US government agency takes on Pop-up software

[CityK]

U.S. Regulators disclosed a new legal campaign Thursday against an especially annoying practice for delivering "pop-up" advertisements to Internet users, suing a California company [D-Squared Solutions LLC of San Diego] for selling software to block the same kinds of ads the company was sending.

Go get 'em boys. Source.

 

[Mercutio]

After a little thought, I've decided this was a poor decision. Not going after a spammer... going after the WRONG spammer.

Windows Messaging pop-ups are so easy to stop it's disgusting. Really. Even if you're a total moron. You don't know what causes them, but hey, right in the title bar for the popup it says "Windows Messaging".

So you go to any search engine - even the ones that only morons use, like iwon.com, and you type in "Windows Messaging popup" in the search box, and the second result on the list is instructions for turning off Messaging spam.

Or, if you're a responsible person, rather than an idiot, you're behind a firewall or NAT device or something that blocks the ports used by Windows networking, and you don't even know there's a problem.

I'd say Messaging Spam isn't a high priority.

So what spamming bastard should the FTC hit?

How about the one that makes a pop-up that looks just like a BSOD? I actually get calls about that.
How about the people that make new.net or the ones who install parasite software without notifying the user?

 

[blakerwry]

hehe.. i love seeing the BSOD popups when I'm in linux. same with the taskbar updates, security updates, privacy, etc...

Does anyone else think that winXP SP2's decision to enable the XP firewall for increased security sounds like thw wrong approach? It seems like I could equate this to having your blinds open on your window so you put up a privacy fence around your house instead of just closing the blinds. Why are there so many running server daemons on a desktop operating system? If you're going to run server processes on your operating system, why don't you make them secure?

 

[CityK]

So you go to any search engine - even the ones that only morons use, like iwon.com, and you type in "Windows Messaging popup" in the search box, and the second result on the list is instructions for turning off Messaging spam.

I think you over estimate the computing prowess of the typical user because:
a) I don't think most would clue in on the "Windows Messaging" title. If they are capable of performing a search (key word being capable) they are far more likely to just type "popups". The first page of Google doesn't offer you a whole lot, and I doubt the results from a lesser search engine would be much better. If you want to pay to stop these annoying popups, then the first page of google might be a good starting place ....

b) Even if they manage to find instructions on how to stop the messaging service, the average computer user is more likely to feel overwhelmed and get scared off of messing with anything in the bowels of windows. I don't know how many times I've heard the average computer user say to me "I didn't want to touch it because I didn't want to screw anything up".

Or, if you're a responsible person, rather than an idiot, you're behind a firewall or NAT device or something that blocks the ports used by Windows networking, and you don't even know there's a problem.

But I doubt most users are responsible enough to be behind a firewall.....let alone configure one.

I'd say Messaging Spam isn't a high priority.

Your right. After a little thought, there really are a lot other better causes to throw finite resouces after.

CK

 

[Howell]

I think you over estimate the computing prowess of the typical user ...

I think you over estimate the computing prowess of the typical user. How many general computer users know words like "popups" or "window"? How many general computer users know that WindowsTM is not just a marketing term but actually applies to something technical. I think I shone in my first year of work some years ago just knowing the correct terms and letting Altavista give me the answer.

 

[Mercutio]

I come into contact with people through my trainer job who think they're technical geniuses for being able to plug everything in the back of their PC.

Trust me: They know the word "Popup". And "Spam". And complain loudly about both.

We keep burned CDs with AVG, spamihiliator and Panicware's Popup Stopper around. We give them out like candy.

My response to this is that people shouldn't use broken software - like IE or Outlook Express - but sadly I was overruled on that one.

 

[blakerwry]

i usually recomend AVG, ad-aware, and the google toolbar (as a popup stopper) where I work.

I find it incredibly hard to get most people to try moz/firebird/thunderbird... you'd think I asked them to trade children with the family down the street.

 

[timwhit]

i usually recomend AVG, ad-aware, and the google toolbar (as a popup stopper) where I work.

I find it incredibly hard to get most people to try moz/firebird/thunderbird... you'd think I asked them to trade children with the family down the street.

People don't like to have to learn how a new application works. New software scares people. They don't understand even the simplest applications if they haven't used them before. Since it looks different than IE then they immediately don't know how to use it. I find even a color change can prevent people from using a computer.

I used to use an all black theme on my computer. Where everything was black and the writing was in white. My dad couldn't even use my computer when it was like this.

 

[blakerwry]

yeah, some people are techno phobes.

 

[CityK]

Pop-Up Go the Weasels

I read yesterday that MS is finally going to plug the messenger service by default in the forthcoming XP SP2. It boggles my mind that they have let this slide so long.

I also read an article recently (from where I can no longer recall) about the growing interest in legal circles to reign in the software companies i.e. make them accountable for damages. Interesting read.

 

[Mercutio]

Well, it's not really a hole. The messenger service should be on and enabled by default so admins can send out alerts (Server123 is going down in 5 minutes. Users on the second floor may not be able to log in during this time.)

A better idea might be to require some authentication before they are displayed or sent (e.g. part of the domain logon access token), rather than disabled.

 

[blakerwry]

agreed. This is a program that ahs been running on NT computers for atleast 8 years now for good reason.

It has only recently been a pain because of the major switch from 9x to NT based OS on the desktop. 9x can recieve these messages just the same as NT can if the winpopup service is running.

I agree that authentication is a good idea.

 

[CityK]

In a corporate environment authentication is a great idea. But on XP home edition?? No - It should be disabled by default.

To me, MS's response to this exploit falls nothing short of lackadaisical.

 

[Mercutio]

XP Home edition should not exist. You guys have no idea how much simple file sharing messes me up.

What I'd love to try some day is to get a user-group of people on the same home-type broadband connection and take a stab at centralizing administration for them. In the right community that service might well be worth $10a month/household. You push in AV software, push software updates and maybe run an application server for Office-type programs and other things that home users might like but don't need that often.

 

[blakerwry]

I agree, XP home is a pain in the butt and, in my experience, is simply flakey for things that have worked fine since winNT 4.0. (like simple file sharing and file sharing in general)

To be honest, I'm surprised I havent had a problem sharing a printer connected to an XP home machine.