When you start installing commercial keylogging and monitoring software on your home computers to keep an eye on your own wife, it's probably a sign that the domestic trust level isn't as high as it might be. Now, after a divorce, an Ohio man is suing the makers of the software for not alerting him that its use might violate US laws, and he's facing a lawsuit of his own from one of his wife's friends.

The whole bizarre incident, which was recently covered by Wired, is now playing itself out in the federal court system. Jeffrey Havlicek purchased and installed the keylogger from Deep Software (motto: "You see what they do") back in 2005 in order to "monitor the family's computer usage while he was away," according to court documents.

Havlicek and his wife then divorced, but he was sued in 2006 by a friend of his wife's, who claimed that Havlicek used the keylogger to access online e-mail accounts that this friend had created (and let Havlicek's wife use). That case is still ongoing in an Ohio federal court, which means that it is costing Havlicek some serious cash.

To get that money back, Havlicek has just filed suit against Deep Software, a Canadian firm. He complains that Deep Software billed its product as "an ideal spy software package to ensure that you have the control you need over your child or spouse['s] activity when they are online." The company did warn that the software could only be installed by an authorized user of the computer in question, but it did not warn that using it could "be illegal or a violation of federal and state statutes."

The case is about more than money, though. Havlicek notes that he needs to cover his court costs, but also that he "could be subject to a substantial civil judgment that could effect [sic] his career in the United States Air Force." Which is odd, since the government seems to be a huge fan of warrantless wiretapping.

Perhaps he was led to use the software by an article on Deep Software's site titled, "Should I spy?" The piece, written by a marital therapist, points out that "spying may help you feel connected to your partner who seems to be steadily moving away from you." And it reassures those who think about spying, asking, "Are you a morally corrupt duplicitous character hell bent on destroying the integrity of a relationship through spying? No, of course not." Well, okay then.

Havlicek wants at least $10,000 from Deep Software, plus attorneys' fees.