I have argued this point since well before I went online (Jan 2000). It is wonderful to finally see it get some legal recognition:

Spyware can constitute illegal trespass on home computers

A federal trial court in Chicago has ruled recently that the ancient legal doctrine of trespass to chattels (meaning trespass to personal property) applies to the interference caused to home computers by spyware. Information technology has advanced at warp speed with the law struggling to keep up, and this is an example of a court needing to use historical legal theories to grapple with new and previously unforeseen contexts in Cyberspace.

Read the whole thing. (must read)

But the article doesn’t bring up the doctrine of limited license – which is important if one is downloading a game with embedded spyware. I don’t know if it came up in the case or not.

Hat Tip: InstaPundit