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Gator Forces Site To Remove 'Spyware' Label
Posted by
simoniker
on Wed Oct 22, 2003 07:31 PM
from the gentler-nicer-language dept.
from the gentler-nicer-language dept.
lurker412 writes "CNet News is reporting that Gator has forced PC Pitstop to remove Web pages that call Gator's software 'spyware.' The correct term, according to Gator, is 'adware.' The article states: 'If we find anyone publicly calling us spyware, we correct it and take action if necessary,' said Scott Eagle, Gator's senior vice president of marketing. So be careful what you say in your comments..."
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Me first (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Me first (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:Me first (Score:4, Insightful)
No, think about it. They can claim their product doesn't "Spy", but when it comes to arguments about its crap-like qualities, they haven't a foot to stand on.
Parent
Re:Me first (Score:4, Interesting)
Spyware Spyware Spyware!! Spy-spy-spy-ware! SPYWARE!
Daniel
Parent
Re:Me first (Score:5, Informative)
In my opinion, it's more accurately termed "crappy spyware with intrusive popups", but I can see why they'd want to call it "adware" instead.
RoboForm [roboform.com] is much better and isn't adware, spyware, or anything similar. It even imports Gator's stored information, though I'm not sure why you'd need much of an incentive to move away from Gator.
(I'm not affiliated with Siber Systems, the maker of RoboForm, I'm just a *VERY* happy user.)
Parent
Re:Me first - Gator is NOT spyware (Score:5, Funny)
This is the Gator is NOT spyware [cjb.net] URL...
Parent
Re:Me first (Score:5, Informative)
I am a computer tech at a small mom-and-pop TV repair and computer store. I spend most of my time cleaning up systems that have become completely useless because of spyware like, Gator, Bonzi Buddy, Xupiter, Weatherbug, Comet Cursor, the list goes on and on. Sometimes, Lavasoft Ad-aware won't get them all, and I have to use Spybot search and destroy. This crapware was turned the internet into a minefield for the non-technical, who are the majority of computer users. It is a public nusiance. The people who create this stuff are racketeers. Perhaps the people behind all this crapware believe that computers are meant for the techno-elite, and never should have reached the masses. If their goal is to make millions give up on computers, they may be succesful. If only the techno-elite used computers, I would be out of a job, but I might be happier. Cleaning this crap off of hard drives because people need their data instead of just formatting them and reinstalling is making me CRAZY!!
Parent
Re:Me first (Score:5, Insightful)
Gator is spyware. They have a history of using drive by installs and misleading ads and trojan programs all designed with the purpose of making profiles of end users and manipulating the end user's browsing behavior.
This lawsuit is nothing but a stupid little word game played by shysters in a pathetic attempt to legitimize their game. They are like the spammers who put an opt out button in the spam with the idea that the opt out button legitimizes the spam.
Oh well, I hope slashdot and all of the users who responded to this post are ready to defend their free speach in a Gatorific round of lawsuits. I have looked at Gator, I've seen it in action. It is spyware.
Parent
Re:Me first (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:Me first (Score:4, Interesting)
I spent 2.5 days last Christmas trying to remove all the crap that Gator and it's buddy the ad-downloader put on my in-laws system. The family that "agreed" to install this "legitimate" software had a difficult time understanding what it did even after I explained it to them several times. Their hard drive was full, and half of it was from adware that Gator downloaded. The system was so slow as to be almost unusable.
One person on our team of 6 tech support people at work was a full-time Gator uninstaller last year until we upgraded to virus protection which blocked it. That's how bad it was.
Gator may not be spying, but it is a malicious intruder, a trojan horse that pours out a malitia of bogus advertisement software under the guise of "helping" people by providing their personal information to any web page that asks for it (a pretty sobering thought by itself). I'd call it mal-ware after the word, "Malicious".
Like SCO, Gator masquerades as something that it's not - a legitimate company with a legitimate product. It is therefore very difficult to do anything about it legally. Somebody, somewhere is supporting this company. Maybe we can petition them to stop?
Parent
Re:Me first (Score:5, Funny)
I think I see your problem. Windows ME wasn't made in 1996. Unless..... Oh my! You must be from the future! So what is longhorn like, future boy? I'd like to see it myself, but I don't have an extra 1.21-Gigawatts.
Parent
Me Second (Score:5, Funny)
Gator is Spyware, you fuckers. Spyware. Spyware. Spyware.
Please send me a nastygram. My career is stalled, and I could really use the publicity.
Love,
Wil Wheaton
Linux weenie who doesn't even use your crappy SPYware.
PS- It's spyware.
Parent
Re:Me Second (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
You're gonna feel really embarassed... (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:Umm... Dude... (Score:4, Funny)
Was it on /. or a newsgroup that somebody told Christiansen "you obviously know nothing about Perl"?
Finally ... a moment where my .sig is on topic! ;-)
That post (it was a few years ago) was one of the funniest things I ever read on Slashdot, and it has been entrenched in my .sig ever since...
