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Gator Files for IPO to Raise $150 Million
michalas writes "Wired reports on the IPO filing of adware/spyware kings Claria who have recently changed their name from Gator.
Claria on Thursday filed for an initial public offering to raise $150 million to continue developing its 'behavioral marketing platform.' Claria had a net income of $35 million on revenues of $90 million in 2003. In addition, Claria said it has 43 million active users and 425 advertisers."
Yea, the only way I'd buy this stock is if my static ip address is blacklisted by their crapware so that it won't/can't install itself on my systems. Surely an incentive like that would entice people to buy into this IPO.
Of course, then they'll have their money for development except by that time every person with a computer will have purchased a share of stock to keep that crap off their system...in which case there would be no reason for them to continue development of the software, and really have no reason for them to continue to exist as a company.
Heck, where do I sign up for that?
I remember seeing a comment earlier about how Microsoft buys up companies and shuts them down or kills off the technology. Maybe MSFT could do us all a favor, buy them out, and shut them down? It's probably one of the few humane things to do...
Gator is spyware!
An IPO doesn't change the predatory marketing stategies of this company.
"Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati" -- Red Green
Is a special transmitter that sends back information on where you place it.
Cost of privacy = 150,000,000 / Claria's victims
Our greatest enemy is neither a single man, nor is it a nation, it is, as it has always been, our own greed.
Suckers. Big-time suckers.
They only deserve to lose their money.
They are now Claria, that is so much less predatory than Gator. They were just misunderstood.
" 43 million active users " Those are not users, they are called "victims"
In addition, Claria said it has 43 million active users and 425 advertisers.
I think 'infected computers' would be more likely. Whenever I tell people I can make those pop-ups stop by running Ad-aware, they are more than happy to remove themselves from this list of 'active users.'
Claria said it has 43 million active users
...of those 43 million "active users" only three are actually aware that they are running Claria's "product".
Of which 7 know they are.
What a coincidence, as I'm starting an IPO shortly, too! We're hoping to raise $150 million, which will be metered out as payment for the head of each Claira investor.
DRM = Digitally Restricted Media. This is a viral sig, pass it on.
I misread that as:
Gates Files for IPO...
And wondered if my flux capacitor had self-activated.
The coolest voice ever.
This crapware is likely glued into millions of computers, delivering ads after ads. If a company wants their ad to be seen (and clicked on by the computer illiterate), choosing GAIN (claria now?) is a smart decision.
;).
I don't have much to invest, but I would probably invest in this company if I did. Like I care about what they do - I use Linux as my primary OS anyway.
Then again, the second they start developing crapware for Linux is the second I will not consider investing in them
The good thing about Gator going public is that their Financial Statements will tell us what advertisers are funding them. Makes for a nice boycott list.
I wonder how many of their 40mil+ users actually know that they're an 'active' user?
"Gator Files for IPO to Raise $150 Million"
Oh man, no wonder I had 5,000 unread messages in my inbox. Glad I checked Slashdot before uninstallling Outlook.
"Derp de derp."
Investing in Claria would be like buying tickets to a 3 hour live show called "Spam!".
"Spam, spam, spam, spam, spam... wonderful spam!"
http://github.com/gbook/nidb
Here's what they're saying about Gator stock:
"I love the way Gator takes my money and saves it for a rainey day!"
"Gator stock is so stable, I can't imagine investing with out it!"
"I love the way my income depends on Gator stock it make me feel secure!"
||| I still can't believe Parkay's not butter.
Gator/Claria..... is it good or is it wack?
Claria who have recently changed their name from Gator.
Nice name. But, a frosted dog turd is not a wedding cake; it is still a frosted dog turd. I hope whatever stock they have drops like a brick.
The coolest voice ever.
...hmm, wonder if they'll let Simson Garfinkel in on the ground floor. :-)
Does anyone know where to get a list of the 425 advertisers, so I know which companies to avoid?
Napster was a dead company walking from a legal perspective from day one. Nobody was that surprised when it got shutdown. However, it was able to float an IPO...
Sometimes, crime does pay. Even if Gator is made illegal by state laws, they'll still be functioning until such laws are enforced. Simply passing a law won't make them go away.
Anybody got a current quote for what SCOX is going for while we're at it?
Microsoft buys evil from Satan, says it will be an asset in the new economy.
It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
- E. Debs
...to hunt down every investor in Claria...and put a flaming bag of poop at their front door.
Also, Claria said their certificates represent "the latest in investor-tracking technology." Claria's executives plan to use the small audio monitoring devices embedded in each certificate to learn valuable insider information about upcoming shifts in the stock market. "This represents a new direction in the stock market. Never before have companies used their stock certificates as a way to gather valuable investor information," said Claria's CEO in a press release today extolling the virtues of Claria's new business venture.
Addressing privacy concerns, he also mentioned that, "Anyone buying this stock knows exactly what they're getting into. We fully disclose all information about our monitoring technologies to anyone who bothers to break into our company's vault and read the encrypted data therein. Anyone who claims they were misled about privacy simply hasn't done the proper espionage expected of both parties entering into any contract. After all, if you don't catch us spying on you, it's your fault."
