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Gator Forces Site To Remove 'Spyware' Label
lurker412 writes "CNet News is reporting that Gator has forced PC Pitstop to remove Web pages that call Gator's software 'spyware.' The correct term, according to Gator, is 'adware.' The article states: 'If we find anyone publicly calling us spyware, we correct it and take action if necessary,' said Scott Eagle, Gator's senior vice president of marketing. So be careful what you say in your comments..."
I, setzman, say that Gator is spyware. btw, First Post!!
C:\>
I publicly declare Gator Software IS SpyWare. Now... Come get me!
gator = spyware.
Deal with it.
Whoever stated that signature sizes should be limited to one hundred and twenty characters can just go ahead and kiss my
Of course, given that Gator would take action against Slashdot, the risk is rather minimal and anyway "other people's problem."
Anyway, I thought Gator's primary purpose was pushing ads?
Because I say so.
And just because I say it's funny doesn't make it a troll either.
Is this truly the only Earth I can live on?
like there is really a big diffrence.
+-+-+-The folowing statement is true. The previous statement is false.-+-+-+
What if we call it snoopware? shitware? How about "fucks-up-your-computer-and- makes-it-run-slower-ware"?
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
It's spyware. It's not particularly sneaky spyware, but spyware nonetheless.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
I Believe in good faith that gator is the largest peice of spyware that has ever weazled its way on to my computer.
Gat0r is spyware. Ha ha! Can't get me! Fooled you! Neener neener neener! ... *sigh* it's so lonely in my parent's basement. *sniff*
slashdot: where everyone yells sarcastic metaphors to themselves to understand the issue
Gator's tactics border on criminal. I kept getting popups asking to install Gator's software and I continually say no. If someone keeps calling me on the phone, I can have my telco block the number. But there is no such service from ISP's at this time.
Karma Whoring for Fun and Profit.
I am not full of shit... I am a biological waste orator.
Does it spy on me? Yes. Is it software? Yes. Therefore, Gator = Spyware.
QED.
...I was going to announce the obvious, but people beat me to it, so instead I'm going to say that it starts with "spy" and ends in "ware" and it's not "spy with underwear", although it does rhyme with that.
I guess we should call it "Not Spyware"
I was thinking about "gatorware" but I don't want to give out free advertising to Gator and it is probably a trademark infringement.
********* sig: If you don't like the law, get filthy stinking rich, and buy a better one.
Gator claims that their software isn't spyware because people are told about what they are installing. Yes, they are told that they are installing Gator but that's it. I'm pretty sure that even my grandmother would click NO to installing a "persistent, targeted advertising and consumer tracking system" onto her computer.
So while technically they are correct they should also realise that they are sleazebags who sleep with SCO. There. That should piss them off.
Oh, and P.S.: Gator is Spyware. Ha!
Yeah..Yeah,.. the US has free speech. ROFL.
Does anyone else noticeany correlation between patriotism and blindness?
Greg
Gator is Spyware
adware is spyware
Gator = spyware
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." -Albert Einstein
Karma? There's a serial modder out there.
Just one example of freedom of speech being eroded be corpertions with overpaid lawers.
You win, we would from hereforth stop calling you guys Spyware, instead we have opted to call you by a multitude of other names: Hitlerware, Saddamware, Rapeware, Thiefware and last but not lest, Fuckware.
but eventually, the phrase "cute monkey"will be understood by all to mean "rabid 900 pound ball crushing gorilla". It dosent really matter in the long run.
All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
If they try to censor any private person you will end up being the proud owner of this POS
Help fight continental drift.
I prefer to call Gator "something that can't install itself on my system."
*hugs Galeon*
Someday, you're going to die. Get over it.
Spyware...adware...what's the difference? If it's intrusive and annoying, call it whatever you want but keep it off my system. Any company that downloads crap to my PC without my permission and then uses said access to make money off my bandwidth / attention span sucks plain and simple, regardless of how they spin it.
Good thing I don't use Windows, I guess.
Well I'll gladly call Gator "Bitchware." As in, they're bitches for installing stuff on my computer without my permission (or installed, rather, back when I used Windows). So go ahead, sue me. I call it freedom of speech. If I call MS a monopoly, can they get mad at me? What about if I say they're a Nazi Fascist Organization? Still no? Is it true or accurate? No... As long as the other site wasn't making money off of "misrepresenting" Gator I don't see the issue or any legal qualm. Someone please correct or clarify this for me if I'm wrong, though.
Gator is spyware.
Gator es spyware.
Gator est spyware.
Gator ist spyware.
Gator e spyware.
Alright, that's not that many. Post a few more if you want...
I think the term "Spyware" and its associated definition fit Gator corporation just nicely. I would counter sue them for false advertising, deceptive advertising, and 15 other crimes which they are guilty of but I forgot to mention in this post.
-brian
Gator=spyware and Gator=spyware also Gator=total spyware but too Gator=total spywareGator=spyware to the max and then there is Gator=spyware to the max plus the fact that Gator=spyware to the uber max.
I think, therefore I thought.
If you put a pig in an evening gown and take it out for the evening, it's still a pig.
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
Gator is spyware. It messes up your computer.
Spyware, Spyware , Spyware, Spyware , Spyware!
vomitware
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Nuff Said
we call it SCOware instead? (Or is that more insulting?)
-Coward.
So what does this make BonziBuddy? Friendware? Cuddleware?
Should be called evilware.
-Seriv
If we find anyone publicly calling us spyware, we correct it and take action if necessary
Does this sound like Darl or Hilary or Mitch to anyone? I mean, this smacks of RIAA-esque legal abuse to me.
"No beer until you finish your tequila!" -Leela's Dad
What? You mean Gator is ADWARE? Oh that explains why it installs without asking! Silly me thought it was Spyware...
Charles Manson has asked that public stop refering to the acts of his folloers as a "Murder Spree". The correct term is "existence adjustment initiative"...
My days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle...
Have they come out with a Linux version of Gator? I am sure the Linux community feels left out. This might be just the thing that would cause me to fdisk my computer and reinstall windoze.
LEPP
At work we have a constant battle against Gator on user PCs as it uses deceptive messages and popups on websites to convince users to install. I have found little software that does more to make a user's PC using experience unenjoyable than Gator. Bravo, you've gone above and beyond the call of duty; most spyware simply installs itself and tracks users movements, your software pretends to provide useful functionality on top of being deceptive and displaying your customers' ads instead of the ones that rightfully belong on the site. And on top of all this it makes an already nearly unbearably (wow, alot of -ys) unstable OS (Windows) even more unusable.
Thanks alot, Gator! You've made me look like a PC Repair genius as simply running Ad-Aware on most systems to remove the stinking heap of maggot infested goat dung your software is from a user's PC thereby speeding it up and making it crash less often!
Maxim: People cannot follow directions.
Increases in truth directly with the length of time spent explaining them
got my flashlight, got my soda, got my spyware!
Come and get me along with the thousands of others!
Just wanted to add my support to the fact that Gator = spyware.
...it's not like they have a good public relation to care for. What do they have to lose?
The product formerly known as Spyware.
Karma Whoring for Fun and Profit.
spyware or not, i'd be rather happy if it didn't INFILTRATE my computer... it's really something that doesn't need resident in my box.
nt
from the gator.com page
" and get the Gator eWallet with no GAIN advertising for $30."
hahahaha what kind of person whoul PAY gator to store their financial info?
thats really scary and funny at the same time
The war with islam is a war on the beast
The war on terror is a war for peace
GATOR IS SPYWARE
GATOR IS SPYWARE
comments care of Michael Roy of Winnipeg
-Michael Roy Some people are like Slinkies. Not really useful, but you can't help smiling when you see one tumble down
SPYWARE, you dirty FAT BASTARDS! Shove it up yours, Gator, because you suck. If you really wanted to notify people about your software, you'd display a huge friggin splash screen informing people that Gator was installed, instead of surreptitiously displaying ads and the users having no clue where they came from.
In soviet russia, you spy on gator!
webpage
Also, I hope Gator reads this, so they know how much we hate them. But maybe I should thank them for generating extra business for me to remove their program from clients' computers.
I love slashbots that've read Cryptonomicon and think they're hot shit by writing 'Q.E.D.' everywhere they can. ROCK
GATOR is Spyware, Crapware, and generally a piece of odoriferous shit.
GATOR is Spyware, Crapware, and generally a piece of odoriferous shit.
I'm not crazy,I'm actively irresponsible.
...this isn't necessarily a First Amendment issue. Would Gator be able to successfully sue a publication for libel for calling their product "spyware?" An answer to this I do not have, but a good question, it is.
Spekkio Master of War
Where the biggest legal guns prevail. Funny, I thought it was the corporations complaining about the chaos of the Internet??
Assholeware - companies that produce spyware and then insist that noone calls it as such.
FLR
I love the fact that Gator is SpyWare!
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." -Albert Einstein
Karma? There's a serial modder out there.
Gator is Spyware. Furthermore, the president of Gator's Scitt Eagle personally raped my daughter's friend and kicked my dog. And then he slowed my computer down by walking past it.
[ a directive occured while processing this error ]
'WankerWare'?
I thought the correct technical term was "scumware" -- guess I fell behind the times.
ancarett, historian and zombie gamer
Scumware
The worst kind of scumware
I sincerely hope that Scott Eagle is run over by a bus moving at high speed. I also hope someone blows up Gator's little SPYWARE headquarters.
more like slimeware...unethicalware...greedyware...snakeware but not spyware
What, will Porsche start suing to have "gas-guzzler" removed from any reference to the worse-than-a-hummer 8mpg Cayenne?
We shouldn't call it spyware. Instead, we'll call it malware. Right up there with viruses, worms, and trojan horses. Only difference is that gator isn't self-propagating. Hehe, gator messes up your computer more than most viruses.
If you had super powers, would you use them for good, or for awesome?
Here's what we do know...
While we don't know the identity of GAIN-Supported Software users, the GAIN AdServer and TGC collect and use the following kinds of anonymous information:
so you track who we are (list item 6, and 7 different list items of data about us, including what kind of computer we have, where we surf, what software we use to go there and configuration information on our computers.) YOU ARE SPYING ON US.
spy
n. pl. spies (spz)
for those who are illiteratei among us, please check the third definition.
Thus I declare that you (Gator) are manufactures and purveyors of spyware onto the masses.
Spyware, spyware, spyyyyyyyyyywaaaaare!
Wankers.
Well, I guess I better not say that it's spyware, because of course it's not spyware, now is it? And Mr. Eagle does not work for a sleazy, slimy company which does not sneak its software onto unsuspecting users.
Please help metamoderate.
be careful what i say?
gator sucks
gator takes over your computer
gator is the worst program ever
gator hiders your computer's proformance
gator is not only adware, but spyware... they have to spy on whta you're doing to deliver you the proper ads... they give that info to their advertisers, hence, spyware.
Runnin' On Empty
i have never once thought of gator as spyware....i have always just refered to it as a well marketed virus
"Be careful what you say in your comments."
OK, let me be very careful and exact.
This... program... is... spyware!!!
The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
Until there's some kind of legal definition of "spyware" versus "adware", I certainly would classify it as spyware. "Non-personally identifiable" my ass... if someone snuck into my house and found out all that information about me, I wouldn't call it "advertising". Stealing a company's non-personally identifiable trade secrets is spying. Stealing non-personally identifiable documents from a classified government facility is spying.
Still, given the persistent, near un-uninstallable nature of it, think "spyware" isn't a good term... "Malware" or "Evilware" is probably more appropriate.
-3Suns
~~~~
The Revolution will be Slashdotted
Oh yes, some highly original motherfuckers put in their two cents.
Anybody notice that Adware is very similar sounding to Adaware? Could they be trying to confuse people by making their name similar to the popular *anti* spyware software? BTW, Gator=Spyware (Gatorware...)
Gator is not Spyware! It is a feature of the whirled wide interweb! It speeds up your browsing experience and provides a customized interface with enhanced consumer opportunities!
And anybody who says different is hurling themself to their death on our impregnable law offices as we speak!
There is no such thing as spyware!
"Malware", people. Covers a lotta crap.
"A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
gator is assholeware as they are a bunch of assholes
And before -I- even opened the comments page, I predicted that DrEldarion would be making some comment that made him look like a pompous ass. So far it looks like I was right.
Wouldn't it be all right if the site said something like "This product is what we refer to as 'spyware'.. Spyware being.. (insert definition)"
At least then they could label it as they please without having to bow to corporate labeling.
What does that mean?
Write boring code, not shiny code!
If someone uses a term that happens to have appeared in a book they're read, then obviously they think they're hot shit for using the term.
QED.
Doesn't have anything to do with that book heh. It's a latin thing you know - which kinda predates that book.
I don't know what everyone is complaining about. According to there homepage you get FREE software (often valued at up to $30!!!). Here are the apps you get:
.0006566547866787 pico seconds late for meetings!
Weatherscope provides easy access to local temperature and extended weather forecasts. Taking a trip? Weatherscope gives you the current and future conditions!
Cool, no more endless searching of weather.com!
Precision Time - Make sure your computer clock always has the correct time. Synchronize your computer clock with one of the world's most precise timekeeping devices - the U.S. Atomic Clock.
Awesome! I hate being
Date Manager - Never miss another important date or reminder. Date Manager shows today's date in your system tray and allows you to quickly pull up a two-month calendar and set reminders.
WOW I can't believe this is free!!!!
Gator eWallet - The world's most popular digital wallet. The Gator eWallet automatically remembers login IDs/passwords and fills in online forms with just one click. No more lost passwords, and no more typing information such as address, email, credit card numbers, etc!
This is great, I'm sure your data is completely secure since this software was written by such an innovative company!
Tell Gator, instead of whining about it here Gator Contact Form I already sent them the url of the /. discussion..
Ha, ha. It's funny 'cause it's spyware.
oh f*ck off you intellectual property nazi. You must be a trademark attorney. "You can't say that term because someone else already said it." Yeah? Well your mother's ugly.
... anything, Gator included, that monitors a users habits or actions by any method and in any way is by definition spyware. Whether the person agrees to it or not is immaterial; the law cannot enforce a contract that is illegal.
How is agreeing to the Gator contract illegal? It's simple, at least insofar as Canadian law is concerned. You cannot agree to allow someone to monitor your activites by way of cookies due to the recent ammendments to the Canadian wiretap acts (there are several).
The case then becomes an arguement over whether Gator monitors cookies. As it's not open-source, we may never be sure, but as far as I am concerned, it does. On my network, Gator is something that is expressely disallowed.
