A recent judgment against Sanford “Spamford” Wallace has costed him $4,089,500. The order bars them from downloading spyware onto consumers computers. (midcitiespsychiatry) They have been downloading software without customers consent and redirecting them to sites other than those the consumers selected.
A settlement with defendants OptinTrade and Jared Lansky, bars the same practices that are barred in the Wallace and Smart bot.Net judgment. Lansky, an ad broker who disseminated ads containing Wallace’s spyware, will give up $227,000 in ill-gotten gains.
Both these operations were sued by the FTC and violated federal law against them. Though both the companies used different techniques, they were sued for directing consumers to their website, implementing downloads, and for secretly changing their settings.
This spyware caused the CD drives to open and issued a warning on the screens with a message saying, “if your CD-drive opens automatically, you will need to take care of your system immediately! Spyware programmers can control your computer hardware if you failed to protect your computer right at this moment! Download Spy Wiper NOW!” Spy Wiper and Spy Deleter, purported anti-spyware products the defendants promoted, sold for $30.
In October 2004, the FTC filed a lawsuit against Wallace and his Smart Bot company. In 2005, the agency came to an agreement with Wallace that prevented him from distributing software until the case was settled.