FTC scrutinizes Spokane firm

The Federal Trade Commission has temporarily shut down the Web site of a Spokane business, saying it has deceptively sold products that claim to eliminate spyware from consumers’ computers.

A U.S. District Court judge in Spokane last week approved a temporary order banning MaxTheater, Inc., from selling its “Spyware Assassin” product.

The Federal Trade Commission is asking a federal judge to make the ban permanent. A hearing to decide that question has been set for April.

The District Court complaint seeks repayment for anyone who bought the Spyware Assassin product, said J. Ronald Brooke, an attorney in Washington, D.C., with the FTC.

Spyware is software loaded onto computers, usually without the user’s knowledge, that can track Internet use or send personal information to others. Spyware can also create pop-up ads promoting products or other Web sites.

For the past 18 months the FTC has focused on the problem of bogus software that claims to solve spyware but doesn’t, said Brooke.

Brooke said he couldn’t identify how many people purchased Spyware Assassin. He declined to detail the methods by which the FTC began investigating the Spokane company. In the course of its investigation, the FTC found that Spyware Assassin “failed to remove all or substantially all spyware on a computer” as it claimed, said Brooke.

The complaint also names Thomas L. Delanoy as the owner of MaxTheater. Reached by phone Monday, Delanoy said he has been advised by an attorney to make no comment to the media.

Brooke said Spyware Assassin sold for about $29 and often was purchased because of pop-up ads from Web sites that had made deals with MaxTheater. The ads informed consumers that spyware had been discovered on their computers and that if they bought Spyware Assassin, it would eliminate the problem.

The FTC complaint states that “in numerous instances the defendants’ free, locally performed spyware scan is phony, and the defendants’ representations that they have detected spyware on the consumer’s computer are deceptive.”

Brooke explained that even when a consumer’s computer was fine, the free scan offered by Spyware Assassin always indicated it had found spyware and urged the consumer to buy the full product.

The Web site of the Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern Washington, North Idaho and Montana states that MaxTheater’s membership was revoked last year due to “failure to cooperate with the BBB on advertising matters.”

The BBB noted that while Delanoy had answered some consumer complaints, the company failed to respond to concerns over product deliveries and over unsubstantiated product claims.

The complaint listed MaxTheater’s address as 5701 S. Hailee Lane in Spokane.