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The bizarre practice was noted by Symantec which spotted that Russian malware writers have begun slapping licensing agreements on malware

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sold on the internet black market.

Among the usual technical blurb, the malware writers forbid their customers from freely distributing the software following purchase, obviously in an effort to protect their ill-begotten livelihoods.

The licence also demands the code not be reverse engineered, and gives the malware writer the right to charge for any update to the product in the future.

Brilliantly, the licence threatens to pass the code onto antivirus companies should the terms of the licence be broken - clearly setting antivirus companies up as some sort of malware police.

"Despite the clear licensing agreement and the associated warnings, this package still ended up being traded freely in underground forums shortly after it was released," says blog writer Liam OMurchu. "It just goes to show you just can't trust anyone in the underground these days," he adds with glee.