That's it. I'm no longer part of Team Sanity.
Maybe (hopefully!!) some
of the computers being used by
the Investment advisors and Lawyers
working on the IPO will all crap
out at critical times
because they're infucted with GATOR's
own shit
Gator (Claria) is:
crapware
shitware
and there is no way they could have
received "informed consent" for
the installation of their crap from
my 9 year old.
The selection of the name "Claria" is a study how to avoid a mucked-up name... pick a made up word that has the seems to have the a tie to the words that represent what you wish you weren't so bad at.
People think you can't keep your promises? Call yourself Verizon or Verisign... "Vari-" meaning "truth"
You're stuck in the drug business trying to make people get high? Call yourself Altria... "alt-" meaning high
People confused about complex multiple rate plan options? Call yourself Cingular... kinda sounds like "singular" where there's only one option.
You're main product requires confusing people into aceptng it to work? Call yourself Claria... even though there's nothing clear to users about what they're getting themselves into.
Gator has 43 million users in the same way that 43 million people actively have the common cold. They have no control over how they got it, can't do anything about it, and don't notice that it's been gestating until they start sneezing bright flashy ads. It's that sort of misrepresentation that makes me want to work in the department of Statistics and Information Synthesis.
At any rate, how can someone "use" Gator/Claria? Their "users" are simply presented with ads and such. Are you a "user" of the ads you see on Television? No. You are an audience member, and a very passive one at that. Amazing. Simply amazing.
Despite what the company does, after interviewing with them, I felt like it would be a good solid company to work for. They had a great dot-com atmosphere, used open source technology, and paid well - my position was for Perl programmer. And they even allowed you to work from home. I didn't have the XML::Parser experience they were looking for, so I didn't get the job. One thing they revealed to me was that they did actually track what you were searching in Google. This part I didn't like. If they can watch you on Google, they can capture data from any form you fill out - although they claimed Google was the only form they captured data from.
It's All Politics
Not to sound extreme here but lots of spyware can cause a system to act just like its infected with virii and cause it be unfunctional.
I have seen it first hand.
My gf's pc and at work where I assist students in a university computer lab.
My gf's computer use to take 20 minutes to boot and would reboot every 30 minutes or so and was highly unresponsive. Especially IE.
McAfee anti virus showed no viruses? I then ran ad-aware and it found 600 objects and tons and tons of spyware.
After that it was fine.
Second, spyware installs backdoors( tell me that does not sound like a worm)so hackers can see your keystrokes and get things like credit card numbers, etc. God forbid anyone doing the taxes with these worms aka spyware ridden systems. Hackers can easily do identity theft.
So I ask slashdotters now. Why is gatorsoft legal? If this thing was called A.mydoom or something the FBI would hound them.
THis is pure fraud, it steals computer cycles, causes break-ins, etc. Its a worm in my book. It may not copy itself to other systems but it sure acts like one. Hmmm I bet if gator soft did email itself over the address book then it could get even MORE customers. lol
This and Divx need to be brought down.
http://saveie6.com/
Oh I'm so gonna get toasted for this one.
...maybe...
I hate Gator, I use AIRoboform and never looked back , BUT there are tools that people find handy.
"Calendar, Clock Sync, password manager i mean, if these tools don't help, tell me what do?"
That's the general statement I get from collegues and "acquaintences" not in the know.
They are annoying, but I think they HAVE stopped being sneaky with their 3rd party stuff and haven't seen anything in a LONG time that "crept" it's way onto a system without a user not removing checkmarks.
I just might buy the stock in a pump and dump to allow this company to pay me back for the hours it takes me to remove their stuff from PC's.
Yo Grark
Canadian Bred with American Buttering
I could go on, but you get the idea
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
That would be like Hepatitis C Inc., boasting about their 500 million customers. This reminds me of Mel Brook's radio skit about the LMNOP Advertising Agency: "We just got the Cholesterol account. We're trying to move Cholesterol into the American heart. It's going to be tough, but we'll win. Advertising is a lot stronger than life."
If someone buys enough shares of Gator, or Claria as they're now calling themselves, could they force the company to shut down? Sure, that would hurt your wallet but it sure would make a lot of people happy.
It's changing name because Gator became too well know with his (in)famous spyware ?
Next: Microsft change is name to avoid anti-trust lawsuit.....
For someone with more time on their hands than me:
1)Start some media fear mongering about a "Claria Virus".
2)Include instructions for removing said virus.
3)Feel good about what you have done to help society.
In my opinion, after spending 2 hours removing spyware from a friend's computer, Gator's products are no more than viruses.
Which leads me to my point.... why doesn't Symantec (Norton) classify Gator as a virus. It has all the hallmarks of a virus (hell... Blaster was LESS destructive. It just rebooted your machine), and no legitimate use. How isn't it a virus?? Just because the company's legit at the moment, does it really make it okay?
Can anyone answer me?
-- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
Users Install gator!
