Lawsuit Over Spyware Label

Microsoft sued for characterizing a Dutch search engine as spyware. See my previous post expressing concerns about Microsoft’s anti-spyware tool becoming the standard.

Spyware, Researchware, Trackware, Greyware…What to Ware?

ClickZ’s Rob McGann reports that comScore’s tracking software has been on a spyware “rollercoaster.” CA called it spyware, then changed its mind, and has changed its mind yet again. comScore wants a new category for the software: “researchware.” Computer Associates…

Ninth Circuit En Banc ruling in Gator.com v. LL Bean

Gator.com v. LL Bean, 2005 WL 351228 (9th Cir. Feb. 15, 2005). In 2001, LL Bean sent a C&D to Gator (now Claria). Gator responded by suing for a declaratory judgment. The district court dismissed Gator’s lawsuit for lack of…

House Subcommittee Approves SPY Act

The Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce has approved the SPY Act with a modification to clarify that cookies are not covered.

Claria Goes Mainstream

Claria is planning to deliver ads by buying excess inventory and reselling the inventory at a higher price by using behavioral targeting. This seems to turn Claria into a pretty run-of-the-mill ad network. Is this a good thing or a…

Microsoft Anti-Spyware Tool

Microsoft will be giving away its anti-spyware tools. I’m not sure this will be a good thing. Given the inherent subjectivity of the definition of “spyware,” the last thing I want is Microsoft making that decision for me. Do you…

State Anti-Spyware Laws

Ben Edelman has put together this very helpful page on state anti-spyware laws.

Goodlatte Reintroduces Anti-Spyware Law

Goodlatte has reintroduced his anti-spyware bill. As of today, I didn’t see a bill number yet. Compared to the other anti-spyware bills, Goodlatte’s bill was relatively inoffensive. The basic structure was to criminalize unauthorized placement of a software program on…

“Rich Internet Applications” and Spyware

Bob Tedeschi runs a good article on “rich Internet applications.” This technology is a small applet that is downloaded to the user’s computer to facilitate getting the user to the right place. For example, the software will monitor a user…

Avoiding Attention Distractions

Katie Hafner writes a good article on the difficulties we have avoiding distractions when we use our computer. It’s so true! There are so many temptations and messages competing for our attention. I know I struggle with this—there’s always something…