Peter M. Dodge,
Chief Executive Officer,
LiquidFire Studios
Platinum Linux - www.
Gator is NOT spyware - to help the slashdot crowd fully understand this important point that Gator is NOT spyware I have created a helpful reminder by way of the Gator is NOT spyware URL which constantly reminds visitors to the Gator website via a reminder message that Gator is NOT spyware.
This is the Gator is NOT spyware URL...
Q.E.D. [Latin: quod erat demonstrandum] which was to be proved.
gator, gator, gator, gator, gator, gator, gator, gator, spyware, spyware, spyware, spyware, spyware, spyware, spyware, spyware, gator, gator, gator, gator, gator, gator, gator, gator, spyware, spyware, spyware, spyware, spyware, spyware, spyware, spyware, gator, gator, gator, gator, gator, gator, gator, gator, spyware, spyware, spyware, spyware, spyware, spyware, spyware, spyware.
And now to avoid the lameness filter:
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. --Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for e
Check out my opinion piece! Maybe i'll get sued.
Personally, I prefer the idiots who don't know how long 'Q.E.D.' has been in circulation.
... even if it definitely is spyware? Strange.
If it smells like shit, looks like shit, and tastes like shit then it's probably Gator, I mean shit.
theorems.. anyone ever proved a thorem? QED heh haha
The war with islam is a war on the beast
The war on terror is a war for peace
IMHFO. and since it's MY opinion, gator can fuck off if they have a problem with me calling it spyware. we still have our first amendment rights... hopefully for awhile to come.
So, according to Gator, the difference between spyware and adware is that, with adware, a user is aware.
So if a user knows what Gator does, then being told it's "spyware" should not give them any misinformation. They're not going to think, "Oh, my, I thought I knew that it was watching my actions, but I now see that I didn't!"
If a user runs PC Pitstop, either way, they'll be told that they have a program that watches their actions. If they wanted it to watch their actions (which would be the case if they were previously aware of it), then they'll leave it. If not, then they'll delete it-- in which case it really was spyware.
I think the real problem that Gator has is that people don't know what "adware" means (in this dictionary), but they know what "spyware" means, so Gator would rather keep people in the dark about what their program does.
The simple fact is, whatever you call their software, it still sucks! Especially since once you have it, it's extremely hard to get rid of it. If anything, I would call it a trojan myself.
.
Gator is SPYWARE
Gator is SPYWARE
Gator is SPYWARE
Hey Mr. Gator - tell your lawyers to come and get some!
My rights don't need management.
Spybot Search & Destroy
SpywareBlaster
Spyware info..
SpywareInfo
Dox Desk
Favorite description: Of course there's pop-up blocking..
Quack, quack.
Rather than focusing on what it does,
we should label it based on the legally
protected opinion that (a) the purveyors
are assholes, and (b) that it sucks ass.
QED is the abbreviation of the Latin expression "quod erat demonstrandum," which in English means "what has been proven" or "it is demonstrated."
It is typically used to signify the end of a mathematical (or other) proof. Unfortunately, I have never read Cryptonomicron (sp?), so I can't understand why the above poster would have a problem with another person using it. Maybe he thinks that people otherwise wouldn't have known the term unless they read it in the book?
Personally, one of my professors used it at the end of a proof in lecture one day and another kid asked what it meant. *shrug*
Spy...Ad
Call it spad.
It's very similar to spam
Much like spam, spad is bad.
134340: I am not a number. I am a free planet!
Gator is using classic bullying tactics: Keep bullying so people think you can win a fight, and they'll avoid standing up to you.
If the definition of "spyware" is defined by the courts through analysis of popular usage, then it seems that all of the sites out there calling Gator "spyware" would be extending definition of the term to include Gator, even though Gator is not according to their own definition, "spyware".
If Enron calls itself an honest company, and thousands of news articles and blogs declare it a dishonest company, who is right? Is Enron an honest company merely because it says it is?
Is Gator an honest Internet citizen because it declares itself to be, as it stands in plain view red-handed?
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
Feedback: Tell us how we're doing or give us an idea on how to make it better.
Partners: You'd like to propose a business relationship or learn more about our business.
Affiliate Program: You have a question about the affiliate program. To learn more click here.
And my personal favorite...
Press: You'd like to schedule an interview with The Gator Corporation executives.
Slashdot Editors? Hello?
It means: Quite Easily Done, or Q.E.D.
And it appeared in places like Hitchhicker's Guide To The Galaxy way before it appeared in Cryptonomicon.
(ie: HHGG's proof of the non-existance of God: God said, "I refuse to prove I exist, for proof denies faith, and without faith, I'm nothing." "Ah," said man, "the Babel fish is a dead give-away, and proves you exist, so by your words, you don't. Q.E.D." "Oh, I haven't thought of that," said God, and vanishes in a poof of logic.) (or something to that effect).
"If anything can go wrong, it will." - Murphy
Hey, doesn't the gator on their home page look like it's spying or lying in wait or something. Try to explain the mascot away if you say it is not spyware.
Why don't we just call it "invasive-ware"? :P
Trees everywhere, and not a forest in sight.
Heck, any name is just as bad.
I'd take just as much offence to having my software called adware or spyware.
And I know just as well to avoid both terms.
Good thing Ad-aware removes both Spyware and Adware
redune.com: The World 3.2 Megapixels at a time
In order to punish Gator(=spyware) for being foolish and attempting to control what people refer to them (Gator=spyware) as, hence forth all possible attempts must be made refer to Gator as spyware. We shall call this a "cliche" and make many Photoshop entries with "Gator=Spyware" text in them! LONG LIVE THE CLICHE! LONG LIVE THE COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS OF SLASHDOT.
Posthuman since 2001.
How about SHITWARE??
What ya gonna do about that, boys??
Your SHITWARE *IS* SPYWARE..
Come get me bitch...
What do we do when someone tries to grab the freedom of speech from us?
Everyone who has a website will put up exactly the thing that they dont want us putting out.
It will be even better if we gathered a lot of information after installing gator on a junk PC
and backup the logic as to why it is spyware, point by point. Run a TCP sniffer and see
what kind of data it collects. Then make a template webpage that everyone can put on their
website as a protest.
When hundreds of thousands of these pages pop up all over internet, Gator might
come to understand that it is very hard to shut the mouths of citizens of this country,
and they just have to let people say what they want.
I will volunteer to do the "review" of Gator, the next time I get a chance to boot into windows.
Anyone else game ?
BTW: I am wondering what trouble slashdot will get into because of all the posts
saying "Gator is Spyware: YES YES YES" !!!
Haha
DO NOT PANIC
If the pages states that it does track users browsing habits to determine what ads to run, then by all rights PC pitstop can call it what it really is. Gator can take them to court, but free speech will proably be honored. Hey, it might be a case the eff might actually win...
"The problem with socialism is eventually you run out of other people's money" - Thatcher.
Check
2:Software communicates data about user to another location without users expressed, implied, or knowledgable permission?
Check
3:Software incorporates silent update feature without users expressed, implied, or knowledgable permission?
Check
4:Software uses said information garnering to it's creator fiscal benefit with or without ad delivery without useres expressed, implied, or knowledgable permission?
Check
Gator = spyware, adware, and possibly mal-ware
BTW... it is my right to express my belief as to what i think you are... so FUCK YOU gator for attempting to violate my right to call your software the crap that it is. Please take a look at the first ammendment you fuckers.
--Idiots, Every single one of YOU, A flaming mass of conglomerated morons, hey wait a second, isnt that how RAID works?
A friendlier non-Latin translation is "quite elegantly done." :-)
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
Intrusive-Ass-Bullshit Ware?
Anyone?
This is my sig.
At least Gator still releases software ;)
United States of America, good ol' backers of world peace.
It means, Quite Easily Done, or Q.E.D.
Oh, please ...
Haven't you read the old Ninja Turtles novelizations (not the original graphic novels, but some cheesy books someone wrote)? As Donatello said, it obviously means "Quite Excellently Done."
*grabs a book and runs giggling from the Latin majors and logic students*
cum-guzzling-gutter-slut-feces-monkey-ware? If not, I want credit as new title author.
I guess I'll have to tell Porkette things aren't going to work out...
Outdoor digital photography, mostly in New Engl
... SPYWARE". There. Are we all legally OK now? Cool.
"Consensus" in science is _always_ a political construct.
Enterprise Level Shite Ware
http://jesus.everdense.com/
I am entitled to my opinion and no one will intimidate me into silence. I will represent myself though I doubt I will have to.
I think I stand in good company when I assert my right to express my opinion. I also believe that Gator's legal abuse is immoral and in the rapidly changing level of enlightenment the average person on the street will show ill favor to their "business" dealings as it shows ill favor to all those restricting our freedoms through intimidation.
What happened to free speech? Obviously, there are limits (kiddie porn, yelling "Fire!," slander, copyright infringement), but in general, we are supposed to be able to speak out against things we don't like. It used to be the government you couldn't badmouth, though for the most part, we're over that. Now, however, it's companies.
I'm amazed Slashdot hasn't had more coverage of Caterpillar (as in tractors) suing Disney, trying to get an injunction against Disney releasing Tarzan 2, which portrayed a Caterpillar tractor in an environmentally unfriendly way. This was laughed out of court yesterday, but the point stands - in this great country of ours, you only have free speech until you piss off someone who employs lawyers.
Litigious bastards
Everyone busts their nuts over it but it is jackshit worthless.
Tim
Omnia vestra castrorum habetur nobis.
As a consultant that fixes a lot of family PCs with "spyware" on it, I prefer to call Gator & co. "Billable Hours-Ware"
_______
2B1ASK1
I hate all spyware and that includes Gator!!!!!
Ouch, someone's bitter that I mocked their originality. I'm sooooooooo sorry.
I demand you stop calling the Patriot Act UNPatriotic!!! And if you don't my lawyer will!!!
Not only is Gator spyware, but look at the guys that run the show.
It appears they have a rule "either wear glasses, or grow a moustache".
I also note that their site doesn't have a Gator pop-up window.
http://jesus.everdense.com/
If Gator wasn't spyware, it would have actually been deleted when I uninstalled it. I found out later that it was auto-updating itself while I had my handy packet sniffer turned on.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
(rant)
Jesus F. Christ on a stick, don't they teach you kids Geometry these days? Don't you take Logic? Have you never written a proof? That education you have is an intellectual booger wiped on your brain from the finger of the state.
(/rant)
Parasitic and hard to get rid of
shocking..
lets call it..
A*Sware....
Don't Tread on OpenSource
dude, you totally had it coming.
is 'n fokken kaffir
So Gator isn't spyware it's adware.
And North Korea isn't communist, it's the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. So they say.
So names mean nothing then.
I tried every decent and legal way I could think of to resolve the issue w/the business before I rented the chicken suit
Is cock-sucking-redneck-asshat-uncircumsized-rectal-a nal-fissure-monkey-sex-macarena-schmucks too long of a word?
I like big butts and I cannot lie.
In other news, does anyone know of a web-based manager for /etc/aliases where I can give users accounts, and allow them to create their own entries in /etc/aliases, etc. Something like ulimit.com/en?? Ta.
I find your ideas intriguing and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
There needs to be something that makes hiding ethically unsound little traps in long EULAs as illegal as making people sign documents when they've been drugged or coerced to do so.
"If we find anyone publicly calling us spyware, we correct it and take action if necessary," said Scott Eagle, Gator's senior vice president of marketing.
Please do take action. Specifically the action of changing Gator so that it is no longer spyware. Or at least the action of halting its distribution.
More like "Assware"
It's not just spyware. The fucker installs automatically, and secretly. It is a trojan. It should be illegal. Why is it they arrest virus writers, but if you sell it for profit, it's ok?
because I have been enjoined by this Holy Office to abandon the false opinion which maintains that the Sun is the centre
and tell me what you would call it. The term fits perfectly.
On the other hand I've made alot of money cleaning that kind of crap out of peoples systems and makes M$ products run like shit.
Gator is NOT winning. 23,000 sites with the words gator and spyware. They might as well try to halt peer to peer music trading. By calling themselves, "adware" they will forever malign the name "adware". Gator is scum and anyone who has anything to do with them shall be judged as scum.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
I'll call shit software whatever I want. Gator is never good. If IE had an option to NEVER TRUST DISTRIBUTOR then Gator would be on that list.
-Tim Louden
*cough* SCIENTOLOGY *cough*
Gator is spyware, spyware,
Spyware, spyware, spyware.
But you can't say gator is spyware
and get away with it,
Except on Slashdot!
there are 3 kinds of people:
* those who can count
* those who can't
Viruses and should be treated as such
Isn't subverting governments an activity that spies engage in. In that case, gator is definately spyware, because it subverts my computer from doing what it should do. All the same it is some form of Malware.
isnt there some law that says I can say whatever I want? Oh yeah but we live in the US, I was mistakin.
And the difference between adware and spyware would be....?
Someone please enlighten me, because as far as I can tell they both suck.
Psychic Burrito: Look, I don't think it should be a sin, just for saying "Spyware."
Everyone gasps
Jewish Official: You're only making it worse for yourself!
Psychic Burrito: Making it worse? How can it be worse?!?! Spyware! Spyware! Spyware!
Jewish Official: I'm warning you! If you say "Spyware" one more time... (gets hit with rock) RIGHT! Who did that? Come on, who did it?
Stoners: She did! She did! (suddenly speaking as men) He! He did! He!
Jewish Official: Was it you?
Stoner: Yes.
Jewish Official: Right...
Stoner: Well you did say "Spyware."
Crowd throws rocks at the stoner
Jewish Official: STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT RIGHT NOW! STOP IT! Alright..., no one is to stone _anyone_ until I blow _this_ whistle. Even... and I want to make this absolutely clear... even if they do say... "Spyware."
Crowd stones the Jewish Official to death.
Gator is spyware.
Come and get me.
-bZj
.sig
Try Here
Don't worry marketing idiots, it doesn't matter what you call it. You're still assholes.
Sums it up IMHO.
There's not enough bad karma in the universe for those guys.
To have ambition was my ambition.
Might it occur to you that I might not be an american, and hence, haven't been exposed in my young age to this beautifull culture that against all odds, generated a narrow-minded cretin like you?
This post was interesting anyways. You always assume you've seen the stupidiest post ever. It is always helpfull to remind people that stupidity has no limit.
Write boring code, not shiny code!
Here is a quick and simple way to determine whether your software is, indeed, spyware: 1) Does software stealthily install itself onto systems. If not, proceed to number 3, if so, goto step 2 2) Does software install itself through any known vulnerability in any copy of (insert OS here) 3) Does the software track usage and sites visited, then report back to a server in order to collect or otherwise use data which a user may or may not know about If the answer to any of these questions is YES, then you are spyware.
