State lawmaker seeks end to spyware practice

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- If you've ever had a virus infect your computer, you know how costly they can be.<br/><br/>Now, a state lawmaker wants to crack down on spyware and computer viruses to protect

Friday, January 13th 2006, 6:18 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- If you've ever had a virus infect your computer, you know how costly they can be.

Now, a state lawmaker wants to crack down on spyware and computer viruses to protect computer users against Internet privacy invasion.

Representative Guy Liebmann of Oklahoma City has filed legislation that would authorize the attorney general, Internet service providers or software companies to sue groups or people that deceitfully install spyware or viruses onto computers.

Spyware allows third parties to monitor a user's activities. Viruses and worms are computer programs that spread from one file to another on a single computer or from one computer to another.

More than $2-billion was spent on anti-virus and e-mail scanning products in 2003.