Spyware can constitute illegal trespass on home computers

The lawsuit In Sotelo v. DirectRevenue, the plaintiff filed a complaint against various defendants alleging that, without his consent, the defendants caused spyware to be downloaded onto his computer. In a nutshell, the plaintiff alleged that the spyware tracked his Internet use, invaded his privacy, and caused damage to his computer. The plaintiff alleged the following five causes of action: trespass to chattels, consumer fraud, unjust enrichment, negligence and computer tampering, and he sought monetary damages and injunctive relief prohibiting the offending conduct.

Factual background

The plaintiff asserted that the defendants deceptively downloaded spyware onto thousands of computers. The spyware allegedly allowed the defendants to track a computer"s Web browsing behavior in order to deliver targeted advertisements to that computer. Thus, if a computer with spyware visited music-related Internet sites, the spyware would send a signal of the computer user"s activity back to the defendants, which then targeted the computer with advertisements from music-oriented companies that paid for access to the computer through spyware.

Apparently, one of the defendants had claimed access to 12 million computers in the United States and had gained national media attention (and criticism) for having obtained such access. The defendants were alleged to have secretly installed spyware by bundling it with other proper software that is available for free on the Internet, such as software for games.