Re: Not all adware is badware

["Fergie" <fergdawg () netzero net>]

*ahem*

Bullshit.

:-)

- ferg


-- "Richard M. Smith" <rms () bsf-llc com> wrote:

Background on Hotbar:
 
    http://sarc.com/avcenter/venc/data/adware.hotbar.html
    http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1825613,00.asp
    http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1825617,00.asp
    http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/02/24/75876_HNSsymantecadware_1.html
    http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/pest/pest.aspx?id=453075474
 
 
Not all adware is badware
http://news.com.com/Not+all+adware+is+badware/2010-7355_3-6058392.html

There is a lot of confusion among Internet users as to the difference between adware and spyware.
Adware--generally defined as software installed by consenting users seeking free, value-added services in exchange for 
exposure to advertisements--is often confused with, or used interchangeably with, the term spyware--advertising-based 
software often installed without the user's knowledge or consent. As a result, adware is frequently, yet 
inappropriately, treated like spyware as a virus or malicious software by anti-spyware programs.

To end this confusion, adware vendors and marketers must do a better job of teaching consumers and the software 
industry how to distinguish adware from spyware. After all, the notion of providing services in return for viewer 
eyeballs is not new and is comparable to viewing advertisements in any other medium, such as network television, radio 
and newspapers.

The mere fact that the software is showing ads should not taint it as illegitimate or cause users to associate it with 
malicious software. However, when legitimate adware is listed in an anti-spyware scanning process, it acquires an 
unjustified negative reputation and falls victim to a serious churn problem that afflicts much legitimate software, 
since users usually eliminate the application by clicking on a default button to "clean" or "remove" suspicious 
software.

Industry leaders such as Symantec have come to recognize the need to differentiate between adware applications and also 
between vendors that practice 100 percent transparency and those that do not. As such, 100 percent transparent 
advertising-based software will be classified by Symantec as low-risk with the recommendation not to remove. That 
provides users with the choice, and it is a meaningful step for the whole industry.

 ... 
Biography
Oren Dobronsky is co-founder and CEO of New York City-based Hotbar.com


--
"Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
 Engineering Architecture for the Internet
 fergdawg () netzero net or fergdawg () sbcglobal net
 ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/



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