"Love bug" suspect cleared

State prosecutors in the Philippines have dropped all charges against a man suspected of having caused billions of dollars worth of damage to computer files across the world.

The department of justice said the man, Onel de Guzman, could not be tried for actions which were not criminal offences at the time they were committed.

Mr de Guzman -- a computer college student -- achieved notoriety when investigators designated him as the probable source of the so-called "love bug", named after en email message which read: "I love you".

The message, sent out in May, replicated itself across vast networks, stealing passwords, crashing systems, and deleting files. Prosecutors said a law used to combat credit card fraud, under which Mr de Guzman was originally charged, was not applicable; he has never acknowledged intentionally releasing the virus.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service