SPYWARE and Adware
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Andy Hunter wrote: As far as I am concerned the installation of unwanted and unapproved programs onto your computer should constitute trespassing with an malicious intent and should be prosecuted as such. I think you've made a great point. I wonder what would happen if someone were to file a civil action once Spyware or Adware were found on their PC. I wonder if the ACLU .. . . nah Mike "liberals were driven crazy by Bush." Me To: Dixie Sluts, M. Moore, the Boss, Bon Jovi, Clooney, Penn, Babs, Soros, Redford, Gore, Daschle - "bye bye" Me "I voted for W." Me "There you go again." RR "Flushed the Johns" Me
I mean they could group it under the Computer Fraud and Abuse act and just let the Feds deal with it. I believe once inacted it would be pretty easy to enforce. We should start a petition or something along those lines.
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Yeah, but in order for Congress to be able to do anything, they must first fund it themselves. So their first act of business would probably be to create an internet tax. Besides, that only deals with U.S. spam. :( "For that one fraction of a second, you were open to options you would never have considered. That is the exploration that awaits you. Not mapping stars and studying nebula, but charting the unknown possibilities of existence." - Q (Star Trek: The Next Generation) ^ Blog
As for it only dealing with US matters, I do believe we are long overdue for a worldwide council dealing with internet matters. It could be added as a supplement to the INTERPOL computer crimes division. I mean we have world wide tasks forces to deal with hackers and virus writers, why not simply put out a change which places Adware and Spyware under controls and allows an agency to regulate them? I do not see why it is not controlled by any trade commission at the moment.
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Is it just me or is everyone fed up with spyware and adware. I think it is time some people got together and polled Congress to get rid of this problem all together. As far as I am concerned the installation of unwanted and unapproved programs onto your computer should constitute trespassing with an malicious intent and should be prosecuted as such. I remember a time when I was working on a project and my computer crashed as a result of an unapproved adware install. I lost work over that!!!!! I mean really, writing viruses and worms is illegal, shouldn't spyware be grouped under the same heading?
How about a simpler solution: Don't use outlook express Don't use outlook Don't use IE for anything web-related I have followed this for years and never once gotten spyware on my system. There are plenty of alternatives to all of these software packages, both commercial and free. Seems to beat the hell out of getting the gov't involved in something like this. ¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned
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How about a simpler solution: Don't use outlook express Don't use outlook Don't use IE for anything web-related I have followed this for years and never once gotten spyware on my system. There are plenty of alternatives to all of these software packages, both commercial and free. Seems to beat the hell out of getting the gov't involved in something like this. ¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned
Jim Crafton wrote: How about a simpler solution: Don't use outlook express Don't use outlook Don't use IE for anything web-related I have followed this for years and never once gotten spyware on my system. Interesting. I've used all three apps for the last few years and never had a single piece of spyware on my system either. Mind you, I'm fully patched and virus protection is up-to-date and not gullible enough to accept ActiveX controls when I'm browsing. Jim Crafton wrote: There are plenty of alternatives to all of these software packages, both commercial and free. I've still to come across anything as good as Outlook for mail/calender and contact management all in one app. Michael CP Blog [^]
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Jim Crafton wrote: How about a simpler solution: Don't use outlook express Don't use outlook Don't use IE for anything web-related I have followed this for years and never once gotten spyware on my system. Interesting. I've used all three apps for the last few years and never had a single piece of spyware on my system either. Mind you, I'm fully patched and virus protection is up-to-date and not gullible enough to accept ActiveX controls when I'm browsing. Jim Crafton wrote: There are plenty of alternatives to all of these software packages, both commercial and free. I've still to come across anything as good as Outlook for mail/calender and contact management all in one app. Michael CP Blog [^]
I've used all three apps for the last few years and never had a single piece of spyware on my system either. Yeah but you're probably considerably more savvy than most perhaps? Mind you, I'm fully patched and virus protection is up-to-date Hell, up until a year ago I hadn't even bothered with the patches for Win2k (I did have the latest SP though). And I still don't bother with AVS, I just use a hardware router. I've still to come across anything as good as Outlook for mail/calender and contact management all in one app. Yeah I guess. I don't use most of those features so mozilla mail (or Thunderbird now) was always fine for me. I would be curious to see how Thunderbird grows in regard to these features. They seem to have done a good job with Firefox in tackling a solid feature set. I wonder if a lot of those features that Outlook has that make it attractive will ever find their way into Thunderbird? ¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned
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Is it just me or is everyone fed up with spyware and adware. I think it is time some people got together and polled Congress to get rid of this problem all together. As far as I am concerned the installation of unwanted and unapproved programs onto your computer should constitute trespassing with an malicious intent and should be prosecuted as such. I remember a time when I was working on a project and my computer crashed as a result of an unapproved adware install. I lost work over that!!!!! I mean really, writing viruses and worms is illegal, shouldn't spyware be grouped under the same heading?