43 million active users... How many are unwilling or unaware victims? I've never met anyone who had gator on their computer know what it was or want it installed. That doesn't sound like being an "active user" to me, more like virtual date-rape victims than anything else.
Yeah. Gator. It's Spam. But from the standpoint of an investor, it's probably a great investment. Remember, Wall Street is about money not social good or bad. This is part of a more complex and disturbing trend of a total conversion of the Internet from a tool of the masses for usful communication, to a commercial product. And, it's an example of how western nations, especially the United States, think that they "own" the internet. This is why I support the idea of taking the Internet away from ICANN, and placing it under UN juristiction.
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
ftp from the command line works just fine in windows.
uh...use Linux and ssh :-)
windows is a piece of shit, one-user operating system.
It's All Politics
Pump up the stock price based on nice big numbers ("43 million active users and 425 advertisers") that lead the unwary/uninformed to assume that this company has specialized capabilities that can be the beginning of the next Internet boom; the executives and investment backers incrementally cash out while stories about the sure thing are dribbled to the media to keep the stock price up. Groklaw discusses the SCO strategy in greater detail.
I hope no one buys their stock.
Man, I can't believe what people will fund.
There's no way in hell I'd support that company. I can't even count how many times I've taken that crap off of my family's computers.
Wireless News www.DailyWireless
Man, someone needs to go Steve Irwin on that gator's ass...
You can't take the sky from me...
Claria take their name from Chlamydia, a common sexually transmitted infection that many people do not know they carry. Someone in the advertising/PR department must have had a bit of fun with that one ;)
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
Claria said it has 43 million active users and 425 advertisers
Er, no. Try again. How about:
Claria said it has 43 million active victims and 425 parasites
And please, be accurate. Remember, this is for posterity.
I definitely plan on investing somewhere in the ballpark of 6-10k (no, I'm not rich) in this company the day it is available.
Sure, not that much, but if I can get in sub-$30.00 a share and see it go up to $40.00-60.00 within 24 weeks, that's money in the bank for me.
Looks like a sure fire winner, what with the stagnant economy and a viral marketer filing for an IPO, this ought to be a hot item.
Ohhhhh and as for my personal agenda besides a quick in and out ride on this ticket? I run nothing but OS X, IRIX and Redhat 9 (soon to be debian) at home and at my colo provider, so anything that makes Windows a nasty experience is A-OK by me.
I think all *nix enthusiasts should by in and feed the cause.
The more virus, spam and crap on Windows the better I say.
sounds like the same reaction people have after finding out they have Gator installed.
It's All Politics
Partial list of advertisers, courtesy of Harvard
News story on Harvard wrestling with the then Gator corp
I know most people here are laughing at the thought of anyone stupid enough to buy into this IPO. But all it takes are a few ignorant or greedy fund managers to pump this stock. This is why I generally invest in blue-chip stocks or market index mutual funds over standard funds, which these days seem to be corrupt.
I think there's maybe six or seven financial investment companies that haven't been sanctioned by the SEC in the last two years for unethical activity. You can't trust the American media to even let you know when your investment company has been fined $200M for insider trading. The best source for really finding out how sleazy Wall Street is is through England's Financial Times, which doesn't pull any punches. If you have an IRA or any money in funds, keep a close eye on it. These rich fund managers are making a fortune off the pennies most working people scrounge up and think will be there for them in the future.
I never really dabbled much in the market until recently when I had a broker "friend" make recommendations for me. After I lost a bundle, I set up my own account on E*Trade and started doing my own investing - I beat my broker's ROI by 14% within six months. I'm pretty convinced these days most people in the financial community don't know anything, but that doesn't mean a bunch of people won't make money in this Gator IPO, but it will probably be at mutual fund holders' expense.
My advice to people is take control of your finances and invest in companies you believe in. Pull your money out of funds so you're not unwittingly financing SCO or Gator -- you'd be surprised how often you're in bed with the devil through your IRA.
WS_FTP Pro is the best FTP client for Windows. A nice GUI, tons of features. Never crashed once for me. Don't bother downloading the free version, though. It sucks shit. Instead, you gotta find the full Pro version and get it. It is very good.
that the company now has $150 million that can be targeted by the enterprising trial lawyers. Let the litigation begin!
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
He has experience in this line of business:)
heh, I assume you have nothing better to do than post on /. too?
It's All Politics
In a follow-up to this story, after Gator announced it will change its name to Claria, Spyware changed its name to Gator citing brand recognition and popularity as primary reasons....
What sort of setups do the admins out there have for blocking this stuff? Anything at the gateway or proxy level??
For a long time, I have been using a lot of off-the-shelf scripts and utilities hacked together as an anti-spyware, anti-virus proxy. Anyone out there doing the same care to comment?
For web stuff, I use squid to block a lot of stuff that is usually spyware. It pretty much kills any software that auto-installs (except for java webstart). Usually not to big of a deal-- the business calls the help desk and we walk them through a manual install of flash or whatever it is they need. For very common spyware, we let it infect one test machine then redirect traffic through the proxy to those sites. Ideally, we block the file name or active x control with squid. It isn't a perfect solution though...
