Netscape, NY Attorney General Settle On Software Issue

Legal Issues

from the slap-on-the-wrist dept

It yet another “consumer friendly” legal move by NY Attorney General Elliot Spitzer, AOL’s Netscape division has agreed to pay $100,000 for their use of spyware a few years back. Netscape had a bit of spyware in their “smartdownload” offering, that sent too much information back to the mothership. They haven’t used such code in a few years, though, and admit they made something of a mistake (though, of course, legally, they admit to nothing whatsoever). So, they paid a little fine and that’s it. However, this could be a good precedent for going after other spyware makers.