It appears that an audit conducted during scans by earthlink for the first three months of 2004 uncovered an average of 28 spyware programs on each machine they looked at.

This is definitely a problem that needs more attention, whether through legislation, or more widespread use of programs that block the installation of unwanted software, or both.

The State of Utah has recently passed a strict law against this type of spyware and malware, and the federal government has been looking at similar legislation. But, not everyone is happy about that. One company has sued Utah, claiming that Utah’s statutes are unconstitutional, and block ads from people who actually do want to see them.

I wonder if I should send a copy of the Utah statutes to my state senator? I think I will.