Just got a NewsForge ad on top of this discussion thread called "Keeping the alligators out of your sewer"...
United States of America, good ol' backers of world peace.
dude, i hate the slashdot crowd too, but you must realized that q.e.d is an acronym for a latin phrase that dates back several centeries, even millenia.
Q. E. D. is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase "quod erat demonstrandum" (literally, "which was to be proved"). Q.E.D. may be written at the end of mathematical proofs to show that the result required for the proof to be complete has been obtained. It is not seen as frequently now as in earlier centuries.
The correct term, according to Gator, is 'adware.'
And hillbillies prefer to be called 'sons of the soil'. But it ain't gonna happen.
Why did they remove those pages? This is absurd; they should have refused to take it down. This is a straightforward Freedom of Expression case that wouldn't have survived a week in court.
Not even the USA PATRIOT Act could be used to deny this right. Who is their attorney?
Don't use Internet Explorer. I've noticed after I switched to Mozilla Firebird I barely get any. I just installed and ran Ad-Aware, found 3 spyware programs(well registry entries and the such). Two of which came from Windows Media Player, so really only one cookie of spyware that came from Mozilla. I use to have about 27 per day using Internet Exploder.
spyware and adware has the same meaning. i guess adware sounds better lol. but i will still call it spywhere or any other program spywhere. of course you can avoide all the spywhere by running linux.
What exactly makes Gator evil? Is the spyware portion of their "service" phoning home a list of apps on the client machine? Sucking in personal info for email/IP demographics? Something more sinister?
Just trying to separate the scummy install side of the issue (how about "barnacleware"?) vs. what the code is actually sending back to their servers.
If you run a dns server, create a bogus gator.com zone. The only records (other than the base SOA and NS records) needed are:
@ IN A 127.0.0.1
* IN A 127.0.0.1
Then anyone "infected" with Gator just tries to talk to themselves.
I think that from now on we should refer to all spyware as Gator-ware.
look at their front page and notice this image of the gator logo spying on you!
Gator is spyware.
S-P-Y-W-A-R-E
I.e., software that spies.
I can't check now, but is it open?
"In an effort to improve its corporate reputation"
I wasn't aware Gator had any reputation to improve.
-Seriv
Dear Mr Eagle (Gator dudette),
/.'ers, we should spam all companies that are advertising or are associated with gator with messages of gatorhate.
I would like to inform you to never walk on the streets near my house. If I were ever able to identify you or any of your neanderthal cronies, I would mount the gutter in my car just to run you over.
After running you over, if you aren't already unconcious, I will proceed to knock you out and urinate down your throat. Hopefully, you will drown.
After this, I will tie you by your throat to my towbar and proceed to drag you at the top speed of my car untill your newly rotting carcass is strewn accross the road in an unidentifiable fasion.
This also goes for anyone else who writes SPYWARE like gator, bonzi buddy, xupiter, etc.
What we all should do is boycott any companies that advertise with the GAIN. In fact, as loyal
The only way to beat evil like gator is to play their dirty game.
DDOS GATOR.COM NOW!
Now, Mr Eagle, come here and lick my asshole!
You moved your mouse. Please restart Windows for changes to take effect.
In a weekend, anyone could make up an open sourced application for weather, time syncro, and create a website for "Neutered Gator". Better Yet, create an ActiveX virus I mean control that de-installs Gator, and replaces it with Neutered Gator.
You could make a fortune!
One thing that has annoyed the piss out of me for years is that people wet their pants at the mention of the words "lawyer" or "lawsuit".
It's one thing if you know your actions are wrong and you settle to avoid taking the loss, but people who are obviously in the right often back down as well out of fear.
The one company that I worked for who had no fear of such things is satellite TV company that I am not going to name. People used to get upset when their service was interrupted, I used to get threatened at least once a week with a lawsuit. Like bumpkins who can't afford to pay their satellite TV bills can pay for a lawyer! The conversations would usually go a little something like this...
Them:You people turned of my satellite! I want this back on NOW, or you'll be hearing from my lawyer!
Us:Ok, sir, I'm just trying to understand you. You're going to sue us, because you didn't pay your bill? Do you honestly think that will work?
Them:Uh, I get paid next friday, can't you give me a little more time?
People have gotten so used to getting what they want when they use that word, they were often shocked when it didn't phase us.
I just wish more people would have the backbone that my former employer did.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
Really, thats all it takes. Just like Microshaft believes they are in compliance with the antitrust agreement, Gator believes that their software is adware.
Keep in mind though. There's no truth in believe, but there is a lie.
-D
One of the most annoying and deceptive ways gator and other spyware gets on computers is by popping up those installation prompts unsolicited. They just keep popping it up as if installation is a requirement to use the web site in question.
Microsoft puts a check box on their prompt that says "always trust x-corporation" but they should also have a box that says "never trust content from x-corporation" Then users can't get rid of those installation pop-ups they don't want.
Exactly. I work in tech support, and have come to the conclusion that the pinnacle of platform stability for a workstation is the NetTerminal, if for no other reason because no (l)user has yet figured out how to install the Unholy Trinity (Bonzi Buddy, Gator, and buggy screen savers) on it.
[100% ISO 646 Compliant]
SVM, ERGO MONSTRO.
Isn't gator's correction of what people call their spyware a violation of free speach? It seems to me like this is unconstitutional (sorry all of you who don't live in the US) and it would be really nice for gator to get some federal punishment. I think all of our hard drives would be happy if gator got punished - one less set of spyware on the net to infect our systems
Either way, Gator is a steaming pile of SHIT.
You hear me Gator? You SPYWARE PUSHING bunch of SHITBAGS.
Gator is confirmed spyware, according to Tribune Media Services (via SecurityNewPortal):
"Gator tracks the sites that users visit and forwards that data back to the company's servers. Gator sells the use of this information to advertisers who can purchase the opportunity to make ads pop up at certain moments, such as when specific words appear on a screen. It also lets companies launch a pop-up ad when users visit a competitor's Web site."
http://www.cexx.org/gator.htm
I did some of the lab work for the PC Magazine analysis which determined what Gator and other "utilities" did... and, yes, it's spyware. See the article for more.
Are they allowed to slap lawsuits like this? What about the First Ammendment?
The PC Weenies: 11 Years of Online Tech 'Too
In an effort to improve its corporate reputation, adware company Gator has launched a legal offensive to divorce its name from the hated term "spyware"--and so far its strategy is paying off.
Ok - the basis for my opinion:
Gator's lawsuit is based on libel law. For a statement to be libelous, generally, it must meet the following requirements:
Now, defenses to libel include:
- Truth; and
- Opinion.
Allegedly libelous statements are not actionable if they are mere statements of opinion. Statements that cause damage (no matter how much damage!) are not actionable if the statement is true. Now here's the sleazy part: Gator is taking it upon itself to provide a definition of "spyware," claiming its software does not meet that definition, and suing for libel. Implicit in the the claim is that the statement that Gator software is "spyware" is the claim that the label "spyware" is false because it does not meet the definition of the term that Gator provided.Did you catch that? Your statement is false because it does not match the definition of the term that Gator likes. Never mind the possibility that the term was coined by others and may have a meaning that matches what the software actually does. Gator does not like the way a negative term is being applied to its software so it will try to change the definition of the term.
This tactic is often used in advertising. Perfect example is when telephone companies claim their rates are lower than rates of a competitor and in the fine print you find out that their definition of a competitor's rate is the rate that competitor charges at the crack of noon on the highest call volume day of the year to a point exactly opposite you on the planet with the CEO of the company personally connecting the call for you. I know my example exaggerates (maybe not that much!) but what the hell, it's an example.
Whether or not the law warrants this type of suit, I personally think it is a sleazy business tactic to try to improve your company's image by using lawsuits to silence critics. There are laws (anti-SLAPP laws - SLAPP stands for Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) that are designed to let judges throw out libel suits designed to silence critics.
Last time I checked, the commonly accepted definition of "spyware" fit the Gator program perfectly. I understand it to be software that collects information about you (with or without your permission) in the background. If Gator doesn't like the way it's products are labeled or perceived, I think it should advertise or maybe change its business model, but definitely not sue to silence critics expressing their opinions.
Laws affecting technology will always be bad until enough techies become lawyers.
So for the next couple of weeks, a new Slashdot sig.
This is not my sandwich.
How many times have I uninstalled this software from other peoples' computers? The software installs itself covertly, and proceeds to work nefariously in the background, performing inane services, while monitoring user input.
C'mon Gator, at least be honest about your borderline criminal activities and include some key logging and DDoS functionality.
I smell a beautiful class-action lawsuit in the making.
Said me to scott eagle, "Get a fucking life you braindead sonofabitch, I cannot name a single pc user that wants your shitty software on their computer(s). Youre lucky noone has sued your ass for all youre worth."
It may not be be pretty, but its fucking insightful. How about you watch what -you- say, Mr. 'Im head of a corporation that stays afloat by suing other people over a matter of simple symantics'.
It must be hard being so infamous, its kinda hard to make a credible point when nothing you say has an ounce of truth to it.
Q: How do you say "I am an asshole" in latin?
A: Anonymous Coward.
Fucktard. We're both there, and I did bring you down.
If it looks like a duck....... Gator can call themselves any damn thing they want to... However to court of public opinion is not going to rule in their favor. Nuff Said.
http://www.gatorcorporation.com/contact/
I think that fits within their parameters. I question the merit of any software that has to trick unsuspecting users in order to be installed. So it's not "spyware". Great. Rings the bells, throw ticker tape, and post the news on the front page of every newspaper. Gator's software is still software that is installed on the sly, that uses system resources, that causes the system to perform differently, and that can be difficult to uninstall.
If a person came over to visit, let themselves in pretending to be someone else, helped themselves to a plate of your evening meal, copied a key so they could get back in your home when they wanted, and refused to leave when you asked them nicely you'd at least call them an intruder. Anyone for "intruder-ware"?
Get off my virtual lawn, you damned virtual kids!
I tried to go to your link. I got the below error page, looks like the administrator on my home network has that blocked ;) Squid rules..
ERROR
The requested URL could not be retrieved
While trying to retrieve the URL: http://www.gator.com/
The following error was encountered:
* Access Denied.
This site has been BANNED from loading
Access control configuration prevents your request from being allowed at this time. Please contact your service provider if you feel this is incorrect.
Your cache administrator is root.
Generated Thu, 23 Oct 2003 01:39:14 GMT by squid.xxxxxx.org (Squid/2.4.STABLE6)
Bad boys rape our young girls but Violet gives willingly.
I don't believe that Gator has any legal basis with which to effectively enforce any such action, but are rather attempting to bludgeon the negative comments off of the website with threats of libel suits that would undoubtedly be costly, although without legal precedent on the side of Gator. More on internet libel law at http://www.ojr.org/ojr/law/1033079636.php
Q. What's the best thing about Gator? A. It doesn't grok *nix!
This isn't the sig you're looking for... Move along.
Gator has a quick and simple feedback form on there website. Let 'em know what you think. :)
http://www.gatorcorporation.com/contact/
What sounds do you encourage crossing 'thought_crime' stalinist lawyers with pedophiliac business_nazis? Ears ta the peepholes, pad'res. Sounds something like "....Seig-heil , Komrade GatorAIDS ..."
When you take a college mathematics course you will find out that it does not stand for Quite Easily Done. The parent of your post is right.. its latin and used in math proofs.
Paint.NET, a Free Image Editor, with Source Code Available!
Spy : (n) One who tracks others' activities and reports them to a third paty. Gator : Tracks the web sites you visit, provide unwanted popups usually in the form of competitor websites over the targeted ad banners, and god knows what else. If we are to be naming the activity of this piece of crap (I can not call it software sorry) it is called spying. Hence I do not have any problem attaching the spyware label to it.
__________
The more I know people, the more I love animals
Hey, quit with the ad hominems!
Gator is a menace to the internet, and I'm talking about measureable economic damage. One of my employer's clients (I'm in the network security business) found that 18% of their internet bandwidth was being sucked up by Gator. We sold them a solution, of course.
Blocking Gator's spyware is big business. Corporate customers are eager for solutions, and lots of companies are selling them. The term "spyware" is not going to go away as long as Gator's evil behaviour continues to create a big market for spyware removal and blocking software.
Gator can threaten to sue people of course, but since they are clearly the ones engaged in criminal behaviour, not the anti-spyware firms, I really don't believe Gator can come out on top in the long term.
So there.
Doug Moen.
I have written a truly remarkable program which this sig is too small to contain.
I find it incredulous for companies to publish software like this and call it free. The consumer gives up information.
Do companies just assume that the consumers information has no value? If so, what exactly is their business plan?
Not only are these 'fee software' claims misleading, they are a lie.
Consumers have money, information and power. When consumers give up any of these tangible assets it should be clearly marked as such.
It's not spyware, it's theftware.
Heck, Count me in on this one.
Gator is SPYWARE!!!!
Only if youre not engaged to her.
All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
with this new slogan:
GAIN Gator eWallet - Future bankruptcy, TODAY!
fineprint in 4pt wingdings font:
Installing GAIN Gator (Not Spyware [tm]) eWallet signifies your agreement to waive all financial, social and human rights indicated with our EULA which states we, GAIN Gator (Not Spyware [tm]), may obtain, suck dry and/or utilize any of your bank accounts, creditcards, check accounts, stock, email, bandwidth, computer, at our own discretion without any possible retailiation. Any violation to this agreement or if we just feel like ramming your ass, you agree and will be subject to a big bite from a gay alli-gator
Wow! I think this is the first time I've ever seen all posters agree with each other... Gator is crap. On most articles, there will always be that minority which might say "Microsoft isn't that bad." Or, "Linux does have a downside." Or, "The RIAA does have a point." However, from the cross-section of posts I've read, 100% of /. posters hate Gator. Now that we have found a common ground, let us rejoice and mend our other differences. Let the healing begin...
"Oh dear, she's stuck in an infinite loop and he's an idiot" -Prof. Farnsworth (Futurama)
Is to ask yourself if you'd trust the mascot of your software to look after your computer when you're away.
:)
Seriously, would you trust an alligator NOT to tear it open, smash the monitor, shred your CPU and motherboard, eat the harddrive, and then camp in the toilet waiting for a slice of your juicy rump? If you answered yes, then keep Gator on your machine.
