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Lenovo Won't Pay a Fine For Preinstalling Superfish Adware (theverge.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: In 2014, Lenovo began bundling a third-party adware program called "Superfish" into its consumer PCs. Now, nearly three years later, the company is facing the consequences. Today, Lenovo settled a lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission over the Superfish adware, agreeing to get affirmative consent for any future adware programs, as well as audited security checks of their software for the next 20 years. Installed on Lenovo laptops between September 2014 and January 2015, Superfish was granted root certificate access, allowing it to insert ads into even HTTPS-protected webpages. According to the FTC's indictment, breaking HTTPS presented a clear risk to consumers -- but Lenovo isn't going to have to pay for putting customers at risk. Instead, the settlement requires Lenovo to give clear notice to customers of any data collection or ad-serving programs bundled on their laptops, and get affirmative consent before the software is installed. Lenovo also agreed to conduct an ongoing security review of its bundled software, running regular third-party audits for the next 20 years.
The next time you plan to install a rootkit on PCs and spy on people, first found a corporation. Then it's apparently no longer a crime.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
It is the CEO's responsibility to know what's going on in his company. What the fuck is that idiot good for if he doesn't? The "decisions" made at that level could be gained from a magic-8-ball with at least the same level of quality.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
The CEO is the only one who can make the changes all the way down. If the CEO's written policy is "don't install slimeware on our client's machines", then that message is going to get passed down to the VPs and Directors. If their jobs and bonuses are at risk because they let a manager install slimeware, they're going to say "Teams, don't install slimeware." And if the engineers know that if they get caught installing slimeware they will be tarred and feathered, they won't do it.
Therefore, to solve the problem you might try to throw a few CEOs in jail now, and keep throwing them in jail until the rest get the message. Much cheaper than prosecuting hundreds of engineers and middle managers. Seems like a good idea, right?
The real problem is that everyone knows it's darn profitable to install slimeware on client computers. All it will really do is get the rest of the C level execs in the industry to hire better lawyers, to find legally defensible loopholes around the rules, and to "donate" more to various "pro-business" politicians in order to change the laws. And you and I will still end up with slimeware in our new PCs.
John