The US House of Representatives has recently passed the "Spy Act" - or to give it its full title - the Securely Protect Yourself Against Cyber Trespass Act. This aims to prevent software companies from installing spyware on users PCs without their knowledge, and anyone found guilty of breaching the act faces a fine of up to $3 million.
Does this mean the end of spyware as we know it? Unfortunately the answer is no, not really. The problem is that most spyware can continue to operate in exactly the same way as it does now, by asking the computer user to agree to a licence before it installs itself. The majority of people who are faced with a lengthy legal-looking page of text when installing a new program, automatically click the "I Agree" option without reading the terms. Therefore spyware programs can quite legally continue to piggy-back their way onto PCs.
Add to this the fact that a large percentage of spyware originates from outside the US, and it quickly becomes clear that the Spy Act realistically has about as much chance of success as the Can-Spam act did in attempting to stop the deluge of junk email that arrives in our mailboxes every day.
Spyware can be a lucrative business for advertisers and software vendors, and with the average home PC already carrying around 26 spyware and adware programs, it's a problem that looks set to become worse before it gets better. In time, additional international laws may reduce the problem, but for the present at least, every PC user should keep up-to-date anti-spyware software running on their machine.
About The Author
Grant Rogers is an independent computer security consultant. You can find more information on anti-spyware and adware software at http://www.spyware-adware.info
town car ride to ohare Bethalto .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareWhen you need a phone number, you do a quick... Read More
The first thing that you will notice about Linux Red... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is written in Great Plains... Read More
The Windows registry is a huge database that ensures normal... Read More
Microsoft Retail Management (RMS) and Microsoft Great Plains are retail... Read More
Since Version 8.0 Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains & Great... Read More
Viruses and spyware usually show up on your computer one... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions CRM is web-based CRM application, deploying all... Read More
The vast majority of us will have, at some point,... Read More
TikiWiki is open source software - it is written in... Read More
Microsoft PowerPoint has dramatically changed the way in which academic... Read More
I have always had a tendency to focus on the... Read More
Every organization which creates collaborative documents, whether they are budgets,... Read More
Accounts payable is just one area of office management where... Read More
If you have Microsoft Great Plains and support it... Read More
With many manufacturing shops heading over seas in favor of... Read More
There are so many different programs that clutter up your... Read More
While Ukraine is becoming a new popular IT outsourcing destination,... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is very good fit for... Read More
If you use Microsoft Outlook (or similar applications) for e-mailing,... Read More
The Microsoft system preparation utility for Windows 2000 is a... Read More
Document Manager and Version HistoryIn previous articles I have discussed... Read More
If you are in the market for new staffing software,... Read More
This article is the third of a series of articles... Read More
We would like first emphasize the change in the paradigm.... Read More
Gurnee Lincoln Stretch rentals ..I started using PIP (Picture It Publishing) Platinum 2002 right... Read More
The Windows Indexing Service provides you with the ability to... Read More
Great Plains Inventory Management (IV) module gives your business a... Read More
Now there are Three Steps To Heaven Just listen and... Read More
GroupwareThe internet is full of 1.5 million to 7 million... Read More
If you are in the market for new staffing software,... Read More
What is RAID RECOVERY?RAID stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive... Read More
It won't matter how effective your WinRunner Team is if... Read More
Program Flow is what you think it is. How the... Read More
Since Version 8.0 Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains & Great... Read More
Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more... Read More
One of the main reasons business owners and entrepreneurs use... Read More
Lotus Notes Domino is very efficient in electronic document workflow... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions products: Great Plains, MS CRM, Navision, Axapta,... Read More
Ok... Where to start?Well, I guess I will start at... Read More
Running Applications in Compatibility Mode With Windows XP, you can... Read More
When it comes to running an office, the SOHO entrepreneur... Read More
Should one use Windows Update?This topic has good and valid... Read More
Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more and more popular,... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Navision serves both European and American megamarkets.... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains serves to the wide spectrum... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is marketed for mid-size companies... Read More
Case study: A secretary using Corel WordPerfect 7 is often... Read More
There are several kinds of software piracy. The bottom line... Read More
If you have been using the Internet for any amount... Read More
Software |