:o ...Just in case you haven't read today's paper:

[Rocksteady]

Jealous Lover program creator is indicted
Published Sat, Aug 27, 2005

The Associated Press

SAN DIEGO (AP) - The creator and several buyers of a computer program designed to allow jealous lovers to snoop on their sweethearts' online activities have been indicted for allegedly violating federal computer privacy laws.
Carlos Enrique Perez-Melara, 25, was indicted Friday on 35 counts of manufacturing, sending and advertising a surreptitious interception device and unauthorized access to protected computers.

The Loverspy program, disguised as an electronic greeting card showing images of puppies and flowers, was sent as an e-mail. When it was executed, it would begin recording victims' e-mail messages and the Web sites they visited, prosecutors said. The information would be transmitted to computers operated by Perez-Melara and relayed to customers, authorities said.

"It was marketed as a way to catch a cheating lover," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitch Dembin.

Four people who bought the program, sold online for $89, were indicted on two counts each of illegal computer hacking. Each count carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. Authorities said others were charged in Texas, Hawaii, North Carolina and Missouri.

Dembin said as many as 1,000 copies of Loverspy may have been sold worldwide.

Perez-Melara could face up to 175 years in prison if convicted.
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[Google]

[fussnfeathers]

Odd that they're prosecuting. Basically, it's the same type of program used by major corporations to monitor employee usage. NetOP Remote works similarly, and there are various other monitoring programs that install via e-mail or remote access.......the governent uses some of them.


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Big enough to scare you

[2old2care]

Ownership and consent. A business owns the computer they put the software on and provides to an employee. In this case you are putting software on a puter, you do not own or have any rights to.

Regardless of reason, no one has the right to put software on a computer they do not own, or have not been given permission to.
My 2¢....hang them by their nads...also IMO anyone who implies consent in a EULA that takes more than 2 minutes to read should also be hanged by the nads...
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Liquid-Cooled Q9450 and an EeePC
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[fussnfeathers]

That's kinda my point. If you're talking a married couple, or just a couple living together........like in my case. I owned both machines, mine and hers. So could I be prosecuted for installing that software on a machine I own, but never use?
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Big enough to scare you

[2old2care]

Doubtful they could convict you under that particular law....perhaps another.
I'm sure that is partially the reason they're weren't more arrests...they'll have to prove (at least in this country) that the victim was "hacked."
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Liquid-Cooled Q9450 and an EeePC
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