Parent
Re:Me Third (Score:5, Funny)
Just name your band or your demo album "Gator is Spyware" -- that ought to ruffle some feathers and get you your cease and desist...
Parent
alternative names.... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:alternative names.... (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:alternative names.... (Score:5, Funny)
Crispin
----
Crispin Cowan, Ph.D.
Chief Scientist, Immunix Inc. [immunix.com]
Parent
Be? (Score:4, Informative)
"Malware", people. Covers a lotta crap.
Parent
Re:alternative names.... (Score:4, Interesting)
Parent
Re:alternative names.... (Score:4, Interesting)
Spamware is probably the most appropriate term for this ilk.
Parent
whoa... whoa! (Score:5, Funny)
Gator = Spyware (Score:4, Insightful)
QED.
Re:Gator = Spyware (Score:5, Insightful)
I feel that software is "spyware" if it meets the following tests:
1. Does the software install itself without the user's knowledge or consent?
2. Does it monitor user behaviour of any kind?
3. Does it do this monitoring without the user's consent?
EULAs of other software that has the spyware as a bundle that mention the forced installation of bundled third-party software do not satisfy the consent requirements in (1). IANAL, but I feel that a clause in an EULA that requires a user to enter into a contractual arrangement with an unknown third party is invalid.
For (2), monitoring on its own is not sufficient. It also has to send back information to an external host. However, for the purposes of (2), any encrypted communications to the Internet counts as monitoring until proven otherwise (what is the software doing that requires encryption?)
For (3), it's not sufficient to have this in the EULA, and especially so if the user is not presented with the EULA or the software otherwise installs surreptitiously as defined in (1). EULAs cannot be enforced if the user is not given the opportunity to read them.
If Gator meets these 3 tests, it's spyware. Whether it has other functions that allow it to be called "adware" is irrelevant.
Parent
Re: Use of Q.E.D. (Score:4, Interesting)
Parent
Re: Use of Q.E.D. (Score:4, Informative)
It is typically used to signify the end of a mathematical (or other) proof. Unfortunately, I have never read Cryptonomicron (sp?), so I can't understand why the above poster would have a problem with another person using it. Maybe he thinks that people otherwise wouldn't have known the term unless they read it in the book?
Personally, one of my professors used it at the end of a proof in lecture one day and another kid asked what it meant. *shrug*
Parent
Gator is Spyware (Score:3, Insightful)
So while technically they are correct they should also realise that they are sleazebags who sleep with SCO. There. That should piss them off.
Oh, and P.S.: Gator is Spyware. Ha!
A rose is a rose... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:A rose is a rose... (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Re:A rose is a rose... (Score:5, Funny)
In the beginning was the plan.
And then came the Assumptions.
And the Assumptions were without form.
And the Plan was without substance.
And darkness was upon the face of the Workers.
And they spoke among themselves, saying,
"It is a crock of shit, and it stinketh."
And the Workers went unto their Supervisors and said,
"It is a pail of dung, and none may abide the odor thereof."
And the Supervisors went unto their Managers, saying,
"It is a container of excrement, and it is very strong,
such that none may abide by it."
And the Managers went unto their Directors, saying,
"It is a vessel of fertilizer, and none may abide its strength."
And the Directors spoke amongst themselves, saying one to another,
"It contains that which aids plant growth, and it is very strong."
And the Directors then went unto the Vice-Presidents, saying unto them,
"It promotes growth, and it is very powerful."
And the Vice-Presidents went unto the President, saying unto him,
"This new plan will actively promote the growth and vigor
of the company, with powerful effects."
And the President Looked upon the Plan, and saw that it was good.
And the Plan became Policy.
Parent
Are you sure? (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Re:A rose is a rose... (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
In other news... (Score:3, Funny)
Gator is trash and spyware (Score:5, Insightful)
Thanks alot, Gator! You've made me look like a PC Repair genius as simply running Ad-Aware on most systems to remove the stinking heap of maggot infested goat dung your software is from a user's PC thereby speeding it up and making it crash less often!
Re:Gator is trash and spyware (Score:4, Informative)
What about bonzi buddy... I think that stupid little ape made computers at least as annoying, probably more so.
Parent
Notified? (Score:5, Interesting)
Also, I hope Gator reads this, so they know how much we hate them. But maybe I should thank them for generating extra business for me to remove their program from clients' computers.
New Term: (Score:5, Funny)
GATOR IS SPYWARE (Score:3, Informative)
Here's what we do know...
While we don't know the identity of GAIN-Supported Software users, the GAIN AdServer and TGC collect and use the following kinds of anonymous information:
so you track who we are (list item 6, and 7 different list items of data about us, including what kind of computer we have, where we surf, what software we use to go there and configuration information on our computers.) YOU ARE SPYING ON US.
spy [reference.com]
n. pl. spies (spz)
for those who are illiteratei among us, please check the third definition.
