As reported in the November 17, 2008 news release by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the U.S. District Court Judge, following the EPIC complaint, has issued a temporary restraining order halting the sale of keylogger spyware. According to the FTC’s complaint,

…the Florida-based CyberSpy software, LLC marketed and sold RemoteSpy keylogger spyware to clients who would then secretly monitor unsuspecting consumer’s computers.

… the defendants violated the FTC Act by engaging in the unfair advertising and selling of software that could be: (1) deployed remotely by someone other than the owner or authorized user of a computer; (2) installed without the knowledge and consent of the owner or authorized user; and (3) used to surreptitiously collect and disclose personal information.

The FTC seeks to permanently bar the unfair and deceptive practices and require the defendants to give up their ill-gotten gains. The complaint for permanent injunction and other equitable relief is available here.