News finally catches up to spyware

[Arthur Dent]

CNN on Spyware

Since February, Brilliant Digital Entertainment has been distributing software with KaZaA designed to build a separate network for sharing files, storage capacity and processing power.

Users can remove the Brilliant software -- but only after KaZaA installs it.

Though the arrangement appears in licensing agreements that KaZaA users must accept beforehand, Brilliant's chief executive, Kevin Bermeister, admits the software caught some by surprise.

He said the company will seek users' permission before activating the network in about a month.

For about a week this month, WeatherBug from AWS Inc. gave some users a promotional tool from Ebates that pitches rebates while they visit participating sites. AWS stopped offering Ebates pending an internal review after being contacted by The Associated Press.

"It was an honest mistake," said Andy Jedynak, AWS's vice president of business development. "We have a very strict policy of making sure that all of our users understand exactly what's happening."

A few months ago, users who installed KaZaA, LimeWire and Grokster unwittingly accepted an online sweepstakes game, ClickTillUWin, that collected information about sites visited. The parties involved blamed a breakdown in communications.

[AdolescentMasturbator]

I love how they try to backtrack saying they made a honest mistake. Scumbags.

[Goatweed]

This whole embedded spyware thing really comes as no surprise. First it was banner ads, then pop-ups, then "discreet" pop-ups, etc. Everyone is looking to make a buck, despite how this spyware might interact with a person's PC, let alone the privacy implications involved. I still use Kazaa when DC doesn't do it for me (rare) but I think I have managed to remove all offending extraneous software.

[Ahlexus]

Goatweed, I had a bad experience with a popup this morning. While following an innocent link to a specific web site about paint shop pro, I encountered a XXX popup that could not be closed! Imagine if the person had been in a setting whereby that ad could've caused a lot of embarrassment. It was severely raw and crude.

As it was, I had to close the damn thing via task manager. What a huge pain in the ass.

[Goatweed]

Ahlexus, for any and all pop-up problems, you'll want to use Popup Stopper. It's great at stopping pretty much any pop-up window (porno or otherwise). When I'm at work, I always have it running (not so much at home, unless I go to a site where I know it'll be pop-up hell like 1wrestling.com or something). If you do get it, make sure you get the free download (it's at the bottom of the page).

[Keyser Soze]

What happened to the Kazza thread we had down here?

[HedCold]

i have a question about spy ware
if i were to just type a site into my address bar without using the www instead of changing it to <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://espn.com">http://espn.com</a><!-- m --> it changes it to <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.commonname.com/find.asp?cn=espn.com">http://www.commonname.com/find.asp?cn=espn.com</a><!-- m -->
is this some form of spyware or what?

[Goatweed]

I think that's just your browser's internal name search function (sounds like IE) to find the site your'e trying to get to. I get that alot if I misspell a site (like http.esspn.com for example). I don't think it's spyware, but if you are using IE, it could be Bill Gates' way of tracking your ass all over the 'net :angry:

Seriously, I don't think that's spyware. If you think you might have some, download an app called Ad-Aware. It'll clean out any and all spyware on your system. Be warned though - if you use Kazaa or something like it you might have to leave certain files on your machine to keep using it. I think this was covered in the Kazaa thread as well.

[Keyser Soze]

You must have installed the commonname software somehow. It might have been snuck in with something else you downloaded.

[HedCold]

i have ad-aware and ran it and it's still happening

dammit, i went to add/remove programs and it had listed some commonware toolbar thing. so i ran the uninstall and it said it removed it but couldn't remove everything, so my toolbar still does that if i dont add the www. anyone know which files i'll have to delete? if you think you can help just im me at drag0nkill. thanks


edit - nevermind, the uninstall worked. it doesnt happen anymore :bouncer:



Edited By HedCold on April 15 2002 at 6:56

[Keyser Soze]

i couldnt believe how much shit the joe six pack internet user gets stuck with from downloading various programs off the net.

the lay-computer users are getting fucked with this stuff. i had to reformat a buddies drive his pc was so infested with this shitty bloodsucker software. you wouldn't believe how many resources it takes up in the background without even you knowing it.

[Arthur Dent]

the lay-computer users are getting fucked with this stuff. i had to reformat a buddies drive his pc was so infested with this shitty bloodsucker software. you wouldn't believe how many resources it takes up in the background without even you knowing it.

Not just from downloads. I had ot make sure my home computer was working PERFECTLY before I left becasue I obviously wouldn't be able to troubleshoot it. I tried deleting EVERYTHING that wasn't needed and it still sucked. Slow performance, hanging up, etc. I ended up buying a second harddrive and installing the operating system on that and using my old drive as a slave drive just to retrieve info, etc. Works great now. Haven't heard a single complaint from home.

Plenty of programs run background crap, like Realplayer's desktop icon next to the clock.

[Kid Afrika]

I love newsgroups.

[Ahlexus]

Goatweed, mega thanks for the tip on PopUp stopper :thumbs-up: I'll definitely give it a try!