Andy Hunter wrote: Is it just me or is everyone fed up with spyware and adware. I've just installed the new Yahoo! Toolbar with Anti-Spy[^] on a couple of problem PC users here at work just last week and today. I am curious to see if it works or not. Later, JoeSox Word of the Day: genuflect http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/ CPMCv1.0 ↔ humanaiproject.org ↔ joeswammi.com/sinfest
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How about a simpler solution: Don't use outlook express Don't use outlook Don't use IE for anything web-related I have followed this for years and never once gotten spyware on my system. There are plenty of alternatives to all of these software packages, both commercial and free. Seems to beat the hell out of getting the gov't involved in something like this. ¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned
I don't use any of those things and I do have the removers for spyware and adware. My main point is that this is something that just shouldn't be allowed. I believe some changes should be made to make it illegal to install software on your system without explicit consent. These producers of these programs are thriving on the fact that everyone views the subject as an exceptable nusance, whereas I akin it to an unacceptable trespass. The realworld equivalent to what they are doing electronically is someone sneaking into your house and putting up advertisements overnight or someone setting up a video camera in you kitchen to find out what you eat for breakfast in the morning so they can 'better serve your needs'. I believe that something should be done to put a stop to this.
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Is it just me or is everyone fed up with spyware and adware. I think it is time some people got together and polled Congress to get rid of this problem all together. As far as I am concerned the installation of unwanted and unapproved programs onto your computer should constitute trespassing with an malicious intent and should be prosecuted as such. I remember a time when I was working on a project and my computer crashed as a result of an unapproved adware install. I lost work over that!!!!! I mean really, writing viruses and worms is illegal, shouldn't spyware be grouped under the same heading?
Andy Hunter wrote: I mean really, writing viruses and worms is illegal, shouldn't spyware be grouped under the same heading? It probably is. But perhaps the law isn't specific enough. In the UK the 1990 Misuse of Computers Act and the 1998 Data Protection Act both cover AdWare, Malware and Spyware - but there problem is most of the legislation defines it as a criminal act. If it is a criminal act then it must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the access to a user's computer was unauthorised, and often malware arrives via downloads that the user chose to install not realising the hidden payload (or the payload that was described in complex legal jargon buried deep in the EULA that the user just blindly accepted). And if the "supplier" of the malware is outside the UK, then it becomes even more difficult to track down and procecute the person.
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I've used all three apps for the last few years and never had a single piece of spyware on my system either. Yeah but you're probably considerably more savvy than most perhaps? Mind you, I'm fully patched and virus protection is up-to-date Hell, up until a year ago I hadn't even bothered with the patches for Win2k (I did have the latest SP though). And I still don't bother with AVS, I just use a hardware router. I've still to come across anything as good as Outlook for mail/calender and contact management all in one app. Yeah I guess. I don't use most of those features so mozilla mail (or Thunderbird now) was always fine for me. I would be curious to see how Thunderbird grows in regard to these features. They seem to have done a good job with Firefox in tackling a solid feature set. I wonder if a lot of those features that Outlook has that make it attractive will ever find their way into Thunderbird? ¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned
Jim Crafton wrote: Yeah but you're probably considerably more savvy than most perhaps? I like to think so. Jim Crafton wrote: I wonder if a lot of those features that Outlook has that make it attractive will ever find their way into Thunderbird? I'd like to think somebody could develop a good open-source contact manager in the vein of Outlook. Thunderbird would make a good basis. Michael CP Blog [^]
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Andy Hunter wrote: I mean really, writing viruses and worms is illegal, shouldn't spyware be grouped under the same heading? It probably is. But perhaps the law isn't specific enough. In the UK the 1990 Misuse of Computers Act and the 1998 Data Protection Act both cover AdWare, Malware and Spyware - but there problem is most of the legislation defines it as a criminal act. If it is a criminal act then it must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the access to a user's computer was unauthorised, and often malware arrives via downloads that the user chose to install not realising the hidden payload (or the payload that was described in complex legal jargon buried deep in the EULA that the user just blindly accepted). And if the "supplier" of the malware is outside the UK, then it becomes even more difficult to track down and procecute the person.
