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What Software Do Cable Installers Place on Your PC?

Posted by Cliff on from the fishy-practices dept.

{e}N0S asks: "The cable guy came over to install a cable modem at my Dad's house. As I watched him do his stuff I noticed he was installing something called Broadjump Client Foundation. I know you don't need software for a cable modem to work so I asked if it was necessary. He said he had to do his list of things, and we had to sign that he did his list of things, otherwise he couldn't leave it with us to use. Since I can always remove the software, I agreed, but I noticed while he was flipping through the install, he was clicking 'agree' on every EULA that came up. Doing a search on Google for 'Broadjump Client Foundation' comes up with some pretty scary stuff as far as what it does, like: 'Builds a database of subscriber demographics and buying behaviors to help evolve and refine marketing efforts.' Now, how does this affect us? Neither myself or anyone in my family agreed to the software; the cable guy did. And is there anyway to get cable companies to stop doing this as I can imagine since the cable company is a monopoly in this town, that the percentage of people who still have this software on their computers is pretty high."

2 of 944 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Have a honeypot by jstepka · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    ha ha...

    This is why Linux isn't ready for the desktop.

    Linux is only free if your time isn't worth anything to learn it.

    --
    Justen Stepka
  2. It was like... by The+Bungi · · Score: 1, Flamebait
    The guy came in, connected the modem, called in the serial number and waited for it to "find" itself in the network and make sure the diagnostics were OK.

    Then he suggested installation of his crapware, so I politely declined and asked if they used DHCP. "Yes" he said. Thankyouverymuch, have a nice day. He did give me a spare CAT5 cable, which was kinda nice of him.

    After he left I plugged in my router, configured it and obtained the IP address and DNS servers, and then connected the other boxes to the router. Voila.

    I don't believe the company can *force* you to install anything. I think they mostly have their own software so they can help non-technical users solve problems and lower their support costs (I remember browsing the old @Home CD and seeing a crapload of diagnostic utilities). But if you're clueless about how to set up your OS of choice to work with the thing then you can hardly complain, eh?