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Netscape Pays $100,000 To Settle Privacy Issue

Posted by Hemos on from the putting-the-issue-out-to-pasture dept.

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."

29 of 99 comments (clear)

  1. Hold on by Ian+Harris · · Score: 5, Funny

    "The settlement comes after a two-year probe, begun in 2002"

    1. Re:Hold on by paulcammish · · Score: 3, Funny
      "The settlement comes after a two-year probe, begun in 2002"

      Slashdot
      News for Nerds, Stuff that will matter.

  2. Only $100,000? by maliabu · · Score: 3, Insightful

    this must be the lowest settlement in recent history? is this already the end of the 2nd dotcom boom?

    1. Re:Only $100,000? by muffen · · Score: 4, Interesting

      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.

    2. Re:Only $100,000? by stephenbooth · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Why do they do this?? What's the point of saving this kind of information?

      Marketing. Simply marketing. If you analyze the data you get and find that people who tend to download items of type A (say, Pr0n) also download items of type B (say, MP3s of Britney Spears) you can sell that information to the mainstream pr0n merchants for loads of money so they know they should get Britney to do a centre spread. To rehash an old joke:

      1. Collect information.
      2. Do statistical analysis and correlations.
      3. $$$$

      Stephen

      --
      "Don't write down to your readers, the only people less intelligent than you can't read" - Sign on Newspaper Office Wall
    3. Re:Only $100,000? by muffen · · Score: 2, Funny

      1. Collect information. 2. Do statistical analysis and correlations. 3. $$$$

      You mean to say the underpant gnomes actually figured out step 2 ;)

  3. Booh Netscape by Pocharngo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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.

    1. Re:Booh Netscape by x0n · · Score: 3, Insightful


      The sad thing is, you're probably 100% serious when you say that. It must really sting to discover that microsoft are not at the root of all bad business practices.
      </troll>

      --

      PGP KeyId: 0x08D63965
    2. Re:Booh Netscape by Pocharngo · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well, I am. But that's not what stings. What stings is that Netscape was in the position (sought after or not) to look like it was everything MS wasn't (for example, being able to produce a good browser... ;-) ), and that's apparently changed. Well, I shouldn't be surprised, things do change. No sane person would argue today that Netscape is a better browser than IE. 5 years ago, however, things were very different.

  4. Netscape == sad story by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Here was the first Linux www browser worth that name, that wasn't perfect but it was working, that became more and more bloated and unstable, while at the same time Microsoft decided to give away IE for free, effectively killing off Netscape. Then Netscape sold out to AOL like a cheap whore and the browser has now become a giant marketing turd.

    The happy end of the story ? Netscape released the source code of the browser, enabling the Mozilla project to begin. Thanks guys !

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    1. Re:Netscape == sad story by mark_lybarger · · Score: 3, Informative

      um, sorry, you've got things a little mis-interpreted i believe.

      first, ns was about the only browser for linux for quite some time. even after AOL bought ns. MS never gave away IE for linux, they only released an outdated solaris version. also, MS giving away IE didn't directly kill off netscape. it was the OS bundling that killed off netscape. users didn't have to download a 10+ MB browser to install, it was already there on the pc. ISPs began to get really competitive. IIRC, it was win95 V. 2 that included IE 4.0 and that killed off netscape. prior to that netscape was still a very active browser. it was also around that time that aol bought netscape.

      after aol bought netscape, they released the source code and started the mozilla project. could mozilla (or the current netscape) have gotten to where they are today much faster? sure, but they decided a rewrite was in order. so the customers or users had to wait a little while IE was nearly the only windows browser available, and NS 4.7 was the only linux broswer available (opera , konqueror, some gnome browser and others sprung up during that time). around moz 9.0 or so, people started to really use mozilla full time. it was a free quality standards compliant browser. none of the others that sprung up during that time compare to it. ie doesn't compare to it. it's still lacking some features (really easy plugin install) but those will come.

  5. Heh heh heh by arvindn · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Netscape, once the browser pioneer that has fallen second to Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer in recent years

    Read obliterated, wiped out of existence.

    Best euphemism I've seen in a while :)

    (Disclaimer: I use nothing but mozilla)

  6. so when do i get my cash ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful


    so who is going to benefit from this pathetic 100k ? the CEO earns that a month

    more signs that American buisness is more corrupt than anyone could believe

  7. what does AOL-TW-(Netscape) need $ for? by I+Want+GNU! · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They already have acquired the 'privilege' to license IE for 'free' from Microsoft. Seriously, I wonder how long it will be until AOL kills off the division completely. I doubt they will actively invest in it anymore anyway, lest they harm their warm relationship with Microsoft. It will die the slow death of MacIE.

