## Facts

- Stephen Sotelo sued DirectRevenue, LLC on behalf of himself and a putative class of computer users.
- Sotelo alleged DirectRevenue distributed software that installed on users’ computers without meaningful notice or consent.
- Once installed, the software monitored users’ web-browsing behavior and generated targeted pop-up advertisements.
- Sotelo alleged the software consumed computer memory and processing resources, impaired performance, and created security risks.
- He further alleged the software was designed to be difficult to remove and that DirectRevenue used deceptive methods to obscure the software’s presence and keep it installed.
- Sotelo claimed the interference caused wasted time and loss of productivity in attempting to address the software’s effects.
- Sotelo asserted, among other theories, a claim for trespass to chattels based on interference with his computer.

## Issues

1. Whether installing and operating spyware/adware that consumes resources, causes pop-up ads, and degrades performance can constitute trespass to chattels under Illinois law.
2. Whether alleged harms such as diminished functionality, security-related burdens, and lost user time and productivity satisfy the “harm” requirement for trespass to chattels.

## Decision

- The court denied the motion to dismiss the trespass-to-chattels claim under Rule 12(b)(6).
- The court held the complaint plausibly alleged intentional interference with Sotelo’s possessory interest in his computer.
- The court held the pleaded impacts—resource consumption, performance degradation, security-related burdens, and resulting time and productivity losses—were sufficient at the pleading stage to allege cognizable harm to a materially valuable interest in the computer.

## Legal Principles

- Trespass to chattels requires intentional interference with another’s use or possession of personal property that results in dispossession or harm to the chattel or to the possessor’s materially valuable interest in it.
- Electronic intrusions can constitute trespass to chattels when they burden system resources or impair the condition, value, or functioning of a computer system.
- For pleading purposes, harm is not limited to physical damage to hardware; diminished functional value, security burdens, and economically meaningful interference with use (including time and productivity loss) may satisfy the harm element.

## Conclusion

The court allowed the trespass-to-chattels theory to proceed, ruling that allegations of nonconsensual spyware/adware that burdens computer resources, impairs performance, creates security-related burdens, and causes compensable loss of user time and productivity plausibly plead both interference and harm to a materially valuable property interest.


Sotelo v. DirectRevenue, LLC, 384 F. Supp. 2d 1219 (N.D. Ill. 2005)