The Claria defs were downgraded long before MS made an offer to buy Claria. If you read the ./ comments, you'll see that about half a dozen people pointed that out.
Have you ever run MSAS on a really crufted-up machine? It suggests "Ignore" for a lot of adware and other stuff! Claria, WhenU, New.Net, Starware (Comet Cursors), and 180solutions are all set to ignore.
The criteria MS seems to be using is that if it's JUST adware or a toolbar, or if it's a component of ad-supported software, leave it alone by default.
If it's known to cause system problems, hijack your browser, install other malware, steal personal info, or pop up ads for scam anti-spyware products, MSAS suggests removing it.
Oddly enough, P2P applications like Kazaa and BearShare that bundle adware have a default action of "Quarantine", which I do believe will snag the app and the bundled adware.
MS is doing this because it's legally smart. Antispyware makers are getting sued left and right because they remove the adware but leave the adware-supported freeware installed. That's fraud and piracy as far as the companies that rely on ad-support are concerned, and technically they are right.
Also keep in mind that MS uses the data from Spynet to update the definitions and default actions. What MSAS suggests is determined in part by what everyone else did.
Frankly, I do't use it. We have a few licensed copies of Ad-aware here at MumbleBarf, and I'm seriously mulling over backing it up with Spybot due to Ad-aware not catching certain widgets anymore.
a very detailed and to the point reply. I like it and evry single thing you said is valid. While you have a point about violating license agreements by removing adware that freeware is supported by, it still is shady for companies to bury that in fine print and install whatever they want behind the seens with out expicit acknowledgment of the user. If the user did not click a button that says "Install this shit." then A/S companies should be able to remove by default.
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Reality Check.
Date: 2005-07-07 02:48 pm (UTC)The Claria defs were downgraded long before MS made an offer to buy Claria. If you read the ./ comments, you'll see that about half a dozen people pointed that out.
Have you ever run MSAS on a really crufted-up machine? It suggests "Ignore" for a lot of adware and other stuff! Claria, WhenU, New.Net, Starware (Comet Cursors), and 180solutions are all set to ignore.
The criteria MS seems to be using is that if it's JUST adware or a toolbar, or if it's a component of ad-supported software, leave it alone by default.
If it's known to cause system problems, hijack your browser, install other malware, steal personal info, or pop up ads for scam anti-spyware products, MSAS suggests removing it.
Oddly enough, P2P applications like Kazaa and BearShare that bundle adware have a default action of "Quarantine", which I do believe will snag the app and the bundled adware.
MS is doing this because it's legally smart. Antispyware makers are getting sued left and right because they remove the adware but leave the adware-supported freeware installed. That's fraud and piracy as far as the companies that rely on ad-support are concerned, and technically they are right.
Also keep in mind that MS uses the data from Spynet to update the definitions and default actions. What MSAS suggests is determined in part by what everyone else did.
Re: Reality Check.
Date: 2005-07-07 03:02 pm (UTC)Frankly, I do't use it. We have a few licensed copies of Ad-aware here at MumbleBarf, and I'm seriously mulling over backing it up with Spybot due to Ad-aware not catching certain widgets anymore.
Re: Reality Check.
Date: 2005-07-07 03:24 pm (UTC)Re: Reality Check.
Date: 2005-07-07 07:23 pm (UTC)agreed.