Spyware - Should It Be Illegal?

[iMartin]

Think of it this way, what does spyware do? It invades your privacy! It sends out private information such as what websites you've visted, how long you've been connected to certain sites, etc..And most the the time, it does this without you even knowing about it. That's exactly what trojans do, an invasion of privacy. Now, excuse me, but isn't that sort of stuff illegal? What do you guys think? :smilie4:

[tesco]

well, it would be nice, but there would be a lot less free software out there if that hapened...

[S!X]

yea that shit should be ileagal.If you were to buy some item off the internet and were using your credit card and had a key logger on your comp(spyware keylogger) you&#39;d be so fucked it wouldnt be funny. <_< :angry:

[peat moss]

Originally posted by ROSSCO_2004@7 July 2004 - 21:00
well, it would be nice, but there would be a lot less free software out there if that hapened...
A choice would be nice . Let me decide to support the author thru spyware or not. A lot of programs do not allow that. :(

[Rip The Jacker]

Originally posted by ROSSCO_2004@7 July 2004 - 21:00
well, it would be nice, but there would be a lot less free software out there if that hapened...
I&#39;m pretty sure most people wouldn&#39;t use software that contains spyware... even if it was free. :rolleyes:

Yes it should be illegal. There is a ton of software online with spyware, like its no big deal. Something should be done...

[sparsely]

Originally posted by Rip The Jacker+7 July 2004 - 23:18--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Rip The Jacker &#064; 7 July 2004 - 23:18)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-ROSSCO_2004@7 July 2004 - 21:00
well, it would be nice, but there would be a lot less free software out there if that hapened...
I&#39;m pretty sure most people wouldn&#39;t use software that contains spyware... even if it was free. :rolleyes:

Yes it should be illegal. There is a ton of software online with spyware, like its no big deal. Something should be done... [/b][/quote]
he&#39;s right though....
a lot of the free software we have is available mainly because the creator(s) have been paid to bundle an advertisers application with theirs.
Having the option to skip the installation of these components (as in msgplus&#33;) is a thoughtful touch, but some developers aren&#39;t that considerate.
I feel that the end-user should always be aware that third-party componenets are being installed with the app.
and programs should install nothing to the statup list, systray, desktop, quicklaunch bar, or start menu unless explicitly given permission.

though there&#39;s a line that many spyware programs cross, that&#39;s really more virus-like than anything else. These should simply be shut down.
But I&#39;ve made plenty of good money fixing people&#39;s computers that are nothing more than exteremly spyware-infested.
It all makes a circle, and in the end, I guess it&#39;s like kinda like termites. We hate em, they&#39;re descrutive, but they create jobs. :P
:)

[iMartin]

But, what I think the lowest of low is, when if someone takes the spyware, or 3rd party software out of another application, they dare call that illegal, or, Copy Right Infrigment. (Such as KaZaA to K-Lite) That my friends, is shit.

[sparsely]

I see your point, and infer a reference to Kazaa Media Desktop...but I can&#39;t say I agree with you completely, though I&#39;d like to.
In the case of KMD and similar applications, the spyware was actually built into the program itself.
Being a copyrighted application, it&#39;s still technically against the law to violate the creators copyright by modifying and redistrbuting it.

Not that I agree with that, I think open-source anything is the best way to go...
and copyright really shouldn&#39;t (in my opinion) be considered breached unless it&#39;s been redistributed at a profit to the infringers (such as some versions of Kazaalite).
Persecuting those who make no profit from it (even put much of their own money into it) just demonstrates the original authors greed, and makes for bad feelings all around.

[firefox]

I think it is a big pain, but a lot of free software that uses it, If you take the time to really read all the stuff during the install it tells you it is going to install it and you have to agree to it in order for it to install, or it tells you that by you installing this software you agree with it. So in a way you are telling them it is ok so therefore it is hard to prove it was illegal. B)

[Ariel_001]

Originally posted by firefox@8 July 2004 - 12:10
I think it is a big pain, but a lot of free software that uses it, If you take the time to really read all the stuff during the install it tells you it is going to install it and you have to agree to it in order for it to install, or it tells you that by you installing this software you agree with it. So in a way you are telling them it is ok so therefore it is hard to prove it was illegal. B)
I myself just refuse to download/install and use/has any Spyware or/and adware. I don`t like crap and ads. We see enough crap in our everyday lives and my computer is some of the few places where marketing groups don’t try to control my mind.

[AcID ZeR0]

They should at least class spyware into two classes and make class A illegal, That way KaZaa can continue to flog their dying p2p software to n00bs who haven&#39;t heard of Bittorent, mIRC, Overnet etc.

