Comedian demands $1m for virus warning

NEWS US comedian Ray Owens has demanded compensation from anti-virus vendor Symantec for publishing his work without copyright. Owens wrote a fake virus warning which advises people to delete the "insidious aol.exe virus" - the executable which boots up the AOL application. The joke, known as AOL.exe hoax, was reported on many anti-virus vendors' sites, many of them included Owens' entire copyrighted material in their descriptions. According to Vmyths.com, a site which reports virus hoaxes, Owens asked for $1m in compensation - as a joke - but what he really wanted was a link added to his 'Joke A Day - Making Fun of Morons Since 1863' site. Vmyths reported that Symantec has the company lawyers on the case but said the firm will continue to republish Owens' work as they believe the Fair Use Doctrine, an internet guideline for use of copyrighted material, gives them the right to do so.