FTC shuts down makers of "Spyware Assassin"

Firm purporting to remove spyware receives temporary shutdown order

Editors Note: First in a long line of bogus spyware company shutdowns? We can only hope so.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SPOKANE, Wash. -- The Federal Trade Commission has temporarily shut down a Spokane company whose software purported to help people remove spyware, but that regulators claim often did nothing to stop the malicious programs.

A U.S. District Court judge in Spokane has approved a temporary restraining order against MaxTheater Inc., which makes Spyware Assassin. In April, the FTC will ask a federal judge to make the ban permanent.

The FTC alleges that Spyware Assassin offered customers a deceptive spyware scan. The FTC said the scan either said it had found spyware that didn't exist or said it would remove spyware and then didn't.

MaxTheater owner Thomas Delanoy, who is named in the complaint, told The Spokesman-Review newspaper he had been advised by his attorney not to comment.

Spyware is a growing online security threat that can be used to track a user's computer habits, steal valuable personal information and slow performance.