On a side note, I don't know if I'd trust a penguin, either. If I was gone for more than a day, I'd return only to observe to an arctic tundra, with hot steam pouring out of the case as the penguin pwn3d n00bs at Quake III on his overclocked P4 6.0Ghz.
Not only that, but he also changed the passwords
First off, Gator is using lawyers to troll. We need a new term for trolling people into court: using legal threats as an attention getting device. We also need a way to punish people who engage in this kind of abuse of the law.
This is taken directly from Gator's eWallet thingie's (no) Privacy (whatsoever) Statement.
Spyware is software that runs within a person's personal domain, inside those boundaries which the wise people of the USA commonly concieve are protected by the constitution from governmental intrusion. Once active within a person's private domain, this software releases information obtained without giving said person any opportunity to evaluate and veto any particular information released to a second party whose interests may at any time conflict with those of the first party. Since the software acts as an agent on behalf of another party to report information about the first party, it makes sense to say it is a spy. Since it is at the same time a spy and software, the contraction "spyware" can be easily defined as a legal term, and Gator would not escape that legal definition without significantly changing the focus of their business.
Somehow, these people think that if they omit names and social security numbers that they are not violating anyone's privacy. Even if the data is anonymous, if any particular click-through can be linked back to a discrete history of click-throughs, they have created a "glove" identity that will over time be easily matched to any other such collection of data despite the omission of a distinct identifier. It will become a "hand print" which is inseparable from the person who made it. This is sloppy reasoning.
Advertisement is publishing. Gathering data on the targets of that advertisement is marketing. It is not advertisement. Just because one does both does not mean that advertising describes everything that one does. For example, if I enjoy knitting, and I enjoy killing people with knitting needles, is it fair for me to demand people call me a "knitter" and refrain from calling me a murderer?
What will Gator do when a judge calls their software spyware?
--- Nothing clever here: move along now...
when are yu going to see a class action lawsuit against gator
if every slashdotter posted in big letters on top of their own personal websites "GATOR IS SPYWARE! DO NOT USE GATOR! IT WILL CAUSE PROBLEMS ON YOUR COMPUTER!" and we all linked to each others webpages (or at least a few of them), we'd have some serious impact on searches for "gator" on at least google. and gator couldn't sue us all beacuse of thousands of slashdotters agree, it must be true. ;) GATOR IS SPYWARE NO MATTER WHAT WAY YOU LOOK IT. consider this my big "FAH-Q" to the gator corporation.
btw- i work in a comptuer lab in a high school and had to clean off all the stuff students have installed, including gator. stupid IT people in this school district don't know what they're doing and don't really care. if only i had administrative access to this network and the suer accounts...
please me, have no regrets.
Just call it "the software formerly known as spyware". Not only will people know what you mean, but it also succinctly explains what sort of software company they are.
Does it even slightly bother anyone that we live in a country where it is perfectly legal to call our president a dumbass oil-whore, but we can have action taken against us if we say anything that might prevent shitty companies from making ill-gotten profit?
A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
Billions of self-respecting maggots are offended by your comment, sir, and demand an apology!
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
GATOR IS SPYWARE!
Call it like you want, adware or spyware, it should be called vandalisms. Gator is tagging user system without direct acknowledgement, the common user just don't know it's there and they are annoyed by it every times. Try to find someone stupid enough to accept to receive mass publcity any time and for no particular reason. I know people defending those crap will say that they can remove it if they want or that the user agree somewhere to install their prog but secretly they all know that the way they infect people is done in order to be transparent to the average user.
Gator is probably the most annoying spyware out there. If they don't like being called by WHAT THEY ARE then maybe they shouldn't create evil software that NO ONE wants on their PCs.. and if anyone who has been using windows for a while had the choice of removing Gator and all of its employees from the face of the earth they would do it in a heartbeat.
Smokedot.org
So be careful what you say in your comments..."
spyware! gator is spyware! gator is and always will be spyware!
TechEncyclopedia:
SPYWARE:
"Often quickly installed in your computer in combination with a free download you purposefully selected from the Web, spyware, also known as "parasite software," transmits information in the background as you move around the Web."
Uh, and gator is NOT this? screw them!
Sorry, companies like this need not exist, let alone to be allowed to go around suing decent people for using thier God given right to speak their mind, and even being accurate about it! Heck, it's not even slander/libel, it's the truth!
It takes over functions of your machine, for its own gain. Close enough to the functional defintion of a virus for me.
I think, that there needs to be a class action lawsuit against the "AntiVirus" vendors for selling defective programs! If they were functional, Gator would have gone away long ago!
--Mike--
If I find Gator on a system, it's zapped!
Check the Internet Exploder Security options and global policies (if its Win NT/XP)
You might try Mozilla too while you are at it
dave
--> I am teh lame
Your translation's a bit off: it's a future participle, not a past participle. So you translate it "which was the thing to be proved" (getting 'thing' from the neuter gender). So it means "which is what I set out to prove in the first place."
(The same -nd- future particple ending is used in the word "agenda", so it means "things to be done".)
"Non enim id agimus ut exerceatur vox, sed ut exerceat."
seems they need some new t-shirt ideas, i'd buy a shirt that says 'Gat0r = Spyware' or something to the liking of 'hint: press yes to any popups you encounter'
Actually this study doesnt say anything about Gator collecting information
other than the websites surfed. The study was motivated by companies
wanting to know what ads are pushed when Gator users surfs their website.
What I want is a detailed information of other ways in which Gator is a spyware.
For eaxmple this
site
talks about how Gator blocks the ads on the pages that the user is visiting with their
competitors ads, and also how it is bundled with other inncouous software
like password helpers etc.
DO NOT PANIC
Humm let see if I am able to play with the words.
A theft : I wasn't stealing I was borrowing it without any intention of giving it back.
I am not a black male, I am an afro-american person.
I am not a prostitute, I am an escort.
Fuck you, and fuck your spyware.
If you want any sympathy, call me after your spyware stops acting like a vengeful child after being uninstalled- doing fun stuff like continuing to silently autostart, and in the process, completely disabling a system from making an internet connection for god knows what reason.
SPAMware
Wh47 d1d j00 541, 31337 15n't t3h r0xor5 ne m0r3???
I don't care what it is ... spyware - maybe; crapware - obviously ... They ought to be ASHAMED of themselves. They're only a burden to computers users ... they should be considered a terrist (terrorist), right Mr. Bush?
And hillbillies prefer to be called 'sons of the soil'.
The term is folk.
Read, L
Holy hell, what did you do to Mozilla?...
I went to that URL and my back button suddenly did not work. WTF? heh...
quote"In return for receiving FREE software..."
:o)
What? Does RMS know about this?
Seriously though... when would we see a linux port (and a *BSD port)? Huh? Huh?
Seriously though... Opera's just great
------------------ Opera/7.21 (X11; FreeBSD i386; U) [en]
"Instructions on uninstalling GAINware are provided below." ....
http://www.gatoradvertisinginformationnetwork.com/ help/uninstall.html
So he may call it "adware" and Gater Corporation calls it "GAINware" while the rest of us call it spyware,crapware, f*ckware,impossible-to-removeware,cookMyCPUware etc etc etc...It spys on people ergo its spyware.
When people uninstall the free stuffs that it comes with (e.g. Kaaza), it's still a spyware.
;)
How about, from now on, whenever we say "spyware", say "spyware and adware". By putting them together whenever we want to use one of the words, we don't have to care what Gator wants itself to be called.
This technique is called "Guilt by association".
SPYWARE.
Send your lawyer's bitch letter to
david hunt\four hundred memorial drive\cambridge ma oh-two-one-three-nine
moreover, I assert that it is malware, crapware, shitware, and shittymccrapware. Adware is something you ask for. Gator is a plague; it's half the reason that Ad-Aware exists - a great tool that is unobtrusive, doesn't pop up adds, and uninstalls itself if you ask it to.
All right then. I will write an ActiveX control that uninstalls Gator, Comet cursor and the friends and put it on every page in my site. Also, all my programs will install the thing, after notifying the user - right at the bottom of the license page, after a copy of GPL. Then I will start suing them for any terms they use to describe my software that I feel are misleading. What are they going to say in court?
It's not a "Denial of Service attack", it's an abundance of response requests. Call it what it is, sheesh!
go fuck yourselves gator spyware makers
Wait, so is Gator trying to claim damages resulting from the connotation of a word used to describe their product?
I'm not sure if this is political correctness gone too far, or brilliant marketting. Can a company actually sue for "emotional damages" due to being insulted?
Yo! Gator! Whaddap Nigga!?!?
The REAL jabber has the user id: 13196
What you do today will cost you a day of your life
Gator has become a hiss and a byword on the net even among the less informed. If by some freakish twist of our theoretical right to free speech allows corporations to lie to us under "commercial speech" but prohibits the wary from warning of serious danger, so be it. Just call it gatorware. That name can't be disputed and, given their nefarious history, stings just as badly.
GATOR IS SPYWARE
gator is spyware
GATOR IS SPYWARE
gator is spyware
GATOR IS SPYWARE
gator is spyware
GATOR IS SPYWARE
gator is spyware
GATOR IS SPYWARE
COME SUE ME YOU STUPID MORONS
And what's with this stupid SlashDot Lame filter!
The reason I wanted to use all caps is because I
was SHOUTING.
Note: posts like this only happen after To Many Beers!
I take no responsibility for what I say. Even though I'm never wrong
I wonder if the thousands of individuals
who have their credit card number stolen yearly
can hold Gator liable?
I wonder if the software gives up your CCN
unwillingly?
Perhaps this is a question I should pose to the
legal crew at Gator/GAIN.
So maybe these folks would prefer that we just refer to their junk as "shitware".
Dungware, crapola-ware, aint-worth-a-damn-ware, fartware, stinkware - surely with a good imagination we can come up with something that suits the product yet is not actionable.
I will not call Gator's shiznit "spyware".
I will not call Gator's shiznit "spyware".
I will not call Gator's shiznit "spyware".
I will not call Gator's shiznit "spyware".
I will not violate the post compression requirement.
(Score -2 Redundant)
Its not fair, they fail to provide ports of this to Linux as a native application.
I don't know if that is a good thing. On one hand it keeps lots of people from getting suckered into this crappy spyware, but the real question becomes, if they block that site, what other ones are blocked as well :) Luckily you get a decent "Access Denied" message. It could just as easily been a "404 Error, Page Not Found".
Always be careful with censors, for who censors the censors?
We were all warned a long time ago that MS products sucked, remember the Magic 8 Ball said, "Outlook not so good"
I met Scott Eagle a few years back since I had my UPenn college interview with him. I told him that I thought Gator was a bit annoying/trite and he said that one day they hoped Gator would be as big as Oracle (their HQs are very close to each other). I hope Larry Ellison finds out and kicks his arse. Gator is spyware. PS: I didn't get into Wharton. I blame it all on Scott Eagle. My rejection, of course, had nothing to do with my terrible grades.
I now deem your Gator AssholeWare, where AssholeWare is defined as software that allows some asshole to pump ads into the user experience.
I'm was thinking LawyerWare, but I didn't want to be sued by SCO.
__ Someday, but not this morning, I'll finally learn to use the preview button.
Dear Gator,
Gator is Spyware, you fuckers. Spyware. Spyware. Spyware.
Please send me a nastygram. My career is stalled, and I could really use the publicity.
Love,
Wil Wheaton
Linux weenie who doesn't even use your crappy SPYware.
PS- It's spyware.
I never took Latin, but 7 years of Spanish. ;) I should have had a disclaimer along with my translations. They were provided to me by my professor. Thanks for the correction though.
Non enim id agimus ut exerceatur vox, sed ut exerceat.
The best I can figure is something like:
Indeed we do not urge it to practice voice, but to practice.
Quattuor res in hoc mundo sanctae sunt: libri, liberi, libertas et liberalitas.
Actually I'd say I was on topic since my comment pertained mainly to the purpose and quality of Gator... What shocks and surprises me is that I was modded Interesting and Insightful instead of Funny! What's up with that!? The other programmers sitting next to me was laughing their asses off as I ranted and typed that message...
Guess I didn't lay it on thick enough... Or mention Soviet Russia...
Maxim: People cannot follow directions.
Increases in truth directly with the length of time spent explaining them
It destroys computers
...C'mon Gator corp you spinless bunch of pricks, sue me, sue slashdot, show us you legal muscle. Fucking 2 bit company, crying foul because its shitty software is being called out.
It uses your computer as a proxy to allow sickos to surf for kiddie pron anonymously
It sends all you person info to a cental server where it is sorted and analyised for its potential to be used against you in financial blackmail at a later date
How ridiculous is that? That is like Ford asking everyone to refer to all Explorers as SUVs instead of as trucks, and worse yet making a vague threat of legal action if you insist on calling it a truck.
Am I the only person who's fed up with the tech companies developing such pompous attitudes?
I hate all sigs, even this one.
We represent Gator software. We are going to sue your asses off. Thank you.
-Gator
Look at the parent post again. He was talking about the administrator of his home network. I don't think he should worry too much about censoring himself.
I love the customer testimonial.
"I LOVE GATOR! It is the GREATEST! I love how it remembers and fills in all of my passwords at the various websites that I visit. And of course I also love how it fills in the forms for me. I also love GATOR because it is very easy to use. I learned how to use it in seconds. GATOR RULES!" -Thanks, S. Rubin, Las Vegas, Nevada
Either S. Rubin isn't aware that to "fill in" this information automatically it must, in fact, KEEP TRACK OF IT (no matter, it doesn't send THAT information to anyone, right?), or perhaps she is employed by or a partner of Gator, Inc. Either way, I think she should change her name to S. Rube.
Hey, Gator! It's Spyware! S-P-Y-W-A-R-E! I did not choose to install it on my machine, but it's still here! Why is that? Because it's SPYWARE!
Like Mr. Wheaton above, I would like a cease and decist order sent to me. However, since I have no previous career in entertainment, I need the publicity to get mine started. I'm a poor, non-RIAA aligned musician trying to crack an industry dominated by old men who think kids want to hear Justin Timberflake and some slut from Wexford, PA all day.
Gator is Spyware. It sucks. Thankfully, I use Opera, which allows me to kill popup ads. But still, you're collecting my data (maybe you're collecting the fact that I'm taking your SPYWARE to task, nes pas? and selling it to companies so you can make an advertising buck. Sounds like SPYWARE to me...
Blog Prophyts - Right On, Man
when you realize that you just made fun of Wil Wheaton for claiming to be Wil Wheaton.
They and their fellow parasites make my grandma's computing experience a lot less pleasant.
