In the courts this week:

A U.S. federal judge granted a request by the Federal Trade Commission for a judgment against a software developer, an affiliate of ERG Ventures, who was accused of taking part in a scam that infected millions of victims' computers with spyware.

The default judgment bars Timothy P. Taylor from distributing software that interferes with consumers' computers, along with requiring him to give up the profits of the scheme; it ends the November 2006 lawsuit that the FTC filed against ERG Ventures, its owners, and Taylor.

(Click to read the FTC press release.) 

To take a look at the status of other recent spyware cases taken on by U.S. federal law enforcement, the Center for Democracy & Technology has a summarized chart.