Thus I declare that you (Gator) are manufactures and purveyors of spyware onto the masses.
Straight from their privacy policy: (Score:3, Informative)
Until there's some kind of legal definition of "spyware" versus "adware", I certainly would classify it as spyware. "Non-personally identifiable" my ass... if someone snuck into my house and found out all that information about me, I wouldn't call it "advertising". Stealing a company's non-personally identifiable trade secrets is spying. Stealing non-personally identifiable documents from a classified government facility is spying.
Still, given the persistent, near un-uninstallable nature of it, think "spyware" isn't a good term... "Malware" or "Evilware" is probably more appropriate.
free software (Score:5, Funny)
Weatherscope provides easy access to local temperature and extended weather forecasts. Taking a trip? Weatherscope gives you the current and future conditions!
Cool, no more endless searching of weather.com!
Precision Time - Make sure your computer clock always has the correct time. Synchronize your computer clock with one of the world's most precise timekeeping devices - the U.S. Atomic Clock.
Awesome! I hate being
Date Manager - Never miss another important date or reminder. Date Manager shows today's date in your system tray and allows you to quickly pull up a two-month calendar and set reminders.
WOW I can't believe this is free!!!!
Gator eWallet - The world's most popular digital wallet. The Gator eWallet automatically remembers login IDs/passwords and fills in online forms with just one click. No more lost passwords, and no more typing information such as address, email, credit card numbers, etc!
This is great, I'm sure your data is completely secure since this software was written by such an innovative company!
Don't like what you hear? Tell Gator (Score:3, Interesting)
Smells like.... (Score:3, Funny)
More accurately: PC Pitstop *settles* with Gator (Score:3, Informative)
Gator is using classic bullying tactics: Keep bullying so people think you can win a fight, and they'll avoid standing up to you.
If the definition of "spyware" is defined by the courts through analysis of popular usage, then it seems that all of the sites out there calling Gator "spyware" would be extending definition of the term to include Gator, even though Gator is not according to their own definition, "spyware".
If Enron calls itself an honest company, and thousands of news articles and blogs declare it a dishonest company, who is right? Is Enron an honest company merely because it says it is?
Is Gator an honest Internet citizen because it declares itself to be, as it stands in plain view red-handed?
Sure (Score:5, Funny)
And hillbillies prefer to be called 'sons of the soil'. But it ain't gonna happen.
Sleazy Tactics (In my Opinion) (Score:5, Interesting)
In an effort to improve its corporate reputation, adware company Gator has launched a legal offensive to divorce its name from the hated term "spyware"--and so far its strategy is paying off.
Ok - the basis for my opinion:
Gator's lawsuit is based on libel law. For a statement to be libelous, generally, it must meet the following requirements:
Now, defenses to libel include:
- Truth; and
- Opinion.
Allegedly libelous statements are not actionable if they are mere statements of opinion. Statements that cause damage (no matter how much damage!) are not actionable if the statement is true. Now here's the sleazy part: Gator is taking it upon itself to provide a definition of "spyware," claiming its software does not meet that definition, and suing for libel. Implicit in the the claim is that the statement that Gator software is "spyware" is the claim that the label "spyware" is false because it does not meet the definition of the term that Gator provided.Did you catch that? Your statement is false because it does not match the definition of the term that Gator likes. Never mind the possibility that the term was coined by others and may have a meaning that matches what the software actually does. Gator does not like the way a negative term is being applied to its software so it will try to change the definition of the term.
This tactic is often used in advertising. Perfect example is when telephone companies claim their rates are lower than rates of a competitor and in the fine print you find out that their definition of a competitor's rate is the rate that competitor charges at the crack of noon on the highest call volume day of the year to a point exactly opposite you on the planet with the CEO of the company personally connecting the call for you. I know my example exaggerates (maybe not that much!) but what the hell, it's an example.
Whether or not the law warrants this type of suit, I personally think it is a sleazy business tactic to try to improve your company's image by using lawsuits to silence critics. There are laws (anti-SLAPP laws - SLAPP stands for Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) that are designed to let judges throw out libel suits designed to silence critics.
Last time I checked, the commonly accepted definition of "spyware" fit the Gator program perfectly. I understand it to be software that collects information about you (with or without your permission) in the background. If Gator doesn't like the way it's products are labeled or perceived, I think it should advertise or maybe change its business model, but definitely not sue to silence critics expressing their opinions.
Move Sig (Score:5, Funny)
Re:on permban (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
Re:on permban (Score:3, Informative)
Note that this is no less intrusive than pages that have Macromedia Flash on the
What? (Score:5, Insightful)
Gator is NOT winning. 23,000 sites with the words gator and spyware [google.com]. They might as well try to halt peer to peer music trading. By calling themselves, "adware" they will forever malign the name "adware". Gator is scum and anyone who has anything to do with them shall be judged as scum.
Parent