[NEWS] - Gator becomes Claria : don't be fooled

[CougTek]

Just like if we didn't have enough @$$ holes in freedom on this planet, Gator has joined SCO and the RIAA in the happy suing party. Their reason : they want (honest) people to stop calling their softwares "spyware". Well, given what the POS softwares they spread online do, I wonder how they want people to call it...nevermind.

But since I don't want to risk SF to be sued by some inferior life forms, I won't call Gat...Claria's products "spyware". I do, however, have a very strong opinion about it, that might be so strong that people will feel it even if I don't say it. Besides, I claim my right to have an opinion, no matter how poor about a given entity it can be, and no one can sue me for it.

By the way, in the News.com article :

The change distances the company from a name that has become synonymous with "spyware"--that is, ad-tracking software that can be installed surreptitiously

A little below, in the same article :

Claria often distributes its application by bundling it with popular free software such as Kazaa and other peer-to-peer programs. When downloaded, the application serves pop-up and pop-under ads to people while they're surfing the Web. Ads can be keyed to sites so that a pitch for low mortgage rates, for example, can appear when a surfer visits a rival financial company's site.

As you all probably know, you're not asked for an authorization to install these applications when you install KaZaA Media Desktop. In fact, AFAIK, you're not even told they've been installed. I don't know why, but the part about "ad-tracking software" and "be installed surreptitiously" pops up in my mind, but I really don't know why.

I didn't say it, I'm just quoting News.com.

So remember folks, when you see Claria in the future, think Gator (which I can't call spyware).

News source

 

[Mercutio]

Could be worse. Could be new.net (which is of course vile beyond human comprehension).

Also, I purposefully installed Bonzi Buddy not too long ago (demonstrating "parasites" for the students in one of my classes). I was STUNNED by how much crap is involved in getting that thing - probably really close to 30MB, all told. I see modem users who have it pretty regularly, which is even more shocking. The downloader must auto-resume or something; 30MB is utterly unreasonable for modem users.