In an effort to stop child pornography and protect consumers against online criminals, the federal government has shut down an Internet service provider believed to be spreading computer viruses and pornographic materials involving minors.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said on Thursday that it shut down Pricewent LLC based in a complaint filed before a federal court in San Jose, California that accused the company of spreading malware and child pornography.
In a statement, FTC said the ISP company has turned down numerous requests from different organizations to block its criminal clients. Instead of taking necessary actions, the agency alleged that the company has tried to shield its clients by changing its addresses that initially prevented authorities to detect them.
In a complaint, Pricewent was described as a bandwidth and service provider for criminals who want to control computers which they have infected with a special software called botnets that will allow them to steal financial information and other sensitive data of a user.
Meanwhile, the FTC said Pricewent is the first ISP company to be shut down by a government, adding that this is a landmark event.
The FTC said that government usually shuts down individual website which operates illegally than cutting off ISP companies from the Internet.
When asked about the government’s decision to shut down the ISP, Pricewert Spokesman Max Christopher declined to give comment but said “they are confused with the complaint.”
Besides cutting off Pricewert from the Internet, the government said the company’s asset will stay frozen under the court order.
The federal court will hold a preliminary hearing on June 15.
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