It's a virus. It is installed covertly. It does damage to your OS, sometimes irreversible. It fills your drive with garbage you don't want and sends your browsing information, along with other info that no one has any business nosing into, back to them and other third parties. I just spent the last month removing Gator and its fellow virusware cronies off of a corporate network I now manage. My first order of business was to block any url containing gator related products at the firewall. I also recommend a class action lawsuit be filed against Gator for the damage it has caused. But lets not stop there. Lets take down New Dot Net, Bonzai Buddy, and all other forms of VIRUSWARE.
No animals were harmed in the making of this sig.
Well, there was that one puppy, but he is all better now.
I sent this to gator just a few minutes ago.
Hi,
I just wanted to let you know that you are right to be mad about your package being called "spyware".
Those dummies are so, so wrong.
It's not spyware, it's SHITWARE..
You parasites are the scum of the planet and you people deserve to be thrown into a dark, wet dungeon with a with a pyschopathic rapist to live out the rest of your miserable little lives as Bubba's bitch..
It's because of low life scum like you and your SHITWARE that I switched to Linux. I no longer have to put up with pieces of filth like you.
I hope you go bankrupt and you all end up drunk and passed out, hugging a trashcan in an alley..
So, in closing, I just want to thank you for your SHITWARE because had it not been for your SHITWARE and other similar trash I would still be using Micro$hit Winbloz..
Kiss my ass..
Then I got this back,
From Gator Corporation Support Wed Oct 22 20:00:41 2003
X-Apparently-To: xxxxxxxx@yahoo.com via 216.136.174.44; Wed, 22 Oct 2003 20:00:50 -0700
Return-Path:
Received: from 66.7.159.74 (EHLO c4.neotonic.com) (66.7.159.74) by mta148.mail.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; Wed, 22 Oct 2003 20:00:50 -0700
Received: by c4.neotonic.com (Postfix, from userid 5701) id 8088C75E16; Wed, 22 Oct 2003 20:00:41 -0700 (PDT)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
To:"bob"
From:"Gator Corporation Support" | Add to Address Book
Subject: Re: [#xxxxxxxxx] feedback question
Message-ID:
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 03:00:41 -0000
User-Agent: Neotonic Trakken/2.3.11
In-Reply-To:
Precedence: bulk
Auto-Submitted: auto-replied
Content-Length: 458
*****This email has been automatically generated in response to the
content of your original email.*****
We ask that when submitting an email you observe our basic rule of avoiding personal attacks and the use of what is commonly considered "foul language" such as swearing.
We reserve the right to not respond to anyone that does not abide by this rule.
If you would like assistance please send a new email that does not contain offensive language.
Notice that they already have in place a method for dealing with "foul language" and "personal attacks" and a policy of refusal to respond to such. Seems that they may already be familiar with this sort of message, eh??
Check the headers too, I like the "trakken.com" and the trakken agent it refers to. How nice of them to includes those interesting headers for us to review..
I've never had to deal with blocking at work or from a provider other then my local library but you do have a valid point. The error message I posted was from my local home network where I control the banned list. I monitor my kids (teen and almost teen) online activity. Along with talking to them about what is online and the hazards of being online, I use the banned list, time based ACLs and blocking certain ports like IM (5190) on an automatted basis to help me and my computers out.
Them defaulting to Mozilla Firebird is a big help too.
Bad boys rape our young girls but Violet gives willingly.
Gator is (1) spyware. Gator (2) is spyware. Gator is (3) spyware. Gator (4) is spyware. Gator is (5)spyware. Gator (6) is spyware. Gator is (7) spyware. (8)Gator is spyware. (9 or so) Gator is spyware. Gator (10) is spyware. Gator is spyware (11). Gator (12) is spyware. (13) Gator is spyware. Gator (14) is spyware. (15) Gator is spyware. Any corrections?
Speak for yourself.
Penn from the Penn & Teller duo once said something along the lines of:
Call them liars and frauds, you get sued.
Call them ***holes and scumbags, you are safe.
How about SCUMware instead of spyware.
Q: How do you say "I am an asshole" in latin?
A: Anonymous Coward.
Fucktard. We're both there, and I did bring you down.
Q.E.D.
I am entitled to my opinion. And my opinion is:
Gator is malicious spyware.
Gator is malicious spyware.
Gator is malicious spyware.
And did I say say that Gator is malicious spyware?
I addition I am also of the opinion that Xupiter is super-fucking malicious evil spyware.
"You'll get nothing, and you'll like it!"
Not only can they install and monitor without you knowing, but now apparently they can also say "Hey! Stop calling me names!" How can a company who, what I like to call "ILLEGALLY", monitor and install itself be able to say they don't want to be called spyware? That's like an Orange saying "I want to be called an Apple!" Geez....where the fudge do these people get this stuff nowadays? SUE ALL THE WORLD!
Mods are fucking stupid.
QED
It's not "nes pas," it's "n'est-ce pas."
some time ago Gator silently installed itself while my teenager used a shared family pc. It behaved in my opinion like a virus would, silent and once in place, an undesirable nuisance.
It took me quite some time to figure out how to finally remove it. In fact, I think these bastards owe me about 3 hours of my life (which they cannot afford).
Of course the ultimate solution was removing MS Windows in our household. In fact, Gator and it's ilk were one (of many) reasons we ditched the platform altogether, despite our library of now unusable games and office apps. Not even dual-boot anymore in this household (hear that microsoft?)
Corporations that create software that would get an 18 year old busted and splashed across the news media as a notorious hacker should be treated in a similar manner...starting at the top in the case of this malignant operation.
but that just my opinion.
..Microsoft announces lawsuit against a security firm for calling windows vulnerable. All other security firms were seen patching their websites faster than their OS.
If you're not using firefox, you're not surfing the web, you're suffering it.
---
They are spyware. They take your passwords and save them. Spyware spyware spyware spyware spyware spyware
All i can see is the header. Is it /.ed (doubtful). Is the site supposed to be blank? Or is it my isp?
"73% of quotes on the Internet are made up" -Ben Franklin
There should be new category for that of software, called ANNOYWARE. Shame GATOR, shame.
This is what *I* think about Gator!!!
I think Gator is Spyware!
Yup, that's what I think.
Ender-
Nothing to see here
I believe what Gator is doing amounts to a SLAPP suit. SLAPP, strategic lawsuit against public participation, is frowned upon in most US jurisdictions.
I've always been highly incensed with Gators tactics. In my case, Gator poses a real threat beyond losing ad revenue. Chatmag is a Directory of chat rooms, arranged by topics. I could see real harm done, say if Gator served up an ad for Bicardi over our Alcoholism chat listings page, or a gun manufacturer over the Abuse chat listings. There are many more examples. My ad philosophy is that I only show relevant ads on a given topic page, or none at all. I could only imagine what one of our viewers would think of us, finding an offensive popup ad within our directory. We do not server any popup/popunder ads within our site, period.
This latest move by Gator also tells me that they are losing the battle against bad publicity. As the bad press increases, Gator is becoming proactive in shutting down their detractors. Apparently the detractors are attracting the attention of Gators advertisers. I've followed Gators ad base, and they have steadily lost advertisers. Gator and I use the basic premise of targeting advertisers to viewers. In Gators case, they infringe on the work of others, and it seems their advertisers are catching on to their reprehensible tactics.
Pete Carr Owner Chatmag.com
Gator is spyware
Gator is spyware
Gator is spyware
Sorry my bullshit sensor overloaded.
I have come up with a better definition at www.inboxlog.com. Let's see if they sue me.
gaotr qualifies as srpaywe because it monitors which sites you visit and returns ads, and because most users of gaotr do not know what it does.
I rearranged the letters in some of the words to avoid a suit.
Just check it out And gator encrypt "phone home" communications but you will find a report is sent each time you visit a web site. Happy sniffing
It is my opinion that Gator is spyware. Suing people to prevent them from calling a spade a spade is only going to further harm the image of the Gator spyware company. For more information, there is an article detailing what I'm talking about. My recommendation to everyone is to go to this site and download Spybot Search & Destroy to aid in the removal of this spyware program from your system completely. If someone from the Gator spyware company sees this, I will gladly post your cease and desist letter here so others can have a good chuckle at the fact that you cannot stop me from voicing my opinion that Gator is spyware.
Gator can just fuck off.
I don't think they can legally require this until some form of lexical authority publishes a reference definition for the term 'spyware'. Until Merriam-Webster or similar publishes it in a dictionary, I will most likely continue to use the Steve Gibson definition (it's pretty common), under which Gator IS spyware, and will always hold a place in our hearts - let the lawyers come.
Caveat Emptor is not a business model.
Theorem: You are a young and basically ignorant flamebaiter.
"I love slashbots that've read Cryptonomicon and think they're hot shit by writing 'Q.E.D.' everywhere they can. ROCK"
Q.E.D.
KFG
n/t
It fits the bill. John Ashcroft should look into it.
Come on, everyone on Slashdot change your sig for a few days....
I'm not feeling witty so bite me
Hey, from what little I know, the guy that originally wrote gator, (maybe still in control?) lives in TAMWORTH NH (either that or Madison NH) which is 25 minutes north on the same road as PLUM CRAZY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Two birds with one stone anyone?
You don't know when the fuck you got it.
Once you realise you have its a bastard to get rid off.
Even if you manage to get rid of it, you're still worried that there maybe something left over and that it may have spread.
Conclusion: Gator is Cancer
(Obligatory Simpsons quote.)
Dr. Hibbert: "And hillbillies prefer to be called 'sons of the soil.' But it's not gonna happen."
...redundant post to say that:
Gator is Spyware!
Sue me.
00420
Have you tried Linux yet?
No that can't be spyware it sounds more like a default windows OS upgrade installation, with the exception of the send data to advertisers.
OH THE SHAME I fell off the wagon and use sigs again!
A spying, ad popping trojan that's probably even illegal if anyone wanted to give it a shot in court.
If they had any decency whatsoever, their popups would have the word "Gator" in the title bar, so that unexperienced users know who's responsible. Otherwise they're committing libel against whichever company who's website was displayed when Gator's spy/adware popped up the ad. They should not go around threatening website owners, many of whom have been hurt by the image portayed to some users by those popups, with charges of libel when all they've done is use the terms spyware and adware interchangeably.
I figured I might posit my new discovery.
I've just stumbled upon the scientific discovery of the century... eating
MEAT makes you GAY! It really makes perfect sense when you think about
it a little. I mean, isn't it obvious that guys who've been eating
SAUSAGES in BUNS since they were kids would be more easily turned on to
SUCKLING THE THIRD TEAT? Take, for example, GERMANY. What non-meat food
is that country famous for? Coleslaw? Aww, gimme a break, Deutschland's
a MEAT-EATING NATION. No mere coincidence here that the NAZI PARTY had a
well-known GAY orientation. Hell, it was practically an OFFICIAL
REQUIREMENT that you had to be a HOMO to join the SS! Even Hitler, never
known to be much of a people-person, met some of his CLOSEST ALLIES by
SLEEPING WITH THEM in reform school. And did you ever notice how most
Germany guys these days sound like WHINY FAGS? Hmm... I'll bet a lot of
straight people were killed in those concentration camps indeed... Ok,
maybe you want a converse example? INDIA is the only major VEGETARIAN
nation in the world. Those fuckers are outpacing EVERYONE
population-wise, and I tell ya, fudge-packing don't make babies. Now I'm
not saying there aren't any FAG DOT-HEADS, quite a few of their US-born
kids switch teams when they discover that we don't do arranged marriages
in this country--and they know there isn't any other way their math
problem-addicted assess will be getting laid. Of course, you have to
remember, having grown up in the good old US of A, these kids are also
probably the first-generation MEAT EATERS in their family. Truly
shocking. Now finally, for perhaps the most damning bit of evidence...
AFRICA is the source of the AIDS virus, originally intended as God's
wrath on MEN WHO FUCK OTHER MEN, later expanded to include men who fuck
women who aren't their wives, and vice versa (because that's an
abomination, too). Incidentally, what else is Africa famous for?
CANNIBALS. MEN WHO LITERALLY EAT OTHER MEN. In fact, it's commonly
suspected that AIDS was passed on to humans via monkeys. That's right,
GAY MONKEY-FUCKING CANNIBALS! Now what could be more GAY or CARNIVOROUS?
Nothing. In fact, that's probably WHY there aren't very many cannibals
around today--between AIDS, EATING THEIR UNCLE'S BRAINS and SLAMMING
OTHER GUYS IN THE ASS, there really isn't much time for female cannibals
to coax their male counterparts into a little breeding. Why? Because
EATING MEAT MAKES YOU GAY. I rest my case.
"How about "fucks-up-your-computer-and- makes-it-run-slower-ware"?"
Careful! You get Bill Gates mad at you.
"Gator's argument is that consumers should be able to decide what they see on the Web and not Web site owners."
I am a consumer. I decide that Gator should fuck off and die.
Bring it on!
I know I won't be original with this, but what the hell...I have karma out the yingy-yang, time to burn up some of it.
Dear Gator,
Your program is fucking spyware. And if you don't like me saying that, then get a spoon and eat me.
I want a new quote. One that won't spill. One that don't cost too much. Or come in a pill.
if Adaware picks it up, it's spyware. if it tracks what i do or what ads i click on, it's spyware. if it's on my computer and i don't know or don't want it there, it's spyware.
Gator corp can kiss my big fat hairy ass.
grey wolf
LET FORTRAN DIE!
The company is committed to the integrity of its affiliate programs, with each participant in the program adhering to strict guidelines. Every affiliate is carefully screened before being accepted. Additionally, as an advocate of affiliates and consumers alike, The Gator Corporation does not condone disreputable practices, including but not limited to redirections, link substitutions, or displaying an ad for the same site that a user is already viewing.
They do not list forcibly installing the app or disguising it as something else... unless those are the "disreputable practices" not listed.
I got hit by a site that apparenltly used an IE exploit to install Xupiter on me. All of these spyware companies need to go away but that will not happen until the advertising revenue dries up. We need to give these "services" such a bad reputation that the advertisers will not risk being associated with them.
None of us are as dumb as all of us.
That is him, you know. I think he did an interview a while back.
Was it on /. or a newsgroup that somebody told Christiansen "you obviously know nothing about Perl"?
All's true that is mistrusted
'If we find anyone publicly calling us spyware, we correct it and take action if necessary,'
Well, I happen to be a cannadian citizen! If My opinion is that GATOR is SPYWARE , then it is my fundemental right to not only have that opinion, but also freedom of speech through any medium! It stuff like this that makes one want to create "www.gatorisspyware.com".
You are confusing me with someone who cares.
It's Terror-ware.
