Posted by TaskProperties on 01/19/13 11:28

FTC Goes After Another Spyware Peddler


The Federal Trade Commission is taking legal action against the distributor
of a malware-infested file sharing program. The FTC also has asked the US
District Court in New Hampshire to order Odysseus Marketing, publisher of
the software, to suspend operations.

Odysseus Marketing distributes and promotes a peer-to-peer file sharing
program named Kazanon, which they claim provides total anonymity to their
users while sharing files. The FTC says that this claim is false, that
people using the software are not anonymous. Making such a false claim is
itself a violation of federal law.

Kazanon comes bundled with another program known as "Clientman". The FTC
states that Clientman is spyware and that, once installed, it downloads and
install numerous other spyware programs on behalf of various third parties.

All of this activity takes place without adequate disclosure. What little
disclosure there is appears in the middle of a lengthy license agreement
located on Odysseus Marketing's web site.

The FTC also alleges that Odysseus Marketing deliberately made it difficult
to remove the software installed with Kazanon. In fact, Odysseus offers an
uninstall tool that, instead of removing the software, actually installs
more spyware.

The FTC charges that the practices of Odysseus Marketing, and its principal
Walter Rines, are unfair and deceptive and violate the FTC Act. The agency
will seek a permanent halt to the practices of this marketing company.

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