For email, I am using p3scan, a pop3 proxy, and a couple simple scripts to rename all untrusted attachments to something else. We also have a nice script that strips out all non-image, non-formatting related html in email. The email soltion seems much more elegant and nice than the web solution-- anyone know of any setups better/similar that cut gator & other companies off at the knees like this??
In practice, this is has reduced our crapware-related helpdesk calls at least 10 fold.
I wonder: How many of the 43 million users have willingly installed Gator?
http://ipod.fresh27.net/
One must wonder, exactly what behavior are we talking about? Something like "Software designed to punish stupid behavior and allow us to make a fast buck at the same time".
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
I almost bought this argument, until I thought, "Wait a minute, if freeware companies can make software that does this, surely big names like Norton or McAfee can get away with it." If these spyware companies are willing to slap bigger companies with a lawsuit (companies that would be able to defend themselves), I don't know why they wouldn't try to intimidate the bigger free products into oblivion. Everyone and his dog knows about Ad-Aware in particular.
Member of Orkut? Annoyed with spam?
Gator to Claria, Philip Morris to Altria? I think we should avoid companies with the "ria" suffix!
Of course, it's OK for Apple to do that. Apple could have sold munitions to Germany in WWII and it would be OK.
Do these 43 million active users know they are active users? I suppose basing your business plan on deceit and subterfuge is the American way.
I hate sigs.
why dont you just get a mac and quit bitching.
Were is the hunter when you need him?
Tell you dad to stop illegally downloading complete albums of 70's classics, and he won't have to be so damn paranoid about cookies.
www.bannination.com Two things float to the top he
They don't even make a dollar per year per victim!
You can't judge a book by the way it wears its hair.
Note: I'm not affilliated with Javacool, but I have found their product really useful.
That's it. I'm no longer part of Team Sanity.
Is to show up at the shareholder meeting and see who all was there for company reps.
Wear a good suit and tie, make up a company, and have fun with a notepad...
Hell, even bring a laptop or mini camera and take pictures of everyone! A true kodak moment.
-- Page
We don't need an "overrated" so much as we need a "you completely missed the parent's point, dumbass..."
What's the difference between Spyware and a Virus or a trojan horse?
Why is it that a company can get away with what a script kiddie would get thrown in jail for?
And are they still going to threaten to sue people who call Gator, excuse me, Claria Spyware?
And might as well throw out a stupid-patent joke out there.....
Do they own a patent on using computer viruses to make money on the internet?
I hate Liberals and Conservatives.
If you are a Liberal or a Conservative, then HAVE A NICE DAY!
Courage.
Are these guys going to take this lying down? Claria and Clarica sure look and sound very much alike...and about the only company who could tarnish public perception of an insurance company would have to be Gator....
~Idarubicin
I have had good luck with "max-ftp" windows client.
If it doesn't work, it's usually a problem with the server (too many people).
It was freeware, however it appears the latest version turned to shareware $15. You may be able to find an earkier free version somewhere. But I think it's worth the $15
You're right, there isn't one good FREE ftp client for Windows. You just have to either buy one or uh, "pirate" one.
The Linux fileserver/firewall on my network keeps its time synchronized with ntpdate. All the Windows boxes run a batch script that does NET TIME \\[linux box]
I just hope that with this new found money they'll be able to port their excellent product to Linux.
I've been meaning to switch from Windows for years, but since it doesn't run Gator, I just can't see myself making the switch.
Just seeing how Claria has gotten so many "users" most of which have never heard of what is truly on thier computer, Imagine how many "users" google could get if they were to have an active x script rather than an hbo.
Seems like people use it because they like the features, like remembering passwords and filling forms. I never installed it so I don't know if there are other things, but how hard can it be to write the same thing over again, just open source? I don't suppose they have a patent, do they?
You could even profit: write/test it in secret, after their IPO place a bid that their stock would drop, and then advertise/release your free version. Eh?
Remember, Phillip Morris owns Kraft, and many more brands you wouldn't think!
May favourite is when tobacco companies say "we're concerned about youth smoking." Yeah, deeply concerned that it won't continue. If it wasn't for youth smoking they wouldn't have much of a company. That's when everyone starts.
Dont forget the RIA prefix too! russia soviet you sig sigs in. Or something.
Hmmmm, so thats what their calling crap nowadays.
Sig? What Sig?
I'm a freshmen at RIT. When the non computer literate people on my floor ask for help, and I run adaware, I get 300+ hits easy. Install Google Toolbar, and that'll severly get reduced. So, to the average user, I say putting that handy little google toolbar on your computer is the easiest way to solve alot of headaches.
They wanted SCUM but were told that a small company from Lindon, Utah has dibs on that one...
Consultancy: If you're not part of the solution, there's money to be made in prolonging the problem
"Spam, spam, spam, spam... lovely spam!"
Don't mess with Monty Python on slashdot!
When will Gator move to open source?!
