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Spitzer Sues Intermix Media for Bundling Spyware
CousinLarry writes "Attorney General and corporate watchdog Eliot Spitzer has filed suit against Intermix Software, alleging that the company deviously and deceptively bundles spyware with its 'free' screensaver and game products. 'Spyware and adware are more than an annoyance,' Spitzer said. 'These fraudulent programs foul machines, undermine productivity and in many cases frustrate consumers' efforts to remove them from their computers.'"
While I think Splitzer can be a bit overzealous and grandstanding (plus laying groundwork for his run for political office), I can't think of a better group of companies to go after than *&^%$#@! spyware companies. For those interested in some great detailed info about these cockroaches, take a look at Ben Edelman's web site ... where he also indentifies the folks who finance 'em.
Hulk SMASH Celiac Disease
Nuking the site from orbit is not the only option.
You wiped a computer because of spyware? What would you say if someone wiped their Linux box because Mozilla would not start.
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Just about the same thing. I have not found any spyware that could not be removed. Maybe you actually have to look something up on the internet; but I guess it is a better story if "it was so bad that I had to wipe the box!".
Check out:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/files/killbox.php
and
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description
And read a bit:
http://www.pchell.com/support/spyware.shtml
Not so hard if you really *want* to be able to do it.
Humor from a Genetically Molested Mind
He'll most likely be running for governor of New York state.
Forget the whales - save the babies.
It's worth noting that Intermix also runs the popular "networking" website MySpace. This site is used by lots of people, and many bands have pages set up on there. Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins fame even has a profile on there.
Makes you wonder what they're doing with the information people put on there.
Trying to shut down that daemon or delete the actual EXE files from the computer is a futile effort. The damn thing monitors its own existance in every way that you can imagine.
So you boot off a boot disk or Linux live CD and and remove it. This isn't rocket science.
as far as you can say that Windows can be locked down, which isn't very far
Sorry, you lost me here. Windows can be completely locked down with the right tools and knowhow. Perhaps you should spend less time with BSD, Linux and OSX if people are going to pay you to administer Windows boxes.
Seriously. Almost every time I see Mr. Spitzer's name in the media I like what I see. He is what I view as the embodiment of what it means to be a TRUE American. A genuine good-guy who isn't afraid to stand up for what's right and fuck everyone who doesn't like it. It's pretty sad, but I've never voted for someone who I really wanted to see in some particular office, just mostly against the person who I wanted to prevent from attaining that office. If Spitzer runs for Gov. of NY it would be the first time I would be voting for someone who I really thought completely deserved to win.
- "Hear that?! The percolations are imminent! Cease your ingress!"
Who cares what you guys think down under (yes, I mapped your IP address)
Intermix Media changed names from eUniverse last summer.
That name is more familiar from a lot of spam, as they operate the flowgo.com / smilepop.com spam networks.
Once scum, always scum, I guess.
In Soviet Russia, I ruled you
I haven't got any spyware since I started using firefox. I don't know whos fault it is but, it's easier to get spyware/virues with IE.
I thought spyware is a program that you install thinking it does something usefull, while it spies on you.
Unfortunately there are alot of spyware programs like you mention, and often the false positives are NOT mistakes, but rather deliberate attempts to goad you into buying thier 'pro' version.
In some cases the 'anti-spyware' uninstalls some spyware, but only to prevent competition with the spyware IT comes with.
AOL's current anti-spyware offering falls into the last category IIRC.
Your best bet for free scanners is likely ad-aware (lavasoft) and Spybot Search and Destroy.
One site I've found that talks about the bad anti-spyware products is http://www.spywarewarrior.com/. Give them a look and see if your using one of the bad products.
Mycroft
https://signup.leagueoflegends.com/?ref=4c3ed6600b6ea
Damn that Jewey bastard for trying to combat (hah!) gun violence that causes the death of over 30,000 people a year! Fortunately, gun totin' whackos have a pretty good bead on our elected officials, otherwise some sane legislation that both protects people's right to own weapons (you know, as part of a well-regulated militia) and keeps guns out of the hands of dealers that sell semi-automatic weapons out of the back of their truck to anyone may have been passed at some point.
I suggest you find out what other Horrible Acts he has perpretrated! Truly, he is the worst of the worst.
I think you're missing one of the biggest advantages of civil litigation over criminal litigation: burden of proof. In criminal litigation you have to prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. In civil litigation you only have to do a "preponderance of the evidence" standard which means more likely than not. That's a lot easier to convince someone on. Also a lot of these laws only provide for civil remedies. That means suing is the way to make change. And really that isn't such a bad thing since all that you get additionally with criminal law is throwing the executives in jail, and that won't change the company. And don't forget one of the biggest obsticles to successfully suing companies like this have been their user agreements. You are giving up serious legal rights when you click ok, and those things you agree to are enforceable against you. If you agree to spyware, they have done nothing wrong besides being a jerk. The reason it is trespass is because that is where unauthorized computer use falls. Judges like to do it because they can draw more analogies that way to help them decide things. The name really doesn't mean what it seems like it should. And last of all, there is nothign questionable as far as the illegality of copying music. But the government isn't the ones suing those people, it's the RIAA so it's not like they would sue more spammers if those people weren't brought to trial.
>browse hardcore-porn and warez sites.
I dont know why porn sites get a bad rap. The one's I'm familiar with usually want my cash, not my browsing history. Its fairly common in the web porn industry to have some kind of monthly "adult pass" option payable by credit card.
The worst offenders I've seen are:
1. Download.com : probably the biggest spyware vector out there. Yes, I heard they are now zero-tolerance, but thats about 2 years too late.
2. P2P apps. Bearshare, limewire, Kazaa, etc.
3. Free crappy apps: stuff you coworkers run like "Wallpaper of the day" or "Kitten cursor!" Sofware written pretty much just to get those spyware installers on your machine.
That's because most people run Windows. Migrate enough people to another platform and the crapware authors will follow. Security through obscurity is no security at all.
It's official. Most of you are morons.
And don't forget Sysinternals (many thanks to the Slashdotter who originally clued me up on them)
Their Process Explorer is what the Windows Task Manager should have been. Not only does it show you ALL the running processes but you can kill ANY of them (none of this crap where Windows says "Sorry that's a system process you can't kill it" WTF ? I'm logged in as adminstrator I'll kill what I bloody well want to thankyou very much)
So if you're gutting spyware out of a box then I'd first use this to kill off any superfluous daemon processes, then run Adaware and Spybot S& D, then manually check and clean the registry start up keys, then remove all temp files in windows and internet caches, then look for ".hta" files, ".bat" files. win.ini entries etc. etc.
Of course after doing this a couple of times you'll simply give up, install Linux, and wonder why you ever bothered trying to use something as retarded as Windows ?
I don't know about you but I didn't get into computing so I could spend all my time patching holes in a poorly designed O/S (If I wanted to do that I'd write my own poorly designed O/S) I actually wanted to use my computer to do stuff.
Sky subscribers are morons. They pay to be advertised at !
A hand up and a foot on every chest...