It forces it's agenda upon you, and when you resist, it threatens to "harm" you, and makes public speeches against you. It can only be gotten rid of by bombing it out of existance.
crap like gator is putting food on your table. show some proper respect, please.
turn up the jukebox and tell me a lie
Literally, "that which was to be proven". (It is, as others have pointed out,
a Latin abbreviation.) Pretty much all mathematical proofs end in QED. Proofs
by deduction are using it for its literal meaning, because the last step is the
item which was to be proven. Other types of proof (mathematical induction,
assumption and contradiction, and so forth) use it in a more figurative sense,
simply indicating that the proof is complete. I never had a math teacher who
didn't use it, in high school or in college.
Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
You want to fight about it?
...to indicate that it's uncanny ability to suck CPU resources, time, bandwidth, sanity... ...and the fact that the softweare just sucks.
Cheers
Stor
"Yeah well there's a lot of stuff that should be, but isn't"
If Gator doesn't want to be considered a spyware company maybe they should change their logo.
It's a picture of an alligator peering over the edge of a wall as if it was spying!
Physicists do it with a big bang!
that EVERYONE knows CleverNickName is Wil Wheaton, what with all the slashdot interviews and the wilwheaton.net URL.
Which is fine. It makes the AC look stupid. Why?
The parent of your post didn't realize Wil was reproducing a hypothetical letter to Gator, which would be incomplete without his name at the bottom.
Fuck Beta. Fuck Dice
its a good thing you were blocked from the gator site that contains windows spyware, because it would really suck to get that on your unix(alike) box there and all...
What's in a name? That which we call bullshit by any other name would smell as sweet.
~Knautilus
'If we find anyone publicly calling us spyware, we correct it and take action if necessary,'
Its spyware.
To me the definition of Spyware is any program that spies on it's users for any reason. Targeted adds is just one example. If a program is watching what I am doing and reporting it back to anyone, whether I knowingly installed it or not, it is Spyware. Here's the Jargon File definition.
Adware is software that displays adds as a way to provide the author with a source of revenue. Again, the Jargon File definition.
The Jargon File definitions aren't as clear as mine, but they do support mine.
It can be argued that most Spyware is also Adware, but there are examples of Adware that is not Spyware. Opera and Eudora are both programs that I consider to be Adware, but do not consider to be Spyware. For the sake of companies like this, it isn't fare to lump the two together. I will be writing to both of them encouraging them to speak out on this issue and maybe even sue Gator for tarnishing their reputations.
Gator is trying to clean up its reputation by confusing the issue. This isn't fare to legitimate Adware authors, and I hope someone sues over it. Gator's reputation is well deserved and bullying sites because they state the obvious, only serves to further tarnish their reputation. I make it a point to remove Gator from any computer I work on. This isn't going to change that. If anything it's going to make me insist on it's removal even for users who think it's useful in some way. There is nothing Gator offers that users can't get someplace else, without the Spyware.
What a stupid, redundant comment.
Oh, the irony.
Hey relax fella, you need a rest, guy.
How about "adware;)" with the quotes
What does that mean again ?
The university that I attend is fairly good about preventing things like gator. MOST, not all, of the computers have a sign stating that the user is NOT to install ANY software.
This is backed up by a neat trick--when you log off, it restores the C drive to a predefined state. This is fairly simple, since most files are stored on the users' network drive, and their preferences, desktop, etc, are then loaded from this drive.
Thus, the lab users cannot permanently install ANY software. I have tried with several programs. It installs, then on reload is gone.
I don't know how they do this, not being a sysadmin, but I know they run Novell Netware, and all the lab computers run Windows 2000. A lot of Dells and IBMs.
Anyway, this seems like a solution that companies should consider--restrict ALL non-IT users from installing ANY software. This would seriously cut back on problems.
As an aside, Methinks this would be easier done with a Linux box than under windows, since many users would never figure out how to install anything anyway!
"We don't know what we are doing, but we are doing it very carefully,..." Wherry, R.J. Personnel Psychology (1995)
This isn't fare to companies that are Adware, but not Spyware. See my post below
I'm surprised Mozilla was even able to load such a complex web site.
I don't know about other /.ers, but I see it all too frequently. The math/CS instructors at Boise State use it all the time.
Fuck Gator.
Okay, so along these lines if I were to refer to a dog as a "dog" then I'll get sabre-rattled into oblivion unless I refer to the dog as a canine as "dog" has negative connotations. Before you know it, you won't be able to refer to the RIAA as the RIAA because there's nothing but negative connotations there. *sigh*
I've lost count how many times I've removed this damn spyware from friends, family, clients computers only to have them come back in short time with it installed again. How about annoyingware?
Everyone thought Jason vs Freddy would be a good match up. I want to see Jason vs Gator. They both keep coming back from the dead and you just can't seem to get rid of either of them!
No, it is not spyware. Is it scumware then?
1. You go to site.
2. Site redirects you to gator
3. You click 'back'
4. You go back to first site
5. First site immediately redirects you to gator again.
"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
Or maybe the internet's just for making money on advertising, not for actual work?
30 characters are fine for a s
Q = charge (columbs)
E = electromotive force (volts)
D = distance (meters)
So Q.E.D actually means "Columb Volt Meters", or more compactly, charge squared. QED
Fuck Beta. Fuck Dice
So, Gator can sue to have the term 'spyware' disassociated with it. Can I sue them because the banner ad I clicked on said I was going to get a popup blocker, spyware remover [or, insert fake BS here], but instead got Gator?
--falz
Bit my shiny metal BUT!! SPYWARE SPYWARE SPYWARE. GATOR is spyware it reports back on your internet usage.
Might it occur to you that I might not be an american, and hence, haven't been exposed in my young age to this beautifull culture that against all odds, generated a narrow-minded cretin like you?
Might it have occured to you that he isn't an american either?
or am I misunderstanding how data miners work?
Logic, macros, and more
spyware spYwAre SPYWARE!!!! hahahaHA!!
Any software that keeps track of my activities on my computer, without my express consent and/or knowledge, is by its very nature spyware.
When that software then uses the collected information to direct unsolicited advertisements and other worthless and unwanted crap to my desktop, without my implicit consent, it becomes what is commonly referred to as malware (malicious software).
Therefore, the correct term for Gator would be: Malicous Spyware or Spying Malware, take your pick.
If the sorry saps at Gator have a problem with me using those terms to discribe their obnoxious product, let me quote our wholly inept president when I say "Bring'em on!"
They can contact me directly here and ask me for my personal information, I will gladly fight these arrogant, ignorant losers in open court if they have problems with my comments. The First Amendment shall surely prevail.
-- This sig for rent.
...you'll see that they are quite clearly claiming that their software spys on you.
I think we could have a lot of fun with a class action lawsuit for false advertising here.
A pizza of radius z and thickness a has a volume of pi z z a
Well a quick google search shows they still call Gator spyware.
Sig is on vacation
Gator.rpm or Gator.gz what a hoot. Wouldn't it be fun to hack at that MS Visual Studio junkware. The dmesg and gdb would be just about as entertaining as Dilbert. Hmm I wonder what it does under wine?
OH THE SHAME I fell off the wagon and use sigs again!
He later agreed to call it as shitware. Gator is one real pain/irritant piece fof shit. I wonder he could make money out of his shit.
Gator kills little children, then molests the bodies. Gator makes old ladies cheat on taxes. Gator is responsible for AIDS. Gator makes bad music, and then Gator sends the RIAA after you for downloading it. Gator hates God. Gator makes you impotent. Gator was responsible for 9-11. Gator wrote and filmed "Gigli". Gator is responsible for all the suffering in the world. Oh yeah, and Gator is spyware.
Boycott everything - they're all trying to fuck you one way or another
In other news, my name has been changed to "Lord and Master of the Universe." Anyone who refers to me by my birth name will have to be sued for diluting my trademark.
I will also have to sue all those companies who ignored my resume for reduction-of-profit(tm). And the city for making me pay taxes. And the grocery store for not supplying me the food I need to live for free. And, if he exists, God for making me have a carbohydrate-fat based metabolism that requires constant inputs.
Seriously, can we say "Terorristic Threat," boys and girls?
spyware is spyware
F U GATOR!
---
Give me a popup saying "do you want to visit our site and get annoyed by gator, or do you want to not be able to view our site". Take one guess which alternative I would go for 99 times out of a hundered...
GATORWARE - any privacy invasive software, especially SPYWARE, e.g. "her PC was so bogged down with various GATORWARE, we had to run ad-ware", "the virus installed malicious GATORWARE to hijack credit card numbers from web forms" SEAGLETON - any pompous corporate prick who tries to justify the use of spyware or invasion of privacy via computers, e.g. "that seagleton in Marketing would sell his own mother's address to gang rapers, if the price was ok"
gator is spyware.
I am for one, completely offended that all of you bash Gator 24/7. Gator was designed to put targeted ads to the user, meaning consumers get exactly what they want.
From the continued use of Gator, it has developed an accurate profile, and the ads I receive are of premium interest to me. I have made many successful online purchases from the reliable, well-established companies that advertise through GAIN.
To all those reading this message, I would like you to know that the programmers of Gator worked long, hard hours to design this software, and you should be very thankful that the corporation allows you do download it free of charge, which is worth clearly more than the Suggested Retail Price of US $30.
All in all GAIN is a very useful form of targeted advertising, and represents a huge leap in positive, productive media and computer technology in the 20th-21st Century.
Sincerely as OJ Simpon's Court Statements,
Some shitbag PR/Actor/Marketing Major that was paid a lot to say all this crap... err... I mean...
Joe Average User
Partial Credit: The Engineer's Best friend
"Well, the bridge didn't fall all the way down!"
Whatever, I think (hope?) you got the idea. Plus, I hate replying to AC...
Write boring code, not shiny code!
I'd call it malware, since it royally crapped out my wife's laptop. Maybe I should sue Gator for that. If I was as much of an asshat as this CEO.
Let's just call everything "gatorware."
This is how our webwasher calls it:
--snip--
Request Blocked by DynaBLocator
Your request to URL "http://www.gator.com/" has been blocked by the WebWasher DynaBLocator module. The URL is listed in categories (Computer Crime) which are not allowed by your administrator at this time.
--/snip--
And they're right!
Use the history folder Luke
The Singularity is closer than you think
Quant
If gator is adware, then my plastic forks are silverware.
...times N! (sung to the tune of ...)
Like this?
The Web is like Usenet, but
the elephants are untrained.
They would have been better off trademarking the term [because everyone calls them that] and then enforcing the tradmark with C&Ds than this. Hopefully a judge will laugh this out of court...if it comes to that.
I really laughed at that news as on my Windows days I used that site.
l ogy.asp
What you call an ActiveX control getting your hardware/software/even IE configuration and storing it at a mainframe with your mail address? Spyware right?
Also if that site sells those data (ok, as anonymous statistics) to customers?
Well let me get into point... Here is our heroic anti spyware site and how it works:
http://www.pcpitstop.com/privacy.asp
And how they make money:
http://www.pcpitstop.com/research/methodo
Maybe I need a second coffee but it sounds to me that PC Pitstop is the LAST thing to use if you get disturbed how spyware works.
"...yeah, but we'd have to be talkin' 'bout one charming muthafuckin' pig. I mean, she'd have to be, like, 10 times more charmin' than that Arnold on Green Acres."
Useless opinions, worthless observations, and more!
lets see that marketing idiot make me take this down...
http://tekisui.freeshell.org/temp/gator.html
cos i think Gator's methodology and business plan is the fastest way i know of to become hated by internet users everywhere
You do realize that they will do it now out of spite for all us /.ers, Right?
I wasn't familiar with Gator.com's little spyware gems, and initially had them confused with thirty4 interactive, the makers of Napigator. Thought maybe Napigator had been spying on my P2P habits all this time, or something. Unfortunate similarity in names and logos.
Last time I was offered to download a software product subsidized by advertising, the software product itself was offered as the "AdWare" as opposed to the crippled "FreeWare" version.
SpyWare was the additional software that came with it, and it was not described prior to the download and included gator.
ERROR
Dat address is not da shizzle!
--------
While trying to snatch tha URizzle: http://www.gator.com/
Access was denied, ya know what I'm sayin' dawg?
Brutha Craig busted a cap up in here cuz dat site ain't shit.
He ain't trippin, fool!
It's got adz and shit
It's got dem bitchass virusez
It just ain't da bomb diggity
If you got mad beef wit this muthaphukkin error, holla at Craigdawg and he'll fix you up sumpin' real nice.
Peace out.
Your thuggin' cache masta iz craig@internal.lan.
------------------
Generated Thu, 23 Oct 2003 06:50:59 GMT by nighthawk.internal.lan (squid/2.5.STABLE3)
So say someone calls Gator yspay areway [encryption used to avoid confrontation ;-)]. Then Gator say "Oi! Our stuff isn't yspay areway!" and sue that person's ass. The courts say "but hold on, it *is* yspay areway" and spank Gator down. Does that means it would then be legal to call Gator yspay areway?
If so: spyware spyware spyware spyware
If not: yspay areway yspay areway yspay areway
Slashdot filtered out the - a with an umlaut, which means that my incredible witty post ended up looking pretty dumb :-P
A little planning goes a long way...
Please give my condolenses to Miss Piggy. But we *all* knew that one wouldn't work out, didn't we? What were they going to have?
Tadlets?
Pigpoles?
Actually, that second one sounds sort of Hawaiian... Luau anyone?
IANAL, but as far as I know the verdict doesn't apply outside the US so why not set up a militant anti-Gator site outside the US?
/. to link to such a site, Google will have to list it pretty high and then Gator will again be in the deep shit where they deserve to be.
If we get everybody on
Oh, and to me 'adware' is a worse label than 'spyware'... I hate ads and go to great lengths using The Proxomitron and similar to remove *all* ads from my internet experience. As an internet user since 1988 I remember and miss the good old days where the net was completely free from all commercial crap. Now email is useless due to spam and usenet likewise. At least most webpages can be cleaned so they are somewhat usable.
"For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong." -- H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) --
Not only is Gator spyware, the executives at Gator who threaten to sue when they don't like people calling it spyware are a bunch of cocksucking weasels. Apologies to cocksuckers and weasels.
Yes, Gator is fagware.
Yet the top two or three anti-spyware products remove our product, even though they have not been able to find anything actually wrong with it. Their beef seems to be that at one time, our free version was bundled was part of some of the P2P program bundles, which also included spyware. So, the anti-spyware companies seem to assume that since some things bundled with Kazaa and AudioGalaxy were spyware, all things in those bundles must be, and no further research is needed!