You'd probably be surprised at how many investors take ethics, or even distaste, into consideration when investing their money. Granted, some of them lean the other way; as evidenced by mutual funds solely devoted to 'vice' or 'sin' stocks.
It list some of their customers: Cendant, Orbitz, priceline.com, Travelocity.com, Buy.com, FTD.com, Netflix, Shopping.com, AmericanSingles.com, Date.com, eHarmony.com, Matchmaker (Lycos, Inc.), Amerix Mortgage Corporation, ING Direct Securities, LowerMyBills.com, RateMyMortgage,goZing.com inPhonic, Motorola, Sprint.
It also refers to their strategic relationships with DivXNetworks, iMesh and Sharman Networks (KaZaA).
For the year ended December 31, 2003, they generated revenue of approximately $90.5 million, substantially all of which came from online advertising. For comparision, Ret Hat's revenue is $126 million for the last year.
The lead underwriter for the IPO is Deutsche Bank Securities.
On the great scale, Phillip Morris's sins are so few and minimal compared to Gator. I mean, they only sell lung cancer to 13 yr olds that want to be cool...
On the other hand, Gator inflicts its agony on the customers I support. I suppose my perspective would be different, if I were a surgeon who did lung transplants.
that will put a stop to it
If you're confident this company will fold in time, buy their stock short.
SpyBot's worth a try.
Screw you, we came up with this shit and we're gonna keep control over what we invented! If the UN wants to control something, let them make thier own internet.
As the country that founded the Internet, and the country in which Cisco his HQed, it's not particularly difficult to argue the US owns the Internet.
I happen to disagree, and believe the Internet is owned by all who participate.
And, like many other things, it'd be waaaayyyy better without the gov't (and ANY gov't) trying to get their mits all over it.
There are four boxes used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order.
I remember way back in 1995 or 1996, my dad, a computer pro (do a Google search for Joseph Bottero and Oceanography) showed me this new and interesting thing called hyperlinks. He built a few pages and linked them. I was kind of "so what? I can log on a system and get the same things! Gopher, and so on..." It's amazing how wrong I was.
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
they will require investors to install their "spyware" programs. suddenly, gator will transfer all the stocks back to them.
the investor says, what the? and gator says, mwehehehehe.
Live your life each day as if it was your last.
and then some
Now would be the perfect time to start the class-action lawsuit. A great way to show potential investors the liability they are about to buy into and hopefully drive down the amount of money they are able to raise.
Because there are only a couple of reasons why name changes occur, company or product: nearly the same or close enough to cause confusion (or close enough to create a lawsuit from the owner of the original name); there's a stink attached to it. Let us also remember they were involved in court for popping their ads over the ads of others who paid for that space. BTW, Gator won that suit.
Here are some reasons why Claria can do well in this IPO: It's been some time since a very successful high-tech IPO has occurred (pre bubble?). The name Gator (which has a stink, see above) and has been washed clean as a company with no past (Claria); they can post their revenue, client base, etc. and with no background as Claria, it will make them appear to be one of those grassroots startups who is ready to bust at the seams.
n/t
43 Million victims, probably a direct result of thier aggressive advertising.
I think you underestimate just how much I just dont care.
I find smartFTP (http://www.smartftp.com) to be the best Windows FTP client I've tried, although it's not GPL. WS FTP is ok, but I find the interface a bit clunky and nonstandard personally. I guess that might be a bonus for you Linux types.
I think the main reason that helped GAIN take off into the big time was that it was bundled into kazaa. As a result every Britney Spears loving teen, whose only computer knowledge is that with kazaa they can get Britney's latest songs, downloaded kazaa and accepted to install everything included with it.
Anonymous Coward, nuff said. I have my shair of "troll", "flamebait", "redundent". I still have "excellent" Karma. Got something to say? Say it with your name on it.
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
Seeing all these anti-spyware posts makes me wonder:
Why don't anti-spyware/virus writers use similar deployment/propagation tactics? Why not write a virus that eliminates viruses? Why not create spyware killers that auto-install transparently like spyware?
No need to mod me up or down... I'm just asking a question.
I can't imagine why people would get roped in by internet accelerators or time syncronization services when these things features are largely already available to them in the OS, and learning how to use them is a google away.
Fuck Beta. Fuck Dice
Actually, from a strictly financial standpoint, this will be an incredible investment opportunity. A HUGE user base, money coming in from advertisers, and a proven product. Yeah, it's a sleazy product with no ethics at all but hey, since when has that stopped investors?
Anthony Papillion
Advanced Data Concepts, Inc.
"Quality Custom Software and IT Services"
In the past when I received invoices for services we didn't use (ie. directories) I have notified the companys that any future dubious invoicing would result in a charge of $1,500 plus collection costs. Thats stopped the invoicing cold - including calls of apology.
I'm wondering what would happen if US customers did the same - sent Gator a cease and desist letter for their company - with any future occurence costing $1,500.
While the circumstances aren't quite the same because of the EULA, I think the judge might be more sympathetic to the Company having to continually clean their systems, who has asked Gator to cease and desist, then he/she will be to Gator, whose EULA was unwittingly agreed to by an employee?
