Slashdot Mirror
Kaspersky Wins Important Ruling for the Anti-Malware Industry
ABC writes "Zango sued Kaspersky Lab to force the Company to reclassify Zango's programs as nonthreatening and to prevent Kaspersky Lab's security software from blocking Zango's potentially undesirable programs. In the important ruling for the anti-malware industry, Judge Coughenour of the Western District of Washington threw out Zango's lawsuit on the grounds that Kaspersky was immune from liability under the Communications Decency Act."
Right, because everyone knows how to find the registry, everyone knows how to find how to find the registry, everyone knows how to interpret the registry, everyone knows how to kill programs running as "SYSTEM" and keep them from running again, and all malware is immediately obvious as being on your hard drive.
I didn't say everyone. I implied anyone armed with the knowledge that comes from simply reading a fairly ordinary book. Again, a cursory understanding of the registry and such things startup routines and how to manage what is started and turn off what is undesired (irrespective of what account it will run under) isn't rocket science. It's fundamental to how Windows works, i.e., it should be basic knowledge, just like being able to find a file. The folks who consider themselves "power users" (whatever that is), can google for how to start cmd.exe under the SYSTEM account to impress friends and family; unlikely that they'll ever come across a reason to use it.
You're an idiot.
Look, you won't find a more patient or sympathetic individual when it comes to helping people who don't know very much. I could teach any of the above to a new user in an hour or two, or they could buy a book and learn for themselves. Hardly an onerous requirement, given that most of us are (and will be, for the forseeable future) spending our waking hours using a computer. Hell, I'd bet most of the positive results from these malware scanners is a direct result of simply people not bothering to configure whatever program they installed and now need a tool to uncheck the radio boxes they left checked.
If you're thinking "Well, no one needs to know anything -- they just want to use a tool", then consider two fairly evident truths. First, a computer isn't a single-purpose tool. The "La la la I can't hear you!" approach won't make it so. Second, the investment in time learning something always outweighs the costs of insisting on (or trumpeting) ignorance, and then dealing consequences thereof. Only an idealogue would suggest otherwise.
In that light, installing and running malware scanners, etc., etc., etc., I see as a convience at best, and a false economy at worst. That's a fair statement. Put another way, you don't need them.