PCs Posted No Trespass

FreeLinux writes "USA Today has a story about a federal court ruling stating that Spyware can constitute illegal trespass. From the article: 'A federal trial court in Chicago has ruled recently that the ancient legal doctrine of trespass to chattels (meaning trespass to personal property) applies to the interference caused to home computers by spyware. Information technology has advanced at warp speed with the law struggling to keep up, and this is an example of a court needing to use historical legal theories to grapple with new and previously unforeseen contexts in Cyberspace.'"

Comments

Re:Not gonna change a goddamned thing.

[Arandir]

Why the hell do people install shit like this? If people weren't so stupid then all the stupid people wouldn't be clamouring for governemnt to pass laws protecting stupid people from being stupid.

In twenty five years of computing, I have never once received a virus, trojan, worm or other piece of malware. I especially have never been infected by spyware. While I might have some sympathy for those accidentally infected by viruses and those duped by trojans, I have absolutely no sympathy for people who deliberately and knowingly install spyware on their systems and then complain about it.

If an anonymous stranger asks to come into your house, and furthermore asks to bring several of his anonymous friends with him, and you *agree*, then it's your own damned fault if his lowlife friends plug up your toilet and run up your phone bill.