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CNN Live Event/Special
Web Site Targets Internet Affairs
Aired August 01, 2003 - 19:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, many divorce lawyers and marriage counselors say Internet romances have become an all too common cause of marital break ups.
We're going to talk now with a man who says he lost his wife to a cyberaffair and responded by founding a Web site designed to help suspicious spouses track their partner's Internet activity. He says site now gets about 400 to 500 hits a day.
John LaSage is his name. He joins us now from Los Angeles.
John, thanks for being with us. First, why did you create this Web site?
JOHN LASAGE, FOUNDER, CHATCHEAERS.COM: I created the Web site after my wife left the country for someone she met on the Internet.
COOPER: And you say you had no idea this was coming, you had no idea she was communicating with people online. How did you find out that she apparently was?
LASAGE: Well, it was only after she left and she was gone maybe a week and a half before the police came and said that she had voluntarily left the country.
COOPER: And you had filed a missing person report and they were just informing you she'd voluntarily left?
LASAGE: Yes.
COOPER: What sort of equipment do you offer on your site for people -- I mean, what kind of stuff is there out there that a spouse can use to track, I guess, their significant other's movements online?
LASAGE: We offer Specter Spy software that will monitor the PC and track pretty much everything they do, e-mails, chats.
COOPER: How does do it that? I mean, I guess they would have no idea this thing is on there. What? It goes inside the computer somehow and where does the information go?
LASAGE: Yes. You install it, and it runs in a stealth mode so it's very difficult to find out that it's on the machine. And then when you're ready, you type in a password and it pops up everything they did. COOPER: Is there something kind of creepy about this to you? I mean, it's sad.
LASAGE: I believe, yes, it is sad that you'd have to monitor your spouse, but in some cases it must be done.
COOPER: What do you think it's become so popular? I understand, I mean some of these -- this industry pulls in, like, $50 million a year I'm reading, just spy software alone.
LASAGE: That's correct.
I think the Internet makes it easy to cheat, so I think the cheating is on the rise in marriages.
COOPER: Now you also offer, I think, like a GPS tracker to put on your spouse's car?
LASAGE: Yes, I sell a lot of those, and it has two magnets on it and it's easy to install -- click, click -- and your -- and you know everywhere your spouse went.
COOPER: Is this legal? I mean -- what is the legality? I guess there's no, I guess, it's your spouse, you're allowed to, but obviously, you know, tracking some people's movements online is not allowed, is it?
LASAGE: If it's your own computer, then -- or your own vehicle, let's say, then as far as I know, you have the right to monitor.
COOPER: What kind of responses do you get? I mean, I guess you hear -- I imagine you're hearing from both sides, grateful spouses and also irate ones?
LASAGE: Yes, and also from the cheaters. I hear from all sides. And I receive hundreds of e-mails every day.
COOPER: John LaSage, it's an interesting development. I guess a lot of people are using these kind of sites. I appreciate you joining us to talk about it. Thanks.
LASAGE: Thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 1, 2003 - 19:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, many divorce lawyers and marriage counselors say Internet romances have become an all too common cause of marital break ups.
We're going to talk now with a man who says he lost his wife to a cyberaffair and responded by founding a Web site designed to help suspicious spouses track their partner's Internet activity. He says site now gets about 400 to 500 hits a day.
John LaSage is his name. He joins us now from Los Angeles.
John, thanks for being with us. First, why did you create this Web site?
JOHN LASAGE, FOUNDER, CHATCHEAERS.COM: I created the Web site after my wife left the country for someone she met on the Internet.
COOPER: And you say you had no idea this was coming, you had no idea she was communicating with people online. How did you find out that she apparently was?
LASAGE: Well, it was only after she left and she was gone maybe a week and a half before the police came and said that she had voluntarily left the country.
COOPER: And you had filed a missing person report and they were just informing you she'd voluntarily left?
LASAGE: Yes.
COOPER: What sort of equipment do you offer on your site for people -- I mean, what kind of stuff is there out there that a spouse can use to track, I guess, their significant other's movements online?
LASAGE: We offer Specter Spy software that will monitor the PC and track pretty much everything they do, e-mails, chats.
COOPER: How does do it that? I mean, I guess they would have no idea this thing is on there. What? It goes inside the computer somehow and where does the information go?
LASAGE: Yes. You install it, and it runs in a stealth mode so it's very difficult to find out that it's on the machine. And then when you're ready, you type in a password and it pops up everything they did. COOPER: Is there something kind of creepy about this to you? I mean, it's sad.
LASAGE: I believe, yes, it is sad that you'd have to monitor your spouse, but in some cases it must be done.
COOPER: What do you think it's become so popular? I understand, I mean some of these -- this industry pulls in, like, $50 million a year I'm reading, just spy software alone.
LASAGE: That's correct.
I think the Internet makes it easy to cheat, so I think the cheating is on the rise in marriages.
COOPER: Now you also offer, I think, like a GPS tracker to put on your spouse's car?
LASAGE: Yes, I sell a lot of those, and it has two magnets on it and it's easy to install -- click, click -- and your -- and you know everywhere your spouse went.
COOPER: Is this legal? I mean -- what is the legality? I guess there's no, I guess, it's your spouse, you're allowed to, but obviously, you know, tracking some people's movements online is not allowed, is it?
LASAGE: If it's your own computer, then -- or your own vehicle, let's say, then as far as I know, you have the right to monitor.
COOPER: What kind of responses do you get? I mean, I guess you hear -- I imagine you're hearing from both sides, grateful spouses and also irate ones?
LASAGE: Yes, and also from the cheaters. I hear from all sides. And I receive hundreds of e-mails every day.
COOPER: John LaSage, it's an interesting development. I guess a lot of people are using these kind of sites. I appreciate you joining us to talk about it. Thanks.
LASAGE: Thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