Worse, when the anti-spyware programs uninstall our software, they botch it, leaving the computer in a messy or broken state. That breaks enough that our uninstaller won't work, either, so the user can't even do that to get to a clean state. Worse, those users call our tech support to find out how to fix the software (after all, many of the PAID for our software, and aren't all that pleased that some anti-spyware program has disabled it).
I pity the user in this, because I'm sure someone is going to fight back, and in a war between the over-zealous anti-spyware companies and the companies whose programs are attacked by the anti-spyware programs, the user loses. Offhand, I can think of several tricks to make my software invulnerable to things like Spybot and AdAware, but if I do that, it won't take long for the companies that write spyware to figure out what I did and do it too...and these tricks would also be a boon to virus writers.
The anti-spyware companies need to get their acts together before this thing turns into a war.
Here is contact info for the attorneys representing Gator, aka TGC Corp., if you want to razz them:
Jonathan Hangartner
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP
501 West Broadway, 19th Floor
San Diego, CA 92101-3598
619-338-6500
Fax : 619-234-3815
Email: jhangartner@sheppardmullin.com
Kent R. Raygor
Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP
333 South Hope Street-48th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90071-1448
213-620-1780
Fax : 213-620-1398
Email: kraygor@sheppardmullin.com
Google tells me that when "gator" and "spyware" are in the same search, it only brings up about 22,900 results. Are all those results linking to pages telling us how gator is or isn't spyware? http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF -8&q=gator+spyware
That these aren't the droids you're looking for. Repeat, these aren't the droids you're looking for.
I think it may have gotten the "easy" connotation because it is used in math proofs where the reader has a hard time understanding if/how the proof actually proves what was to be proven. Q.E.D. at the end of such a proof reads a little like an insult along the lines of "I think this is easy, does it look greek to you?"
Should you feel the urge to contact Scoot .. i mean Scott ,
:
The Gator Corporation
2000 Bridge Parkway, Suite 100
Redwood City, CA 94065
Tel: 650-232-0300
Fax: 650-232-0400
Or more personal
Scott Eagle
650-372-9614
scott@gator.com
I seriously pray that the email spam bots gets his nice email address , the telemarketing company gets his telephone number and the advertising hunters get the postal address.
Please cease and desist trolling.
Sent this lil message to em: Gator is SPYware. SPYware SPYware SPYware. Go ahead and sue all of the companies that call it SPYware, because that's what it is (SPYware) and no amount of cease and desist orders will change that. Just the two cents of somebody who has had the misfortune of having to remove your "product" (SPYware) from several friend/family machines. P.S: It's SPYware. P.P.S: I actually sent this with my real e-mail address. Care to reply? P.P.P.S: It's still SPYware. --- Think they'll actually reply?
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Scumware! Seriously, this one is in common usage.
When I am king, you will be first against the wall.
is a broader name that encompases adware, spyware, trojans, viruses, etc.
Use that, it still keeps them in appropriate company.
Bah! This is /. and not one of you Twatwaffles put up the other version..
QED == Quantum ElectroDynamics
y'll are teh sux0r.
iow, users must beware adware, but be aware of spyware. hence, the distinction between adware and spyware is valid, for each calls for different levels of mindfulness.
cheers, potor
The word for what this software does it not SPY.
It's RAPE.
It should promptly be dubbed RAPEware.
Why? Because it rapes your computer and the computer user.
It presents its intentions to Joe User and to Joe PowerUser about as much as a child-rapist presents his true intentions when he offers candy to a 5-year-old girl.
Sure, they may have a user or two who understood what it is they were installing and, out of the sheer mazochistic wish of being violated installed them. But truth be told, 99.99999% of their users who did the sorry mistake of letting these creeps in by mistake and have all the intention and absolutely no clue as to how to take them out.
And Joe has as much chance of removing these rapists from his computer as the said 5-year-old has of removing Mr. child-rapist while he's busy doing his thing.
The law should treat unwarranted invasion of one's virtual space with the same severity that they treat the unwarranted invasion of one's body or personal residence.
-
How does Microsofts TCPA fit with spyware/adware? will gatorsoft just need to buy a license from Microsoft to invade machines?
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
I was under the misguided conception that people have the right to say anything they want, likewise other people have the right to choose if they want to believe it, and choose where to get the information that guides there decisions.
I have been calling Gator "Spyware" for years and it's not going to change now especially not just for my websites. and SURE not just because Gator would prefer "adware."
Call it like you see it. There is a difference between Liable (slander) such as "Spyware like Gator is evil" and fact baised observations like "Gator is Spyware"
I'm just calling it like I see it, and thats not going to change any time soon. If that makes me a "criminal" in the eyes of Ggator, so be it.
Hmm a shifty looking Alligator peering over a wall?
2 5x37.gif
http://images.gator.com/gator/global/gator_eyes_1
If you don't like being called SPYWARE, then quit the &^%@#$ing spying.
Beware. Windows 2000 and windows xp have an issue with the dns client service where if an abnormally
large 'hosts' file is used, services.exe will exhibit high processor usage.
When a large hosts file is established on a Win2k system, there is a problem of a dramatic slowdown of Win2K and the inability to obtain an ISP verification and registration after a dial-up connection is made. Even if a hosts file has only four URL redirectives, ISP verification can be interrupted.
It happened to me. I used a 140k HOSTS file, which worked like a charm... but it took me 2 or 3 minutes at dialup time, waiting for "registering your computer on the network" to sod off. Which was a pain.
I smell a new open source project.
LEPP
... and Scott Eagle is a COCKSUCKER.
Suck, Scott, suck!
So, long live Gator!!!
You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.
GATOR IS SPYWARE
Slashdot - The one stop shop for procrastination
Mozilla and Mozilla Firebird block pop-ups and are highly recomended.
The drive by installs are more likely to occur if you are using IE, although if you let them in there's nothing a browser can do for you.
Also, using alternative browsers gives an added side benefit. If pop-ups are turned off, and you continue to get pop-ups (or pop unders, which happened to me) you can be reasonably sure that it is the result of malware on your computer.
The pop under I was recieving resulted from installing something labelled freeware (Heh Heh, my bad!)
Adware can be spyware, but then I wouldn't call it adware either, because these terms should be kept separate. There is no reason why people who rely on ads served without compromising your security or privacy should suffer because of overly broad definitions.
But just like "racism" to many is no longer about race, but also about culture, and can therefore be used effectively to shut someone up in a debate, it can be easy to label something "spyware" because one does not understand what it really does, or perhaps because one benefits from paranoia (such as running an "anti-spyware" site which one makes money from).
One example is Spywareinfo.com, which is a site run by a guy who claims that a program can be spyware even though it doesn't actually spy on the user (follow the comment thread, and also parent and grandparent). This is ridiculous, and only contributes to confusing the issue and making it harder to spot the real spyware.
Another example is Google Watch, which is a site set up to spread lies about Google because another site belonging to the Google Watch owner was too obscure and unpopular to get a good PageRank.
Since I have already talked about the lies and deception of Google Watch in another lengthy post, I shall not repeat myself too much here, but the deceptive site lies about the Google bar and calls it spyware, which is an outright lie, since it is impossible to miss the text saying that for the PageRank indicator to work, it must send URLs back to Google.
So as you can see, it is not only important that we watch for software vendors that want to compromise our privacy. We must also watch the watchers to make sure that they cannot cash in on other people's fear by exaggerating, lying and deceiving. Therefore, the definitions must be strict, and we cannot allow people like Mike at spywareinfo.com or David at google-watch.com to fill our heads with lies until we believe them and let them cash in on our problems.
(For the record, Mike does a lot of good things, but he clearly needs to be corrected, as his overly broad definitions do nothing but making the fight against spyware more difficult, simply because we are not just fighting real spyware anymore apparently, but also lots of other programs that do not fit the real definition at all.)
And finally, it is my firm belief that Gator is indeed spyware, in case my stance on this issue was unclear. The way Gator tries to sneak its way into our systems, it cannot be defined as anything but spyware.
Clever signature text goes here.
I see this misconception a lot. But as I posted earlier, adware is not necessarily spyware. If the program serves ads without spying (secretly gathering information) on a user, it is just adware, and normal adware is not a privacy intrusion.
Clever signature text goes here.
ROTFL...
http://www.cafeshops.com/thealligator....
Correction: Adware is not spyware. Spyware spies on the user. If it doesn't spy and serves ads without compromising privacy, it is not spyware, just adware. It's important to keep these separate to avoid hysteria and clouding the issue.
Adware serves ads, but does not spy on the user.
While it is possible for adware to be spyware, we should keep these definitions separate and agree that something which spies on the user is not adware, it is simply spyware.
Adware which serves ads and does not spy on the user does exist, so it would be a bad thing to mix these.
Clever signature text goes here.
Adware is not spyware. Spyware spies on the user. If it doesn't spy and serves ads without compromising privacy, it is not spyware, just adware. It's important to keep these separate to avoid hysteria and clouding the issue. Adware which does not spy on the user should not have to take the blame for REAL spyware!
Adware is not spyware! Spyware spies on the user. If it doesn't spy and serves ads without compromising privacy, it is not spyware, just adware...
Any exta info as to help pin down 'uninstalled' copies of the program.
Need a large chunk of people to mail back the files to the owners.Not that I condone flooding them with their own junk
Someone hasn't taken a high school-equivalency Literature course yet, nowhere in that post did he say he didn't know what Q.E.D meant, just that people are retarded for using it ad infinitum after reading it in a sci-book we've all read.
F U 2
If you can't find something on your own system because it's hidden so well, it's spyware.
Here is the link to a Gator removal page which states:
Although the above instructions will remove the Gator E-Wallet information, you may still have GAIN (Gator Advertiser Information Network) software installed.
The next paragraph states:
Unfortunately, GAIN can only be removed by uninstalling the GAIN supported application. You cannot uninstall GAIN directly. Once the GAIN supported application has been uninstalled, GAIN will uninstall itself as well.
Here's the relevant page:
PC Hell
And here's the link for Gators own site which tells you THEY will find out what spyware (drop dead fuckwads) may be installed on your system:
Gator.
You have to click the link down the page which gives you a nice popup and more instructions.
From gators site.. "As Vice President of Software Engineering, Tony is responsible for designing Gator's sophisticated software." I think they mean: Gator shite memory leaking resource whore software... i slight typo maybe?
I vow to post Gator is spyware anywhere I can, although I don't see this is much of an issue because googling 'gator spyware' has >22,000 hits.
Another way to handle this is to use a local DNS server and 'blackhole' gator, ad sites and anything else that annoys me.
No-one should use gator as regardless of what they say, it sends information about yourself back to them. I once accidentally installed it because of their very misleading advertising and it took me ages to uninstall the annoying piece of software which does virtually nothing but try to inflict their adverts on you.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
It is typically used to signify the end of a mathematical (or other) proof.
I've always prefered W^5. ("Which Was What We Wanted")
Roachware? Roaches love to hide in small dark places, nobody likes them, and they are a bitch to kill and even harder to eradicate.
If you can read this sig - the bitch fell off.
Ratware!
Ahahahaha!
6. penny per hit
....
7.
8 profit.
Why not just call it Virus and be done with it?
Why not call it "assholeware"?
For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.
http://www.gatorcorporation.com/contact/
:)
Tell gator what you think about them, they've provided a nifty little form on their homepage
Maybe he thinks that people otherwise wouldn't have known the term unless they read it in the book?
That would be my guess. He read the book and didn't realize that is a standard term used in mathematical proofs.
Not everything is analogous to cars. Car analogies rarely work.
I would like to call gator a virus. It installs even without your consent (when you click no to the install if you use IE. Thank god I use firebird now) and then floods you with ads and spys on your browsing habits? I call that a trojen personally.
The company I work for, Hotsprings Inc., has been accused often of providing spyware. This is because we use Cydoor to deliver ads in the PC version. By most definitions, our Cydoor implementation is not spyware. The user consents to its install, it works only with Hotline and only when the app is open, It does not collect info on the user or their activities, and it has an explicit uninstall on the "Add-Remove Software" control panel. That has not stopped people from claiming we are gathering all kinds of nasty information for the CIA/FBI/Mi5/DOJ/CSIS/MS. And that we do it on both the Mac and PC. Even though Cydoor only works on Windows. Cydoor themselves have felt the heat from PR and stopped issuing unique user IDs. So they are no longer spyware by most definitions. But they still show up on all the lists.
I strongly suspect that there has been a loosely organized FUD campaign by those who had disputes with the old company that ran Hotline. Despite the damage the FUD has done to our business, I don't see any positive outcome from this. Lawsuits don't address the real problem, a negative perception of the company by users. We have confined ourselves to stating the kind of arguments above, and left it at that. Since the application is now open source, I had thought the allegations would dry up on their own. They are reduced, but have never entirely gone away.
With all this trouble, why do we still use Cydoor and an ad mechanism? Because for a developer like us, its the only game in town. Hotline Communications used to sell the app as shareware. They had a take-up rate of about 1/2 of 1%. The fact that the app is widely used to trade files tends to cultivate a user base lacking a commitment to pay for software. The only way we can get any kind of revenue from the app is ads. Mind you this is the branded, mass-market version. Anyone can compile the source to get an ad-free version.
So what is a developer to do? If our experience is anything like others, the mere presence of ads will attract potentially devestating spyware charges. And once made, the charges hang in the air like a bad smell for a long time. Its virtually impossible to successfully refute the charges if they are not true, or to repent if they are. If you want to really screw someone, call their app spyware.
Then we get bullshit like this from Gator. Don't they know how the Internet works? The suit and settlement will cause more negative buzz than anything one site or individual could excite. I say this from the perspective of someone who has had to fight negative buzz. And in a situation where demonstrably false things were being said. This is another example of the failure of lawsuits as a business model. Even if you win, you lose. Because Gator can say (and enforce) anything they want. They are still spyware. And that's the problem, not what someone says about it.
I guess it is time to coin a new term, one that nobody can argue with. My proposal is to lump Adware, Spyware, Trojans, Worms, Viruses, and other less than savory software into something called unwelcomeware. I want the definition to be clear and understandable yet broad enough so that it encompasses everything that people don't want on their computers. I think Unwelcomeware does that.
In my book, this even covers pop-ups, pop-unders, and URL Hijackers.
...spyware, malware, painintheassware, getthefuckoutamypcware, leaveware, crapassware, notbloodylikelyware, sitdownshutupware, jackbootedthugware, smackmybitchupware, junkware, drivebyware, dirtywhoreoncrackware, gatesware, suethisware.
