According to FCC Chairman Michael Powell the "Telephone companies will
be allowed to share, without consent, private customer data with affiliates
that offer communications-related services".
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=569&ncid=738&e=&u=/nm/20020716/tc
_nm/telecoms_privacy_dc_1
The lone dissent? "Everyone should understand that this decision is
neither narrow nor pro-privacy," said Commissioner Michael Copps. "When the
stakes for misuse are so high, the commission should be extraordinarily
vigilant."
Ignoring that concern, FCC Chairman Michael Powell further stated that
"consumers have a reduced expectation of privacy regarding (their telephone
usage data) where this information is used by their existing carriers to
market services customarily offered by telephone companies, such as
voicemail and Internet access,"...
Did you know that you have a "reduced expectation of privacy ragarding"
your "telephone usage data"? Well you do... so if companies like Gator are,
or advertise for, affiliated firms that "market services customarily offered
by telephone companies, such as voicemail and Internet access" then your
preventing the download of a trojan would certainly run afoul of FCC
Chairman Michael Powell.
By the way... "scofflaws" like myself use a combination of
NortonAntiVirus/LavasoftAdaware/Zonealarm to detect what's trying to go out,
as well as blocking who's trying to reach in... anybody have anecdotes
and/or suggestions regarding that defensive set they might like to share
with myself, my firm and my extensive support system(burden?) of friends and
family?
Dane
-----Original Message-----
From: Jere Retzer [mailto:retzerj@private]
Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2002 9:32 AM
To: crime@private
Subject: CRIME Gator
Am I the only one that sees some security concerns with the Gator approach?
Do current laws prevent this approach for downloading a trojan? Reporting
back information such as credit card numbers? See the following article:
Fool.com: Peeved Over Pop-ups [Fool on the Hill] July 17, 2002
(http://www.fool.com/news/foth/2002/foth020717.htm)
FOOL ON THE HILL
Peeved Over Pop-ups
The Washington Post Co. and The New York Times Co. are among those suing
pop-up king Gator Corp. The companies say Gator is a parasite that siphons
away advertising revenue and drives away customers.
Email this pageFormat for printingBecome a Fool!Receive via
HandheldReuse/ReprintRelated Links
cexx.org
ThiefWare.comDiscussion Boards
Fool on the Hill
Webmaster's Corner
ByRex Moore (TMF Orangeblood)
July 17, 2002
The next time you see a pop-up ad while surfing the Net, know that some
media companies are waging a battle to limit the number you'll see in the
future. The Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO), The New York Times Co. (NYSE:
NYT), and Gannett-owned (NYSE: GCI) USA Today are suing the much-despised
Gator Corp., a pop-up company based in California. The story is an
interesting mix of questionable business practices, uncharted legal
questions, and privacy issues.
Got Gator?
Gator makes software that helps users fill in forms on the Internet. It
remembers what you've typed before and automatically fills in things like
your name and address. But this is no more than a front for its real
business -- serving up pop-up ads for its clients. You see, when you
install its software, Gator can also install an additional "spyware"
application, sometimes through subtle methods. This program will monitor
your surfing habits and display pop-up ads when you visit certain sites.
The company claims some 400 advertisers.
The spyware can also install on your computer in ways you might not
imagine. Sometimes freeware and shareware downloaded from sites like CNET
have a small "install stub" attached, called Trickler. Trickler is a
program that will silently load whenever you start your computer, and will
slowly download the rest of the spyware. All this happens unbeknownst to
the user, completely separate from the program they really wanted.
According to cexx.org, a website dedicated to keeping the world up to date
on various types of questionable software, "It is suggested that this
'trickling' activity is intended to slip under the user's radar, the
steady, low usage of bandwidth going unnoticed."
Finally, Gator and other spyware companies have a new tactic called
"drive-by downloads." A user may visit a site and receive a pop-up asking,
"Do you accept this download?" Many, of course, will click "yes" because
they think it's part of a browser plug-in, or some other "normal" computer
operation. Instead, they receive spyware that remains on their computer,
running in the background, forever (well, for the life of the computer,
anyway).
Legality
Aside from the ethical questions involving such programs, there are legal
ones as well. And the issue goes straight to the bottom line of companies
you may be invested in.
First, this software displays unauthorized pop-up ads on websites. The
program is a sort of parasite, feasting on traffic drawn to various sites.
Now, marketing types presumably have some idea of how many pop-ups a user
can tolerate (OK, maybe not). If a third party piles on a few more, then
the owners of the site have lost control of the user experience and may
lose visitors in droves. What's worse, in many cases the ads are for the
website's competition!
While at first blush this may seem illegal, it's really a gray area. For
example, what if the user wants to see hundreds of pop-ups? Presumably,
some people willingly download the software, even though they may not know
exactly what it does. Is a pop-up ad in a separate window any different
than other applications that bring up windows, like instant-messaging
programs? As you can see, it's a tricky legal issue.
Incredibly, however, some of the ads served by the Gator software actually
display over existing ads on a website. "They look and feel like the
site's real banners, but place ads for things the actual Web site never
intended," says cexx.com, "including ads for competitors' products and
possibly even adult material." Not only that, the site loses money because
the legitimate ads are covered and therefore not seen or clicked. Is that
theft or a legitimate business tactic?
Lawsuit
If all this is making you a bit queasy, well, it means you're human. And,
understandably, the websites Gator and others prey upon are up in arms.
Yesterday, a judge in Virginia issued a preliminary injunction against
Gator, prohibiting the company from "popping up" on the media sites
mentioned before, as well as nine others.
Gator may or may not appeal, but the Associated Press says the company is
"confident it will win the case at trial." A Gator attorney is quoted as
saying, "We believe strongly that the facts and the law are on our side."
Let's hope our law doesn't allow a company to distribute software that, in
many cases, works its way onto a user's computer without his knowledge,
deteriorates his Web-surfing experience by displaying pop-up ads without
his consent, and -- if he's a shareholder of an online media company --
takes money out of his wallet in the form of a lower stock price for that
company.
If you're curious whether you're one of the 22 million with Gator on your
computer, you can find out. The company says the software can be detected
and uninstalled using the Add/Remove Programs menu in the Microsoft
Windows control panel. A better suggestion is to use a program like
Lavasoft's Ad-Aware, a free utility that scans your entire computer for
Gator and other spyware software and removes them, if you wish.
We'd love to hear what you think about this issue. Our own Richard
Dressner (TMF Twitty) writes, "It's an unfair advantage for competitors to
have the ability to counter what is, essentially, a private dialog between
a consumer and a business." Please join us on the Webmaster's Corner
discussion board and have your say!
Rex Moore studiously avoided using the terms "thiefware," "scumware," and
"hijackware" in this column. The Motley Fool is investors writing for
investors.
The Motley Fool is dedicated to Educating, Amusing, and Enriching
all visitors to their website at
http://www.fool.com/index.htm?ref=Yo.
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