The adware distributor DirectRevenue LLC, which you may remember from a New York, U.S. adware case, has settled U.S. Federal Trade Commission charges that it used unfair and deceptive means to download adware onto consumers' PCs and obstructed them from removing it, the FTC says.

Along with giving up $1.5 million in ill-gotten gains, the settlement:

- Bars future downloads of DirectRevenues adware without consumers' consent.

The state of New York, USA has sent out a message to advertisers: You will be held responsible when your ads end up on consumers computers without notice and consent.

That's what New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo had to say after settling a lawsuit that forces companies to get consent before they use pop-ups for advertising.

Today we bring you two cyber-crime updates of shocking proportions.

The first news story surprises us because of the sheer size of the crime. Two botnet operators who allegedly ran a network of 1.5 million computers may spend up to three years behind bars, Dutch authorities say.

Rogue anti-spyware vendors should take a cue from this case.

The U.S. state of Washingtons first case brought under its Computer Spyware Act just reached a conclusion, with a $1 million settlement.

You can surf the net with a little more ease this morning, knowing that an important legal benchmark has been set in dealing with those who sneakily install malware, spyware and adware onto your computer.

Zango, Inc., one of the world's largest distributors of adware, settled charges by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that the company violated federal law by using unfair and deceptive methods to download adware and obstruct consumers from removing it.