PCs Posted No Trespass

Posted by Zonk on Friday October 14, 2005 @09:59AM from the you're-not-welcome-here dept.

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.'"

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Activist Judges. by CDPatten · 2005-10-14 10:23 · Score: 0, Troll

99% of spyware is installed by the user on purpose. They try and download some free software and don't notice it in the agreement, or knowing install it.

That is not trespassing. Not to mention the constitution is suppose to interpret the INTENTION of the law. There was no intent against spyware.

A better method of eliminating spyware would be to boycott any company that uses the data or ads with the software.