during a spate of legal threats and challenges to competitors with "geek" in their names, Geek Squad attempted to block the trademark registration of New England area competitor Geek Housecalls claiming that it violated their trademarks. When Geek Housecalls refused to budge, Geek Squad filed civil suit. After two years of wrangling, Geek Squad and Geek Housecalls arrived at an out-of-court settlement, the details of which cannot be disclosed according to the terms of the settlement except to state that Geek Housecalls retained its name. In 2006, Geek Squad was sued for allegedly using unauthorized copies of Winternals' Emergency Repair Disk Commander. The lawsuit filed by Austin-based Winternals claims that employees of Geek Squad have continued using the unlicensed versions of the software after the commercial licensing agreement broke off. Best Buy and Geek Squad were accused of copyright infringement, circumvention of copyright infringement systems, and misappropriation of trade secrets. A settlement was eventually reached, and Winternals created a three-year agreement in place with Best Buy, allowing Geek Squad employees to lawfully use their licensed programs, including the ERD Commander. In 2007, Best Buy was hit with a civil lawsuit by Sarah Vasquez alleging that Geek Squad technician Hao Kuo Chi had secretly taped her showering with a cellular phone camera he hid behind her sink. Vasquez sought compensation from Best Buy based on claims of negligent misrepresentation and hiring, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional stress. On top of the civil suit, Hao was also facing criminal charges including two counts of invasion of privacy and one count of child molestation. In 2010, Best Buy issued a trademark infringement cease and desist letter against a priest in Wisconsin for painting "God Squad" on his car. In 2013, Geek Squad was sued for invasion of privacy and several other civil infractions for allegedly releasing nude images found on a customer's computer. The suit is ongoing. In June 2015, the court denied Best Buy's motions for summary judgment on all claims except the claim for "negligence/wantonness." On March 7, 2018, NPR reported that "FBI Used Paid Informants On Best Buy's Geek Squad To Flag Child Pornography" according to a document that was released by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. References External links American companies established in 1994 Best Buy Business services companies established in 1994 Business services companies of the United States Companies based in Minnesota Currys plc Technology companies