I'm done.
-- Liberalism is a mental disorder.
ok here is the contest: try to be the worlds crappiest and most annoying crap-ware!
and the contestants!:
1) Gator
2) Real One Player
3) Your entries here!
Anyone else care to add to this list!?
01100111 01100101 01110100 00100000 01101111 01110101 01110100 00100000 01101101 01101111 01110010 01100101 00101110
We should sue that "GAIN" (their advertising network) is confusingly similar to "gaim" and that their product may confuse consumers into thinking their spyware product is the same thing as our multiprotocol instant messaging software.
Adware is not spyware... Spyware spies on the user. If it doesn't spy and serves ads without compromising privacy, it is not spyware, just adware!
My name is... (what?)
My name is... (who?)
My name is SPY WARE
Tricky tricky Slim shady.
A program that reports on your computer usage to someone else without your knowledge is spyware. A program that lets someone display ads on your computer is adware. How hard is this? They both suck, but why can't you geniuses understand the difference?
Gator is a virus, spreading from countless servers on the internet.
It's a worm, it's a trojan...it's evil....
Since it tries to sneak into your computer in many ways, and comes with no uninstall option, why can't some big company sue gator for billions worth of damage?
Hey, even M$ can sue them for giving windoze a bad reputation because the software is so badly written it crashs windoze boxes.
#find
yeh.
Okay so maybe legally they can't call it spyware. So lets come up with anew name that honestly describes Gator. AnotherReasonToUseLinuxware. This could be the new poll, but I would hate to see Gator come down on /. like the scientologists did.
Maybe we should email Strong Bad and see what he has to say.
500 dollar reward for tip(s) leading to the arrest of the person(s) who stole my sig.
yeah, and while we're at it: how stupid is the slogan "go crazy at plum crazy" - so "crazy" rhymes with "crazy"? good job, suckers!
Sure, it shows us ads, but it yoinks information out of the registry and sends it back to our good freinds at Gator.
Spyware. Said so, is so.
those fucking parasite homos that made that piece of shit Gator are the reason that all these spyware scanning programs had to be written in the first place. I shall invoke the rage of a thousand plastic toy shotguns upon them, and smite them with a painful and heinous barrage of mike & ikes, particularly those shitty-tasting orange ones!
http://mswindustries.us
it doesnt matter what they call it, it still sucks....
Open Letter to Scott Eagle, Sir, You have recently objected to the term 'spyware' as used by PC PITSTOP to describe your software. Your own web page states as follows: ---- Quote ----- In return for receiving FREE software (often valued at up to $30), consumers agree to receive targeted promotions/ads from Gator advertisers through the Gator Advertising and Information Network (GAIN). This software also occasionally displays various forms of pop up ads in a separate window on users' computer screens. These GAIN ads are displayed based on the interests of the computer user as reflected by their web surfing behavior and are not sponsored or endorsed by the web pages being viewed. The GAIN name and/or distinguishes GAIN ads from other ads. ----- Unquote ---- Note the phrase '..as reflected by their web surfing behavior..'! Software that records and reacts to the users web surfing behavior is spyware, no matter what YOU call it or whatever else it might be. It may be relatively 'benign' spyware, depending upon where the information it gathers ends up. If it never leaves the users machine I would consider it 'benign', but will still choose to avoid it.
Light, Love, Happiness,
I was browsing the web yesterday and found an interesting article on the legality of referring to your product as spyware. After contemplating this concept I have come to the conclusion that you are correct. Gator is not spyware. It is a virus. I spent the last month removing the damage it has done to the corporate networks I manage. The cost to my clients has reached the thousands in my fees and lost time from downed systems. Now you are suing technicians for calling your software the softer term spyware? Fine, from now on I will list your software as a virulent virus.
No animals were harmed in the making of this sig.
Well, there was that one puppy, but he is all better now.
http://www.gatorcorporation.com/contact/
Your comments are welcome!
LE Garcia
I think Gator has earned the right to be called much more than spyware. Lets call it sodomyware.
I dream of the day when users in mass numbers start sueing companies over things that are insiduously(spelling?) installed upon their computer. I paid for this storage space, cpu cycles, RAM, electricity, etc... small claims court, baby! burden of proof is on whose shoulders in such a case? plaintiff or defendant?
My company is a UK government department (Rural payments agency for those interested)and we consider Gator spyware (which it so obviously is) so my point is when will Gator be suing the UK government for calling them spyware?. Answer never because the government have the money to go to court and let true justice take it's course rather than risk going bankrupt before the case is resolved.
Saying Apple is better than MS is like saying Botulism is better than rabies.
YES, Gator IS spyware, but what I am saying is that ADWARE IS NOT SPYWARE. GATOR IS NOT ADWARE, it is spyware.
Hear hear.
Yes! It's not spyware, it's GNU/spyware.
Bah!
I can't help but think of this as a Pyhhric victory on Gator's part anyway. Great, so they convinced the court that in this case they should be called "adware" instead of "spyware" -- how does that get them ahead? What kind of person thinks that running system crippling "adware" that bombards them with popup ads for product "B" when they're trying to read about product "A" is a desirable thing?
It's widely recognized that Gator's software is only as widespread as it is because it piggybacks along with more obviously desirable software. How much of Gator's user base went out and installed Gator because they actually, directly, and specifically want Gator itself? Any of them? Somehow I doubt that the percentage can be more than a couple of percent of their user base, and I'd hazard a guess that most of the people that want Gator on their system only do because they're spyware researchers trying to analyze Gator, the better to write software that tries to neutralize it.
I realize that this is the argument that Gator has to make, but really, come on: arguing that they're marketing "adware" instead of "spyware" is like saying that they're "fascists" instead of "Nazis". (</godwin>) They may have won this semantic skirmish, but surely this kind of tactic will only lead to them losing the public opinion war.
DO NOT LEAVE IT IS NOT REAL
Nothing scares me more than the end users I've supported who "can't live without" Gator.
"Oh, I install it on every computer I can touch! It's so useful!!!"
Not to mention the entire office where everyone swears by Comet Cursor.
/me dies.
it's bought out by Elmore Leonard and Danny Devito, then we can claim Gator is SkyKidsMom.
Specially developed for KarenSisco Systems.
Mod Karma -1: I sed bad wurds. If I cep my mouf shut, I wud be at riyses.
If it's bought out by Elmore Leonard and Danny Devito, then we can claim Gator is SpyKidsMom.
Specially developed for KarenSisco Systems.
Mod Karma -1: I sed bad wurds. If I cep my mouf shut, I wud be at riyses.
I'm surprised someone hasn't created a worm that uninstalls gator. If those crackers are reading this, have it spread without generating as much internet traffic as welchia.
1. Program slimey spyware product 2. Somebody says "wow what a slimey spyware product". 3. Spend money to hire lawyer to alter the fabric of reality and declare spyware actually a good wholesome innocent adversiting product. 4. PROFIT !
"It's so convenient to have a system where everyone is a criminal" - A. Hitler
I HAVE AND FOREVER WILL REFER TO GATOR AS THAT WHICH IT INATELY IS -- SPYWARE!!!
What's the world coming to? - at this rate, we'll be calling core overlays buffer overflow (wait, we already do)
we'll be slamming U.S. military leaders for believing that our God is bigger than the Muslims's god (wait, we already do!)
point made - this world needs to call it what it is - and GATOR is SPYWARE.
For all practical purposes, adware == spyware anyway, so we may as well call it what it is.
A difference that makes no difference, is no difference.
I don't care, I just wish they'd take their awful excuse for software and a business plan and keep it the fuck out of my face. You want to write putrifying shit and try to get people to use it, that's your bit, but keep it the fuck out of my face, and keep your VC paid legal advice between you, the defendant and whatever civil court you try to buy your case in.
Other alternative definitions I've heard pseudo-jokingly are:
"an exercise left to the reader"
"the rest is obvious"
"And magic happens"
typically because the person ending with QED is an academic with their head in the sky whose steps they did give don't even make much sense to the viewers.
8-PP
I am trying to attract Spam to my test account. Please do not mod down, as I want to keep it on the main page so that it will be picked up by the Spam-bots! Thanks! ThisIsAnExampleAccountGL@yahoo.com
ThisIsAnExampleAccountGL@yahoo.com
is there any possiblity that legal action against gator would be successful. it would seem that such software causes damage in the same way that a virus does. then why not create a class action suite that could put gator out of business and create precident for legal action against companies that violate users computers and sensitive information. i would install gator again just for the ability to sue them. nothing would give me more pleasure than kill those spyware fuckers...
It's two, two, two strawmen in one!
But wait, don't order now. There's MORE!
Place your order in the next hour and we'll include, completely free of charge, an ad hominem!
Folks, you don't see values in rhetorical logic like this every day, so hurry, hurry, hurry to those phones and we'll rush it to you. . . AC!
KFG
Theres an old day "if It walks like a duck, talks like a duck, its a duck!"
To say this crap isnt spyware is to say that the FBI and CIA is a bunch of wacky bunch of guy and gals who are just collecting statistics.
Adware gives you the impression that its nice and passive, and is only installed by the user consent to direct them to many fine products that the user would not be aware of. Sorry, This is not the case for gator. It is not passive, it interferes witht the normal operations of the users computer by loading bloated background programs and collect information about the users internet usage.
This stuff is near impossible to get rid of completely after its installed. Hmmm, seems like spyware to me.
Shame on any site thjat allows this company into bullying them from calling it what it is.
There is a big difference between "Free" and "FREE".
example:
Free Software, FREE Spyware
I just had to stand up and be counted along with the others. Gator is spyware.
God is real unless declared integer
Gator is break-your-computer-spyware. Labeling it adware is an insult to legitimate adware like LimeWire. LimeWire downloads a not-too-bothersome banner ad which you see unless you choose to register the product. That is a fair exchange in my opinion for being to download and use the software for free. I wouldn't call LimeWire freeware, because it shows ads unless you pay money, but I certainly wouldn't put it in the same class as spyware/malware like Gator ( and Morpheus for that matter which installs itself with lots of Gatoresque shitware )
Eat at Joe's.
Most spyware doesn't annoy you as bad as Gator. Spyware just chills in the background and watches you. Gator then takes it a step further and "serves" you with advertisements.
Russian Russian Russian RussianDollSig DollSig DollSig DollSig
You forget about the high street customers who neither have nor recieve a windows disk with their machine.
This perpetual motion machine Lisa made is a joke, it just keeps getting faster and faster. - Homer
not only is Gator SPYWARE its also throwupware, scatware, poopware, shitware, crapware, pukeware, junkware, theftware, covert-operationsware, stealware, stealthware garbageware, killAllGatorSupportersware, killAllOtherSPYWAREsupportersWare, shoveItware, getStuffedWare, PISS-OFFware, FUCK-OFFware..etc....
the list is endless..
More like:
:)
1. I go to site.
2. Site redirects me to Gator.
3. I click 'back' but nothing at all happens.
Extra: even the back menu is gone no matter what website I visit for that session of Mozilla.
NOW explain.
Sometimes the proper term for "libel" is "truthware." But truth doesn't matter much when you have bigger attack dogs than the other guy.
Free speech rules. Come get me Gator.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
Whao cares waht they call it. Gator will not be found on my computer.
Molest
- To disturb, interfere with, or annoy.
- To annoy continually or chronically.
Syn: To trouble; disturb; incommode; inconvenience; annoy; vex; tease.
Imagine how pissed off they would get if we started calling their software "Molestware". From now on that's what I'm calling it, I hope others follow. How dare they they try and take away our right to free speech.
MOLESTWARE remember it, use the term to describe Gator and send a message to them and to any other companies in the future who try and pull a stunt like this.
_____
Gerry (couldn't get my login to work)
I use internet explorer, and every time a site wants to install Gator, I get the option to trust Gator or not, "Yes", "No" or "Always trust The Gator Corporation". This means I (and all other users) must _always_ hit no, because we don't trust Gator. Missing just once, because you're in a hurry or too drunk to safely operate a mouse, you're in deep shite. Well, I have an idea, maybe it is even patentable... wait for it... How about a "NEVER EVER EVER EVER trust The Gater Corporation" option? I mean, if I don't trust them once (I don't) chances are I won't trust them again (I won't)... Thus, preventing the "install gator?" question from ever appearing again. cheers, m
Gator is NOT adware. Adware is the program to kill gator. They claim it's not spyware. It's too useless to be considered crap so to get to the point, let's just call it evilware
looks like Dans guardian, or squid content blocker.... :S
you should read Cryptonomicon. fantastic book by Neil Stephenson. Combination historical fiction/technothriller. >1000 pages, so clear your calendar for a while.
i was so deluged by poop-up windows that i had to reinstall windows. i used ad/remove software to remove all that it showed me, and went in and manually deleted anything left.
but still they kept coming. i can't figure out how they did that. i did numerous hard drive searches and found & deleted everything related to the spyware i found. still they kept coming. 10, 20 of them at a time.
and it was gator that did it. they were one of them anyway, and it wasn't exactly clear what was being downloaded besides Limewire.
they are the scum of the earth.
No matter what you call it, the stuff sneaks onto our PC's and secretly does its deeds against our without our knowledge or approval. This is bad stuff. GATOR folks! get a grip we don't like you, we don't like your stuff, and we don't want you around. Trying to label yourselves with something less offensive doesn't change a thing about your image or make any of us like you. It's all RATWARE and it all stinks!
I found this in the first sentence on a web page I read while doing some random searches on the net. The page is here. The article even labels Gator as spyware, so apparently Gator isn't pushing the "Ad-ware" title too much.
What's done's in the past, forever shall last.
Work is work; life is life; fair is not!
BUT it looks like the have it put on wrong!!
No, NO, not front to back.... the brown side out...
Where ever you go, There you are
Yes, thank you- no, really, thank you!- for all the lovely pop-ups you open on my computer. And thank you for contaminating every site with offers to install your spyw- er, I mean, program on my computer. My day is just never complete without having to kill off 50 popups and 3 installation attempts by your company, just so I can look at one lousy page.
Aw, fuck it- Gator: Kiss my ass and go straight to hell you spyware-pushing fuckers. You're all a bunch of pansy-assed morons who will be the first ones against the wall when the revolution comes.
Any and all nastygrams are welcome- they just mean I've hit a nerve with you losers. And the publicity would sure be nice.
PS: Ever since I got Opera, I guess that really screwed over your chances of screwing me over, eh? Assholes.
A rose by any other name, still smells as sweetly. And garbage like gator, be it called spyware, or adware, or pickled-eggware, is still garbage, and therefore stinks.
Welcome to the End