AOL To Cut Download "Spying" Feature From Netscape

America Online Inc [NYSE:AOL] will remove a feature of
its Netscape browser's SmartDownload technology that has alarmed
privacy advocates and spawned at least one class action lawsuit, a
report said.

In late June, New Jersey photographer and Webmaster Christopher
Specht filed a lawsuit against AOL, which purchased Netscape
Communications in 1999 for $10 billion, claiming the company was
using the popular file-download module to "spy" on browser users as
they retrieve certain kinds of files from servers across the
Internet.

A number of security experts have since looked closely at how the
SmartDownload feature works and confirmed that the system forwards
to a Netscape server information on files it helps users download
via the Web, even when those files are not hosted on Netscape or
AOL servers.

A report from the Reuters news agency today quoted AOL spokesman
Andrew Weintsein as saying the company plans to remove the tracking
feature from SmartDownload.

Specht's lawsuit, filed in US District Court in New York, claims
that kind of monitoring of third-party communications contravenes
both the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) and the
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).

Specht's lawyer, Joshua Rubin, told Newsbytes today that three
others have been added to the beginnings of a class-action suit in
addition to Specht.

Rubin said he has had no communication from AOL and that the
company hasn't informed him that it would be removing the tracking
feature from future versions of SmartDownload.

At the Web site of Rubin's law firm, New York's Abbey, Gardy &
Squitieri, Netscape users who think they might qualify as part of a
class-action lawsuit can submit their contact information.

The lawsuit argues that the ECPA applies in cases where electronic
communication has been intercepted and where the contents of such
intercepted communications is used.

Statutory penalties under the ECPA can be up to $10,000. The CFAA
is being invoked because that law prohibits unauthorized
access to a computer for interstate communication. In this case, Specht
claims, AOL gained unauthorized access to his computer through its
download-tracking technology.

AOL has said it has never used the data generated by SmartDownload.
In addition, the company said the purpose of the download logging
was to backup the operation of the software itself which, among
other things, allows users to restarted downloads that fail before
they are completed.

The SmartDownload technology has been available as part of the
Netscape offering since version 4.7 and was originally created as
"Download Demon" by NetZip. That company was purchased by
RealNetworks Inc. [NASDAQ:RNWK] and the technology is part of its
RealDownload product. RealNetworks licensed the technology to
Netscape for its SmartDownload.

Specht's Web site is at: http://www.lawphoto.com/.

Abbey, Gardy & Squitieri is at: http://www.a-g-s.com/.

Reported by Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com.