Consumer Friendly Downloads?

* * Beatles-Beatles writes to tell us Yahoo and AOL will be offering a new anti-spyware initiative to begin next year. The new initiative will allow vendors to get their software "certified" as easy to remove and not containing spyware. From the article: "It creates market incentives that will change how consumers see software," said Doug Leeds, Yahoo's vice president for product justice. Backers of the initiative believe that consumers wouldn't benefit much from a system in which good products simply display seals of approval. "They are looking for us to do it for them," Leeds said."

Comments

This is so transparent:

[Hosiah]

It's just a front to say "Linux/BSD/Solaris is crap because the .iso file isn't AOL-certified." Meanwhile a malware-spammer with shoverfuls of cash from his latest pink contract will have no problem getting in. And how fast do you thing DRM will get on board? "Hah, Natasha! We can stop anybody from sharing ANYTHING just because it isn't AOL-certified!" "Yes, Boris, and now we make big trouble for moose and squirrel!" AOL-certified will have the opposite effect: products bearing this seal will be treated with an extra measure of suspicioun.