A group of Russian malware writers has created what amounts to an End User License Agreement, complete with terms and conditions appropriate to their line of work.

Amongst the stipulations are the following:

_The customer can’t resell the product, examine its underlying coding, use it to control other bot nets or submit it to antivirus companies and agrees to pay the seller a fee for product updates.

_The threat: Violate the terms, and we’ll report you ourselves to the antivirus companies by giving them information about how to dismantle your bot network or prevent it from growing bigger.

Are malware writers really going to make good on their threats? Probably not, it would effectively amount to professional suicide; you have to be able to trust your bedfellows. All the same, it gave the folks at Symantec a chuckle and it is interesting to know that the criminal element is feeling the pressure of online piracy as well. The Associated Press reports that the software in question is being traded freely online. [Associated Press] [Image: Malwarez via Geekinetic]

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