B: Pop-ups etc...
A: Keyloggers, Tracking Software

Edit: I just saw a news report, One in three computers has some sort of spyware on it :rolleyes:

[firefox]

Originally posted by Ariel_001@8 July 2004 - 10:22

I myself just refuse to download/install and use/has any Spyware or/and adware. I don`t like crap and ads. We see enough crap in our everyday lives and my computer is some of the few places where marketing groups don’t try to control my mind.
I agree with you, I do not install this stuff as well, I make plenty of money off other people who installed it and then come to me for PC repairs. :lol:

[delphin460]

knowledge is you freind

as ppl have said b4 , in most cases you should read and know what you are installing, ignorance is no excuse, you have only yourself to blame if you install software containing such things, read the info b4 installing and if you realy want the software , then deal with the spyware/ adware or learn how to remove it and still keep the program running

i have not found anything yet which i can not disable or remove these things and still keep the assioated program running

Just use best security precatuions and keep windows updated to the max , as well as your antivirus software and firwall, and you should never have any problems

i have windows xp running on this comp for 18 months now and with the correct precaution i have had no problems

As far as computers go ignorance is not bliss, its just a fool paridise, read , learn and impliment

[iMartin]

I just got back from a friends a couple of days ago, and he has one of the nicest computer I&#39;ve ever seen, but he doesn&#39;t know anything about computers. And I mean, this computer had so much spyware on it, it completey fried his computer, when he connected to the internet, it wouldn&#39;t get an IP for him to use&#33; I think it&#39;s just the computer illiterate people that have the most trouble.

[Chame1eon]

Originally posted by ROSSCO_2004@8 July 2004 - 00:00
well, it would be nice, but there would be a lot less free software out there if that hapened...
i agree maybe some don&#39;t mind the trade off, but they shouldn&#39;t hide the fact by putting it in places where a lot of people don&#39;t look. maybe people should read the priviacy polocies, but it&#39;s strill not right to hide that information there if you know that people probably won&#39;t see it.

[{I}{K}{E}]

Should it be illegal?

Should people read the Lisence agreement?


Its all in the reading before installing...


I know its a pain in the ass but people make alot of money from it because I think more then 50% of the people that have it installed dont even know they have it or what it is

[ObiWan]

I think it depends on the what the spyware is and how its distributed.
Ads that are installed are ok provided that the user is clearly informed before it is installed.

but data miners, and browser-hijackers that are silently installed from IE should be illegal as your not told that its there.

I recently installed ad-aware at college and there was 800+ pieces of spyware on the machine and it hadn&#39;t even been updated

[iMartin]

Originally posted by ObiWan@8 July 2004 - 13:27
...but data miners, and browser-hijackers that are silently installed from IE should be illegal as your not told that its there.
Exactly. Who cares if you&#39;re told that it&#39;s there though? It&#39;s still going to give out personal information that you might not want other people knowing about. But things such as Ads in their programs, I usually don&#39;t have a problem with that, seeing that it will be removed later on one way or another.

[peat moss]

Originally posted by {I}{K}{E}@8 July 2004 - 11:09
Should it be illegal?

Should people read the Lisence agreement?


Its all in the reading before installing...


I know its a pain in the ass but people make alot of money from it because I think more then 50% of the people that have it installed dont even know they have it or what it is
Msn plus is a good point .The one by patchou . ;)

[iMartin]

I think devolpers should either start doing what Patchou did, or do something like FlashGet did, if you want to use it free, then there is an Ad in the program it&#39;s self, or, you can pay a small fee for a un-aded one. Or you can just do what I did and use a keygen...

[tesco]

I&#39;ve been thinking about this.

The spyware that installs without permission, that changes your search page and homepage, that is hard to get rid of, that doesn&#39;t have an uninstaller ( :angry: ) should be illegal, along with the kind that steels info about u such as name and credit card number to other people, also be illegal.

Spyware should be installed either how patchou has it (which still isn&#39;t the greatest) or by opening a seperate installer for the spyware, with a title "spyware "clearly visible.

[KazaaBoy]

People blame websites for not protecting their credit cards when they purchase an order or anything else. The first question asked is

"Is it safe to shop from that website?"

Of course it is you idiot <_<

It&#39;s the spyware/scumware on your computer that steals the information, not the website.

[iMartin]

Originally posted by KazaaBoy@8 July 2004 - 20:51
People blame websites for not protecting their credit cards when they purchase an order or anything else. The first question asked is

"Is it safe to shop from that website?"

Of course it is you idiot <_<

It&#39;s the spyware/scumware on your computer that steals the information, not the website.
Good point, and yet, I still ask, why is spyware still legal? :blink:

[threelions00]

spose i will add my own little warped reply....

look at it this way...there are programmes to get rid of spyware...use them&#33;

throwing litter on the floor is punishable but if people didn&#39;t throw trash on the floor then the litter picking people would be out of a job...

all this spyware is cyber litter and people get paid to find ways of sorting out the problem...just read things a little more carefully and run stuff like spybot or ad-aware once in a while....

more than likely people will disagree with me (as bloody usual) but nevermind. :01:

[iMartin]

Originally posted by threelions00@9 July 2004 - 12:19
throwing litter on the floor is punishable but if people didn&#39;t throw trash on the floor then the litter picking people would be out of a job...

all this spyware is cyber litter and people get paid to find ways of sorting out the problem...
lol...never thought of it that way. And yes people, I&#39;m not infested with spyware or anything, infact I just updated Spysweeper and Spybot, ran both and nothing was found. So I&#39;m good there, I just thought about throwing my own opinions in.