Or 43 million they regularly spam to death?
Gee I'd like to see them all cross a motorway on foot and slip and fall.
This is a 100% abuse play. Even Microsoft does some good!
Claria said it has 43 million active victims and 425 parasites
Um, Parasites feed off a host and manytimes kill it. You need something else to describe that. I think it would be correct to say there are 43 million active victims and 426 feeding paranah.
The truth shall set you free!
We are refering to the same company that offered an online account for ppl's personal passwords?
Anyone here willing to admit of having use this service? I'm not overly paranoid but I like to consider myself educated enough not to hand out my PIN to anyone online.
Some aim to please, I aim to tease.
If every Slashdotter bought $100 dollars worth of non-preffered stock we could completely alter their business tactics... Imagine... Stopping the devil from within hell. I strongly suggest that all readers invest a minimum in their IPO if nothing else but to be kept in the loops on their shareholder information and future marketing strategies...
"If they existed, they would be here already." - Enrico Fermi
Step 1: Short this stock
Step 2: Coerce/Beg/Convince MSFT and others to license AdAware & include it in a free "update"
Step 3: ???
Step 4: Profit and maybe hang out with Martha Stewart for awhile.
Damn... didn't think this thru. She'd make me giver her my shirt to make a "Nice Ghetto Chic" throw rug.
But really, how do we screw this up for them?
Why do I have this? I don't smoke.
No god dam way!!!
I don't ever want to see this company anywhere but bankrupt!.
Please oh oh please don't let the stupid ones screw it up!
ftp://ftp.blah.com in explorer
or
start -> run -> cmd -> ftp
Ad-Aware should advertise on Gator...
I am GLAD to hear that Gator is now Claria. Now I know to add claria.com to my blocked sites on my firewall. Thanks /.
cb
Remember, licking doorknobs is illegal on other planets.
Ha Ha Ha bwahahaha
They're using their grammar skills there.
You can train a lot of ninjas for $150 million. The kind that don't leave any trace.
Ask your system administrator to null-route the Claria/Gator/Assholes addresses.
The administrator will likely agree, since he/she is the one who has to clean up that crap.
It seems kind of odd that a place called "JavaCool" is offering a VB6 program.
...just like they run the world right now.
-Newsgroups with too much flamage will be opccupied by peacekeeping troops. Not that they'll try to stop the flames, but occupations make the UN member states feel like they're doing something.
-The request to move your domain name to a different IP address will be vetoed by France as part of an unrelated argument over agricultural subsidies.
-New top-level domains will not be approved until there has been a 5 year, $700 million study.
-Spamming will be punishable by a harshly-written security council resolution. Not that those really accomplish anything.
-The Chinese minister of propaganda will get to vote on your news website's content.
WTF kind of name is Claria? Sounds like another company I did some contract work for a couple of years ago that got sued by Stanford Univ. because they used Stanford in their title (and had a red "S" logo that looked like Stanford's "S"... uhm, duh, just asking for it). They paid some firm to make up a name and research to make sure that no one already had it and switched to "Sirenza".
Heh, I did a google for Sirenza and Stanford to see if I could find further info on the name change and first found a link on Stanford.edu's site regarding alleged foul play in their IPO
Claria sounds like an STD if you ask me. Something you don't want, much like Santorum (if you don't know the reference, pull down a torrent on Unscrewed 04/07/2004, or just Google for it).
"That's when everyone starts."
Wrong - not everyone. I started smoking when I was 25. And then quit when I was 28. Hardly a youth.
But isn't the last letter of that acronym "Agreement"? I'm not trying to be a jerk here, but this seems to be a grey area. Unwittingly or not, you DID click on a button to agree to it, and it was your fault you didn't read the entire thing. That's one way to interpret it.
Another way to interpret it is that because they do such a poor job of letting you see the EULA before you install the program, that they ARE at fault. It could be taken either way, depending on the judge, really.
Honestly, when I first saw the name Claria, I thought "...isn't that the name of some penis-enlargement pill I got in my inbox the other day"?
"Claria said it has 43 million active users and 425 advertisers."
You've misspelled "involutary".
Fred
"A fool and his freedom are soon parted"
-RMS
Annoying Website Blocker ... ]
Status: Added claria to deny list.
Current list of blocked sites
[
Total: 134
I can't believe that companies like this are allowed to legally exist. What is the world coming to?
I'm surprised that they have gotten reputable financial institutions to underwrite their IPO. According to the Wired article, it's being underwritten by Deutsche Bank Securities, Piper Jaffray, SG Cowen Securities and Thomas Weisel Partners. Wasn't Deutsche Bank involved in some of SCO's funding??
Their IPO filing says they derived 31% of their 2003 revenue ( ~ $30M ) from "Overture Services". Interesting.. Overture seems to be straddling the line between legitimate business & spyware.
Also, the risks section of their IPO filing is pretty amusing. Anyone with half a clue will see what a detestable company they are after reading the risks. Some of the risks they list are:
- Popup blockers. impeding their ability to attract customers.
