PCWorld: Next: Outlawing Spyware?
Can Can-Spam laws can Spyware? The Utah Spyware Control Act makes it illegal to install spyware without approval. The tricky part comes in attempting to identify just what "spyware" is and what constitutes approval. The definition remains pretty vague, potentially including such "spyware" as Internet Explorer and Mac OSX. And if written disclaimers will free Microsoft and Apple from liability, what's to prevent spyware companies from doing the same? On the approval side of the equation, lawmakers very likely underestimate the tendency of people to click "yes, I do want my computer's clock synchronized automatically" without reading the fine print.
