The icons on his desktop (o, o.bat, and some executables whose names I forget) were part of a CoolWebSearch infestation.... One of the packages it had downloaded was WhenU.... These guys have just as much right to forcefully install advertising software on my computer as I have to break into your house and paint "visit slashdot.org" on your wall. Which is to say, none.
But if you did so, who should be subject to a lawsuit -- you or Slashdot?
Shouldn't the law target the developer who exploited the MSIE bug to get the software installed, rather than the company behind one of the installed products?
Of course if Earth->orbit costs come down by a couple of orders of magnitude, for instance with an elevator, then it's a different game entirely, but I think we're probably 20-30 years away from that, if we're lucky.
Slashdot Mirror
But if you did so, who should be subject to a lawsuit -- you or Slashdot?
Shouldn't the law target the developer who exploited the MSIE bug to get the software installed, rather than the company behind one of the installed products?
Trust me, we're not that lucky.