Intellectual Property Law

A federal judge shut down the websites of a company selling do-it-yourself spyware known as RemoteSpy, following a complaint filed by federal regulators accusing the company of violating federal fair trade law, the Federal Trade Commission announced Wednesday.

The temporary restraining order and lawsuit (.pdf) mark the first time the FTC has targeted the amateur spyware market, where stalkers, jealous spouses and ethically challenged private investigators can buy keylogging software that secretly monitors people's every online move.

RemoteSpy runs as a hidden Windows program on the target's computer, recording password, website visits and screenshots and secretly uploading them to RemoteSpy.com, where the purchaser can log-in to see the results. The company described the product as "perfect for those who wish to monitor their computer while they are away," but also touted that it can be remotely installed, according to a cached copy of the CyberSpy Software's website.

The Federal Trade Commission alleges that the company provided instructions on how to fool people into installing the spyware by adding it as an innocuous-loking email attachment, including embedding it in a Word document. The complaint asks a Florida federal district court judge to stop CyberSpy and its CEO Tracer Spence from selling the software, saying it is "likely to cause substantial injury to consumers that cannot be reasonably avoided and is not outweighed by countervailing benefits to consumers or corporations."

Much will likely turn on how much the company marketed its product for uses by stalkers, corporate criminals and jealous spouses, where the victim wouldn't know they were being monitored. In comparison, businesses are largely free to monitor their employees' web surfing and email usage.

The FTC took action after the Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a complaint (.pdf) about the company in March. That complaint also mentioned other companies that sell similar products, but it's not known if the FTC is also planning enforcement actions against Spy-guide.net, Covert-Spy.com, RemotePCSpy.com and Awareness Technologies.

Attempts to reach CyberSpy CEO Tracer Spence were not immediately successful.

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