  8. The reason for the low amount by arvindn · · Score: 2, Funny

    The settlement was reached based on a fine of $10000 for every user of the netscape software.

  9. Re:sooooooo 2003 :) by I+Want+GNU! · · Score: 4, Funny
    The settlement comes after a two-year probe, begun in 2002
    I didn't know we already were in 2004.
    Didn't you hear? AOL is teaming up with the RIAA to fight piracy. Those several months of heavy litigation were equivalent to two years of lighter litigation.
  10. In 2004 news... by jkrise · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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....
  11. Great - now for Passport and other violations... by jkrise · · Score: 3, Insightful

    First off, to whom is the settlement money being paid? Should it not be the dumb smart-downloaders who shuld be getting compensated?

    Secondly, this opens up a thought - how about Passport (in)Security violations, Smart Update to IE, Smart Tags, etc. .Next to Rich, Smart is the most commonly used MS propoganda word. Seeing there are many dumb users of SMART features, who's gonna settle their privacy issues?

    Just wondering - is Netscape tring to say it's still alive?

    --
    If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
  12. Who gets the $100,000? by Zog+The+Undeniable · · Score: 4, Funny

    Given the number of Netscape users these days, that should be about $25,000 each :-)

    --
    When I am king, you will be first against the wall.
  13. victory for open source! by larry+bagina · · Score: 3, Insightful
    yet another reason to use the open-source mozilla (or konquorer, or galeon, etc) browser vs the proprietary netscape browser.

    Wh knows what other stuff AOL/TW might be doing when nobody is looking...

    --
    Do you even lift?

    These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

  14. Not as bad as it's made out to be.... by TrancePhreak · · Score: 3, Informative
    "The version of software that was reviewed has not been distributed since the fall of 2000 to consumers, and did not adversely impact users," an AOL spokesman said in a statement about the Netscape settlement.

    I wonder if anyone else RTFA... My guess is not many people who care about it are still using this version of the browser anyway.
    --

    -]Phreak Out[-
  15. Well, that's half of the problem. by Sheetrock · · Score: 2, Interesting
    It doesn't sound like they're going to do anything about searches in the location bar being sent to Netscape before being passed on to Google. Mozilla doesn't do this, but I noticed this behavior in Netscape 6 when I was trying to load it as a more stable alternative. Apparently others have noticed this, but nothing's been made of it.

    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.




  16. Re:So? by Moraelin · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Personally I'm just disappointed in it all. The electronics age seems to have just created wonderful new opportunities for the dishonest and the corrupt.

    What are they going to do with that data about the users? What _can_ they do with that data? Probably nothing useful. Ever.

    And I don't mean only Netscape. I mean all the retards who just have to collect a whole database of every single CD you listened to, every single piece of shareware installed on your computer, every web site you've been to, etc.

    _Including_ sites where you have to hand over all the data imaginable (including company name and address, shoe size and name of your pet), just to be allowed to download a patch for a program you've bought.

    E.g., Maxis's registration comes to mind. 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? Or what?

    What it does do, though, is impress retarded investors and advertisers. (And local PHBs.) It gives an impression of power and competence. It gives the false impression that with all that data you could do something useful (e.g., marketing), and actually turn it into money.

    So there you go. It's the golden age of dishonesty on both fronts. Dishonesty to the users, _and_ to the investors/advertisers/etc.

    --
    A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
  17. Privacy? by tomstdenis · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Since when is what files you download private? I mean is it, or is it not legal for me to post the access_log for my website publicly?

    Tom

    --
    Someday, I'll have a real sig.
    1. Re:Privacy? by krumms · · Score: 2, Informative

      Also, consider that Netscape is a third party in this instance. There's a difference between passive logging by a HTTP server and blatant spying by a third party such as Netscape.

  18. The Netscape Bug Bounty. by x0n · · Score: 4, Informative

    Ouch! Georgi Guninski must be feeling a little hard done by; he resolved a number of privacy problems for Netscape, but probably only got $1000 a pop.

    --

    PGP KeyId: 0x08D63965
  19. Re: IE == more privacy ?! by Coniptor · · Score: 2, Interesting

    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.
    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.ht m

  20. IE gets a free ride? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful
    THe biggest spyware of all time, IE, gets a free ride?


    The NY AG should visit http://www.fuckmicrosoft.com and learn about how MS has been the master of snoop.

  21. Dishonesty aside, the problems are real. by OwnerOfWhinyCat · · Score: 2, Interesting

    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.