- People buying new computers. Since their software won't be on the new system.
- spyware detectors which uninstall their software (as offered by AOL, McAfee, Symantec, Earthlink, and others).
- Changes in MS operating systems (i.e. SP2 with the popup blocker and other security enhancements could screw them)
- New technologies that would "hamper the operation or our GAIN AdServer".
- Changes in legislation could impair our ability to provide services
Basically, they are saying that they operate by tricking people into installing their software, and a lot of people are trying to stop shady operators like them.
Anyone who invests in them deserves to lose their money.
Depending on the judge...
1. Persuade judge to install a program that does some frivolous thing (eg. changes wallpaper every hour) and bundles gator along with a 45 page EULA from hell.
2a. Watch them skip EULA without reading it.
OR
2b. Time how long it takes for them to read and fully understand EULA.
3. Convince judge that such EULA's are a crock and no ordinary person would bother reading and comprehending such an EULA, especially for such a frivolous , free, program.
4. Profit from lawsuit.
You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
There is a lot of hype here.
And that is the "boycott". Named after the English Colonel who's impoverished and powerless Irish peons nonetheless discovered a way of forcing him off their land and out of their lives.
Gator/Claria survives by delivering an effective way for advertisers to reach consumers. You cannot punish Gator/Claria directly - some other company would simply take its place.
Rather, let us organize a boycott of any advertiser who tries to sell his product via spyware of any kind.
Writing to any company that advertises via spyware, and telling them that you will not be using their products any more is a good idea. Telling everyone you know about such companies may also be effective. The best thing would be pressure from consumer groups to government so that advertisers are forced to adhere to a code of conduct that excludes spyware.
Finally, spyware companies will find that the only clients they can find are the same criminal rings that pay for worms, trojans, and viruses, and this is one commercial sector that will find it hard to lobby governments for protection.
Boycott the bums into behaving properly!
Ceci n'est pas une signature
This is part of a more complex and disturbing trend of a total conversion of the Internet from a tool of the masses for usful communication, to a commercial product. And, it's an example of how western nations, especially the United States, think that they "own" the internet.
Talk about tossing in an agenda in topics no matter how tenuous the connection. How, exactly, is a US company filing for an IPO an example of how the US--apparently the entire nation!--thinks it owns the Internet?
Personally I don't mind Gator or what they do, because it's really simple: I just don't install Gator. While I have had plenty of pieces of spyware that manage to sneak through (yeah yeah, I still use IE when I'm in Windows), Gator has never been one of them. I believe I've gotten a pop-up "do you want to install Gator?" dialog from time to time but simply saying "No way in bloody hell" has stopped it. Whether or not to install software that bundles it as a required part of the install process is the decision of the person installing the software. I have seldom come across any piece of software that I absolutely had to install and could not settle for any alternatives.
It's capitalism. That's hardly a unique province of the United States, nor is it necessarily a bad thing. I wouldn't give these guys my money, but I'm not prepared to condemn anybody who does--particularly, as you point out, if they are doing it to make a profit and not because they support the practices. It is not my place to tell people which companies they can invest in under what circumstances. It's also freedom. As much as it annoys the crap out of us sometimes, advertisers have as much right to the Internet as we do so long as they are obeying the applicable laws. I hardly even notice banner ads anymore and my popup blocker does a respectable job of keeping that trash at bay. Even if one does squirt through, it hardly ever stays up long enough for me to read or click on. Obviously, though, enough people find the Gator-style ads useful at the time they're displayed that advertisers continue to pay Gator to provide the service.
As for the UN, if you think other UN member nations are any less beholden to (economic) interests than the US is, you're mistaken. All giving things like ICANN to the UN would do is create more conflicting interests to pull and tug at the same authority.
Gator is Spyware
Claria is Spyware
Is that what they meant by "behavioral marketing platform," something that immediately inspires a Carlinesque rage?
Help us build a better map!
http://magicaction.net/sv/712out.txt
Damn straight! That's why I only buy from RJR.
@ASP.NET's parent-teacher meeting: "Little Johnny.NET is very bright, but he doesn't play well with others."
These guys are fucking scum! They are virii!
All Anti Virus and Anti Trojan companies including MICROSOFT's new AV need to treat these things like virii/trojans and BLOCK THEM
Put these guys out of buisness already. The fact that they make money is insulting.
I hope they all get cancer and puke aids on their children.
Don't know if anyone else has made this point - I got a little bored of reading the same "Claria is junk" post I must admit. But.... I was wondering if we'll see spyware-removal companies being sued for interfering with business practices? Here we have a company giving away, or selling in some cases a product which will reduce a company's advertising revenues. Will it be any more serious or carry more weight if perpetrated against a public company... maybe not
&lawyers($instruction);
In 1993 I first saw LYNX , but what I liked better was IRC, and the warez of SNES games you could get in 1993. Oh and I saw linux too back then running on a 33mhz 16meg box.
