Anti-spyware activists condemn rogue MP3 search firm

CDT and StopBadware unite in call for action against spyware pushers.

The

Center for Democracy and Technology

(CDT) and

StopBadware.org

have issued a joint complaint to the

Federal Trade Commission

(FTC) hoping to put a stop to a rogue site, which is pushing spyware posing as a music search tool.

The Argentina-based, English-language site FastMP3Search.com.ar promotes itself as a rapid MP3 search service and requires the installation of a ‘plugin’ to enable searching of its content. According to

StopBadware

research, users that have been tricked into installing the software find the plugin is in fact a trojan which downloads numerous other malicious items. Spyware and adware are installed, the

Windows

firewall is disabled, and many changes are made to the system, including the hosts file and

Internet Explorer

settings, without warning or permission. The software is rendered difficult to remove, and system efficiency is impaired.

The CDT, an organisation promoting democracy and liberty in the online world, and

StopBadware

, an organisation including Oxford and Harvard Universities backed by technology firms such as

Google

,

Lenovo

and

Sun Microsystems

, have issued their complaint to the FTC stating that FastMP3Search.com.ar is one of the worst spyware operations on

StopBadware

‘s lists. They request that the FTC investigates and if possible shuts down the operation.

A joint press release from the two complainants (PDF format) is

here

, with the full text of the legal complaint put to the FTC

here

.

StopBadware.org

‘s notes on the spyware operation are

here

.

Posted on 08 December 2006 by

Virus Bulletin