

    The problem with the legality of spyware is that the warning flags are buried in a huge, obfuscated license agreement that nobody ever reads anyway. (This isn't just a problem with spyware, either.) So my idea is this: legally require that all new shrinkwrap or click-through licenses begin with a simple plain-English point-form abstract of 200 words or less which outlines all of the terms of the license. If they omit or obfuscate something from the abstract, that part of the license can be ruled invalid.

    I agree with your analysis of the problem but not with your solution. The solution is that if the license agreement is too long or complicated to understand, people should refuse to load the software.

    link to this | view in thread ]


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