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Netscape Pays $100,000 To Settle Privacy Issue
crazyhorse44 writes ""The New York Attorney General's office said on Friday Netscape would pay $100,000 as part of a settlement of complaints about a feature used by the unit of America Online to track what users downloaded online. Netscape, once the browser pioneer that has fallen second to Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer in recent years, would also delete all URLs and related data it has obtained through its SmartDownload browser software and undergo privacy audits, the Attorney General's office said. The settlement comes after a two-year probe, begun in 2002, into Netscape's collection and retention of information that identified files downloaded by users, which contradicted its statement to consumers that none of the information was saved." Story at Wired."
As an old Netscape fan, I can only say: "Disappointed!!" Since they are one of MS:s most prominent historical "enemies", I really thought they could be trusted.
Why do they do this??
What's the point of saving this kind of information? Can anyone actually come up with a good reason for saving this info. I mean, really, who cares what files people download (except RIAA and MPAA that is).
I fail to see what use AOL/Netscape will have of this info.
In regards to the low amount of money, it was probably because they were only saving filenames. It may be personal info, but IMHO still not too bad. I mean, if they'd tell me they were collecting this, I probably wouldn't care, even if I was using Netscape.
If Microsoft can't find a legal reason, they find a software component to stick it to you! Just because they also stopped developing IE for Windows, doesn't mean it wasn't a direct blow to Apple and direct "yeah ...well up yours, we just won't call it IE anymore and continue to integrate it" to the justice department/netscape case. They also have apparently slid in more and more DRM into WMA and made more and more deals to use the crappy video codec from Windows Media Player by being able to threten Real.
Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
Mozilla lends $100,000,000 to AOL to keep Netscape alive. Despite trying to get back in the news with a dead products after the IE steamroll, and competition from Opera and AOL-sponsored Mozilla, Netscape is failing miserably.
Such 'settlements' are illusory and just PR stunts.
Wired News? Or Wierd news?
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
So now I use Internet Explorer, which ironically is more stable and respecting of privacy, not to mention that it seems to work with many more web sites.
Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.
-- Dr. Spock, stardate 2822-3.
Of course some information on the web will tell you there's nothing wrong with it and that it's harmless. But so will anyone else who may benefit from it being on your's, mine, and everyone else's system.
t m
If I find ANYTHING that can introduce ANY doubt (which is VERY EASY) then it's gone.
I'll reinstall the whole damned thing if I have to just to get rid of it.
To be clear. Deleting the key without replacing the file makes IE for fucking NUTS!!!
Just running iexplore from the run dialog generates problems and your desktop becomes unstable. Someone on the web claimed ie 5.5 sp2 doesn't have it. Bullshit! I installed ie 5.5 sp2 first because the ie which comes with win98se (ie 5.5 I believe) has it. Ad-aware found it.
I seached the web and found the replacement file I mentioned to you. IE still had trouble. So I upgraded to 6.0 sp1 and Alexa came back.
Ie 6.0 sp1 was no more stable than ie 5.5 or ie 5.5sp2 was. I tried to go back to ie 5.5sp2 by telling ie 6.0 to remove it self.
Oh sorry. Can't do that. I'm going to die now.
A better search than what I gave for google is "+Alexa +spyware +ie +explorer"
First link at the top should be the one I came across. Here is the url.
http://members.blue.net.au/felgall/brsie9.h
First off any company who employs deceptive practices to gather information (no matter how useless) should have to pay for it 100k sounds like a good start.
That said I would like to address one of your other points:
How's every single detail of my life going to help them make a better game? Does my street, house number and phone number really help their design process?
Actually it does. One of the most important aspects of design is knowing who your designing for, and geographic influences are often significant. The company in question might want your data for some kind of ugly database but that's beside my point as well.
One of the scariest moments in business is after you have a successful product and some surplus cash, and want to know what to do with it. Two things come to mind, advertise and improve your product. For both of them it is critical to know your target audience. If you're selling new hip looking mp3 players and your registration cards come back and you find that their being bought up by 9-13 year old girls living in hawaii, then advertise on Sabrina, offer neon-colors, consider a water-resistant unit. If they're being purchased by 25-35 year old men living in Seattle, Chicago and Philly, then advertise on Frasier, offer leather and wood-like finishes, and consider a Palm-Direct transfer feature. Making these decisions properly will often make or break your company, and any information that can help has value.
In the OpenSource community the need to have something drives us to create it. We are therefore very often part of our target audience, and if not, we receive bug mail from them that makes it very clear exactly what they are doing with it.
Consumer Product development and marketing models are very different from ours, but they exist because they work. So have a Coke(r) and a smile.
The coolest form of this data gathering I found was on some little electronic tool (power screwdriver I think). They offered a one year warranty by default and an extra year if you filled out their silly little card, with the added bonus that doing so meant you could misplace the receipt and still get it repaired free of charge for two years.