Do you want to know more? WDevs.com - Member's Software Directories, Blogs, FTP, Mail and Forums
So perhaps the goal should be to revise the laws in place to make them more specific with regards to common practices today. I know that the majority of the spyware I have detected recently did not come as a part of a download or activex plugin. It most likely was the result of links between web pages. So basically full disclosure in most instances is not provided. As for problems outside of a single nation that is why it might be productive to have INTERPOL police such problems.
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As for it only dealing with US matters, I do believe we are long overdue for a worldwide council dealing with internet matters. It could be added as a supplement to the INTERPOL computer crimes division. I mean we have world wide tasks forces to deal with hackers and virus writers, why not simply put out a change which places Adware and Spyware under controls and allows an agency to regulate them? I do not see why it is not controlled by any trade commission at the moment.
I'm not sure if there is a world-wide task force that deals with computer hackers. I think one nation tends to ask another for assistance when a hacker is located outside its borders, and they generally do it out of goodwill. "For that one fraction of a second, you were open to options you would never have considered. That is the exploration that awaits you. Not mapping stars and studying nebula, but charting the unknown possibilities of existence." - Q (Star Trek: The Next Generation) ^ Blog
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Andy Hunter wrote: Is it just me or is everyone fed up with spyware and adware. I've just installed the new Yahoo! Toolbar with Anti-Spy[^] on a couple of problem PC users here at work just last week and today. I am curious to see if it works or not. Later, JoeSox Word of the Day: genuflect http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/ CPMCv1.0 ↔ humanaiproject.org ↔ joeswammi.com/sinfest
I'm a great fan of Yahoo, but isn't that just installing one form of spy-ware to remove another. :) "For that one fraction of a second, you were open to options you would never have considered. That is the exploration that awaits you. Not mapping stars and studying nebula, but charting the unknown possibilities of existence." - Q (Star Trek: The Next Generation) ^ Blog
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I'm a great fan of Yahoo, but isn't that just installing one form of spy-ware to remove another. :) "For that one fraction of a second, you were open to options you would never have considered. That is the exploration that awaits you. Not mapping stars and studying nebula, but charting the unknown possibilities of existence." - Q (Star Trek: The Next Generation) ^ Blog
Bassam Abdul-Baki wrote: I'm a great fan of Yahoo, but isn't that just installing one form of spy-ware to remove another. :rolleyes: What does that make Microsoft then? :~ :wtf::) Later, JoeSox Word of the Day: genuflect http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/ CPMCv1.0 ↔ humanaiproject.org ↔ joeswammi.com/sinfest
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Bassam Abdul-Baki wrote: I'm a great fan of Yahoo, but isn't that just installing one form of spy-ware to remove another. :rolleyes: What does that make Microsoft then? :~ :wtf::) Later, JoeSox Word of the Day: genuflect http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/ CPMCv1.0 ↔ humanaiproject.org ↔ joeswammi.com/sinfest
A Spy OS. :-D Would be easier if Microsoft release their source code just so that spy-ware programmers can make their applications more compatible. :-D "For that one fraction of a second, you were open to options you would never have considered. That is the exploration that awaits you. Not mapping stars and studying nebula, but charting the unknown possibilities of existence." - Q (Star Trek: The Next Generation) ^ Blog
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How about a simpler solution: Don't use outlook express Don't use outlook Don't use IE for anything web-related I have followed this for years and never once gotten spyware on my system. There are plenty of alternatives to all of these software packages, both commercial and free. Seems to beat the hell out of getting the gov't involved in something like this. ¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned
Strange, I've broken all those rules for many, many years and have yet to get any spyware on my system. On the other hand we all know someone, perhaps a relative, that clicks on every thing that pops up on their screen and their computer is so loaded with spyware it's almost unusable. I think it's just common sense.