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AOL 9.0 Called Badware
An anonymous reader writes "The bad news at AOL keeps coming. First they get in trouble for releasing search data on more than half a million customers, then it gives away security software with a nasty EULA, now its free client software is accused of acting like badware according to Stopbadware.org, the Google-funded rating group."
I've heard of malware, and I'm all too familiar with spyware, but what the h-e-double-hockey-sticks is badware?
Yes, I'm too lazy to RTFA. Can you help a brother out?
Given StopBadware.org's criteria, why isn't at least Windows XP listed?
Microsoft produces Baldwares. Or Ballwares. You to decide!
If Joe Schmoe can't understand the risks associated with using a PC, then perhaps this Joe Schmoe shouldn't be using one. Not just for the safety of his own computer and data, but for the safety of everyone else's systems. After all, it is often computers owned by people like the average Joe Schmoe which get compromised and are used to send spam or propagate worms.
We wouldn't let Joe Schmoe drive an automobile if he wasn't aware of the dangers of doing so. He knows that getting into an accident can be fatal to himself and others, even if he doesn't have a deep understanding of Newtonian mechanics and biology. He knows that drinking and driving can lead to accidents, even if he's not a toxicologist. If he doesn't understand such basic ideas, he will either not get his license in the first place, or he will lose it if he does manage to get one.
Perhaps the same expectations of responsibility need to be put upon computer users.
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