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180 Solutions Cuts Back on Spyware Installs
An anonymous reader writes "Washingtonpost.com is reporting that adware purveyor 180Solutions has finally decided to stop letting third-party companies install their programs for commission without 180's approval. The story says 180 announced the move after pressure from public interest groups who threatened to file a formal complaint with regulators at the Federal Trade Commission."
Ok, lets get one thing straight.
Spyware = Gets information from your computer that you would not want some random schmuck knowing.
Adware = Shows an advertisement.
Malware = Does bad things to your system/configuration.
This article has successfully misused the term spyware once again. Just because adware often contains spyware, or acts as a gateway and downloads/installs spyware on yoru machine, does not make the adware itself spyware.
If you are going to use the terms, please use them correctly.
From the article: ad-serving software (labeled by some as "spyware")
"UPDATE, 5:44 p.m. ET: Spyware researcher Eric Howes points out that it is perhaps clearer to say that 180 will no longer allow third parties to install its software unless the method of install is first approved by 180. More specifically, the company will no longer let third-parties install its software via "ActiveX," a component included in Internet Explorer that spyware purveyors commonly abuse to install their wares with little or no interaction on the part of the user."
A dumbass who has his $2,000.
The cop said that because the court system is overloaded, nobody gives a crap, and they're hoping you just go away. The theory goes that you'll get worn out doing the "everything you can" bit, and by the time it comes to filing a claim in small claims court (which is where you might want to consider going, but I'm not a lawyer, so do your homework), you'll be too exasperated.
The proper course of action is a registered letter that is polite; ask for the money. Wait a week or two. Then send a registered letter which says (basically) "I sent you a registed letter which was signed for on X/Y/ZZZZ by ___, which asked for the money you owe me. You did not reply. You have until _/_/___ to give me my money back, or I take you to court to recover the money." Give a reasonable time period. Photocopy both letters before they're sent.
Then you sue them in small claims court. Why this quick? Because once you have a judgement, you get costs of filing plus costs of recouping the funds, PLUS assistance (I believe) from the Sherriff in recouping funds (if necessary, seizure of assets!) because it's a court order. Best part? If they don't show up- judgement in your favor, automatically.
If you go to a lot of effort or money to recoup the money before filing the case, you're much less likely to get it back. Folks- courts really aren't nearly as big a deal as they sound. Civil and small claims court are where these matters are SUPPOSED to get settled!
Please help metamoderate.
well technically, they don't provide spyware. They provide adware. There's a difference, not that anyone really cares. They both suck just as bad too me.
While it's too late now.
I'm fairly certain that low end Dell's now ship with it. They have a lot of stuff installed... even Office trial that can be purchased. I'm not sure, but I think WP was the full version, but only included on CD.
So yeah, that might explain the price break on the new equipment and boy does it slow them down. So of course I wipe and reinstall... then create an image disk for all of the systems.
Unfortunately, I can't go back and confirm it on the dozen new systems, because they no longer have the factory install.
"You should always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't come to yours." -- Yogi Berra
It's not just on low end Dells. I have a fairly new Dell XPS Gen 5 that came with a lot of preinstalled junk, including some borderline spyware.
Aside from noting that an adware company ending their bundling of spyware with their product is roughly analogous to a suicide bomber deciding not to include shrapnel in his bomb when he takes out school bus, the article is mistitled. 180 Solutions is not, in fact, cutting spyware out of the picture. Reading the article reveals they are merely ceasing the inclusion of Integrated Search Technologies marvelous toolbar/browser hijackers.
Man how I love getting called in to fix a slow computer and seeing 3 or 4 of those toolbars, plus Yahoo, Google, and Lycos toolbars taking up half the screen.
I have an HP (twe months old), I can't say that it is full of spyware. Yes it has Realplayer on there and it did have a dial home for the ATI graphics board, but nothing else. Realplayer is deactivated until use and one click with Hijackthis removed the dial home crap. It's mostly full of useless shite that you probably will never use like iTunes and PCHelp. Besides, a good firewall like Kerio (fantastic) will always tell you if something is trying to dial home or even playing about within your system. And use Firefox or an IE based browser that doesn't allow BHOs like Deepnet and most things that find their way on your pc should have little or no effect. IMHO spybot finds things that half the time ain't there. Adaware is the better of the two. 180 solutions should burn in hell. I remember getting their shit back in my win98 days.