Anti-Spyware Law Snags Anti-Spyware Vendor

Country Lawyer writes "Washington state's anti-spyware law has just resulted in a $1 million victory for the state, the first successful prosecution under the new law. The weird thing? They sued an anti-spyware vendor." From the article: "Washington State went after the company after 1,145 state residents purchased the software and the complaints began rolling in. Secure Computer president Paul Burke will now pay $200,000 in penalties, make $75,000 worth of restitution to Washington residents, and pay another $725,000 to cover the state's attorneys' fees. The irony of an anti-spyware law being used against an anti-spyware vendor was not commented upon."

Re:BS

[Loco Moped]

Absolutely. Lawyers have no right to be paid for their work.

When's the last time we paid sharks for eating swimmers?
Same principle applies.

they deserved it

[OglinTatas]

It would be ironic if they were more than nominally an anti-spyware company. I read the article, and it sounds like the ruling was correct.

Re:Rouge anti-spyware

[sqlrob]

Yeah, they're really red faced after this court loss

Re:Anti-spyware vendor...

[Loco Moped]

- had deceptive popups, offering a free scan, that always, in every machine, report that the user had spyware. Well, by the time you downloaded and ran the scan, you certainly did have spyware. So I guess it was telling the truth.

Re:BS

[LordEd]

Actually, the difference is the lawyers bill you for the suit, the soap and water to clean it, and the time.

When you bill 25 hours a day, 8 days a week ....

[wsanders]

... 459 days per year the hours add up pretty quickly.

Re:BS

[soft_guy]

The difference between a lawyer and a Mobster is that lawyers are afraid of getting blood on their suits.

I always thought the difference was that mobsters have a code of ethics.

Re:No

[Aqua_boy17]

I know, where's BadAnalogyGuy when you need him?

This is like a bullet proof vest maker shooting someone in the chest. No, wait, this is like a vest maker being shot in the chest, with his own gun, and then being thrown in a river. No wait...

Re:RTFA! No Irony Ahead

[Tanktalus]

They made false claims as to a limited time offer.

Hmmm .. it appears that the offer is no longer available. It seems to have had a limit.

Just not the limit that the company intended ;-)