If selling spyware is illegal, is it OK to give it away for free? The U.S. Department of Justice arrested the CEO of a mobile spyware app called StealthGenie. Hammad Akbar was indicted under a federal statute, 18 USC 2512, which makes it a crime to manufacture, distribute or even advertise software. The Electronic Frontier Foundation published a report detailing how police chiefs, sheriffs and district attorneys have, for years, been giving families a software program called ComputerCop.”]
Source: https://www.cuinfosecurity.com/blogs/feds-fumble-spyware-story-p-1751