Spyware Not Welcome in New York State

I was pleased to see press release this week from the Office of NYS Attorney General this week announcing a new suit against spyware distributor, Direct Revenue.  Last fall, I had an opportunity to talk with Eliot Spitzer at a local political fund raising. I made it clear how happy I was with the team he’s put together to go after Spyware companies. 

"Surreptitiously installed spyware and adware harm consumers and businesses, and my office will continue to prosecute these practices aggressively," 
said Spitzer, whose office last year spurred industry-wide attention to this problem with his suit and settlement against adware distributor Intermix Media.
"These applications are deceptive and unfair to consumers, bad for businesses that rely on efficient networks to do their jobs, and bad for online retailers that need consumers to trust and enjoy their online experience. We will continue to side with consumers in their fight for control of their desktops." 

As a resident of New York’s capital region I’m proud that our state is taking such a lead and I will continue to write about the activities of the OAG’s office.

Director of Malware Research at SunBelt, Eric Howes has posted a great summary including reference to an investment partner comment that “At least we’re not Ebola”.(p 66, section 155)   He wasn’t actually referring to the disease but to an article in Information Week where Webroot’s VP Richard Stiennon referred to “CoolWebSearch” as “the Ebola of the Internet.”  I’m not sure if the partner was jealous of CoolWebSearch but it sounds a lot like saying, “You have Cancer but hey, at least it’s not Aids”.

If you’d like to see and learn more about the Spitzer team, I’ve saved an article that was in our local paper and posted it at  http://www.billp.com/blog/images/spyware20050507.jpg, 

 Tip to other Blog authors:  Eliot only has one “L”.