What I should have done back then, is learned more of the protocols and made net servers/applications back then instead of just a desktop app. But even back then I did read Apples DEV docs and they did say the 'networking' of computers is the future direction, pitty their OS handled tcp very crapily. But it was easy to use.
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
I know your trying to be funny but.
The UN does do usefull stuff with their troops , ie armed security guards with tanks.
USA would have more $ valued subsidies, their free trade deals are a scam, yet they can import everything with zero tarrifs to australia on every good, australia cannot do the same back to usa, it did get a better deal, but its more of a Sopranos deal, with usa winning more so.
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
"This is why I support the idea of taking the Internet away from ICANN, and placing it under UN juristiction."
And why in Gods' Name do you think by any stretch of the imagination that the U.N. would do anything to stop things like Gator, when the U.N. is as corrupt as it is? If they're willing to let children in Iraq starve to line their and a horrific dictators' pockets, while simultaneously attacking the U.S.'s sanctions as the reason for those children starving, how is the UN to be trusted with controlling the internet? Would you like to see some brutal communist regime head that UN internet committee like the UN's Human Rights committee is? Better yet, lets' just put China or N. Korea in charge. At least you'd know where you stand. Sheesh!
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
Hey, you're missing the ??? step. How can you expect a plan to work without one?
I don't think that Gator suited them well as a name being that parasites aren't really much of a predator.
If you advertise on Overture your supporting these bastards! Sure Overture made the association before Yahoo bought them, but Yahoo is still guilty for their dealings with them.
Would Google ever put adwords up in a gator popup? Hell no!
More information here.
...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
Now in addition to gloating over the demise of SCOX (and panicing over temporary fluctuations upward in the same) I can add ClariaGator to the list of companies standing for things I find reprehensible.
I just hope I don't have to look too closely at too many companies, 'cause I don't want a really long list...
-- @rjamestaylor on Ello
Ignoring the principals of investing in a company that preys on the computer illiterate by installing a piece of software they don't want, it seems like a bad investment for several reasons.
First of all, I have to wonder what the click-through and purchase rate of those popups are. Most people I know complain about popups, close them as quickly as possible, and run spyware removal tools or popup blockers to ignore them. How successful is it to advertise on them? Does the negative goodwill that popups create hurt a company's reputation?
Secondly, the article mentions the possibility that laws will be passed limiting/making spyware illegal. Do you want to invest in a stock of a company whose product may become illegal?
Thirdly, do you really trust the management of a company whose business strategy is so sketchy to be honest and open with their financial reporting ect?
I have blog like everyone else
buy a Mac. Since doing so, I've never had any virus/spy/adware problems. It's not just because they are only 1% market share. It's because they are Unix, which means you can drop to a terminal and really fix anything that installed itself aggressively.
No... What they have is a risky business plan
:-D
Unless gator makes it's lusers buy stock of course.. didn't they keep passwords too?
"It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful." - Anton LaVey
I mean, at least those investing on SCO are lining up. After all, they are very smart investors.
Lately it seems to me that adware/spyware is greatest complaint of windows users.
But when will there be a linux version?
FileZilla
The University of Phoenix is on that list. You know our education system's shot when even the public schools turn into full-fledged businesses (who advertise through spyware no less).
What's next, advertisement from the FBI advising people not to file share?
If the AC's number of 220,000,000 HIV 'active users' is correct, approximately 1 in 30 people WORLDWIDE are infected!
Again I say:
MOD DOWN! HIV/AIDS IS NO LAUGHING MATTER!
ANY unauthorized intrusion into someone's computer is against the law
What does one do when the intruding IP addresses are, at face value, part of the United States Federal Government?
It happened to me not too long ago when my PC's copy of Agnitum's Outpost Firewall trapped four separate intrusion attemps from, at face value,
a particular United States Federal Government agency.
It could have been nothing more than IP spoofery by anonymous Internet pranksters....But what if the intrusions were for real and came from
(un)compromised computers from within said United States Federal Government agency?...
Better (download, install and) use a trustworthy hardware/software firewall before they get compromised to allow such activities to go undetected....
" 43 million active users " Those are not users, they are called "victims" Don't forget Yoda's Star-Wars Quote Gain=Gator=Claira=Active users= Victims=Pissed off=Anger=Hatred= Impending Doom=Dying=Hell=Microsoft= Ie=Internet=Spam=Gain Its all a viscious cycle ;)
Cookies, in and of themselves, are not 'evil'. By wiping out all cookies, you'd be wiping out affiliate links too. In general, affiliates work pretty hard for their little slice of the pie. By wiping out affiliate tracking cookies -- you take money away from work-at-home moms, (and pops) and millions of other 'little guys' who manage to direct you to something you're looking for. Where does the money go? Back into the pocket of the vendor who no longer has to pay their affiliates. What a great deal for them -- free traffic and sales -- zero overhead. Please don't kill cookies unless they are evil ones. Thanks...
LOL!
IPOs are, like, sooo last century, dude!
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Lets see you say this when there are no more WIndows users and Claria starts gunning for Linux.