Gamespots "download manager"
<div class="IPBDescription">When good sites go bad</div>I just learned about this today. Gamespot has a new "Download Manager", which is a small program that is supposed to speed up the download and allows you to pause (I believe). But, after reading around, I've learned that it does more than that.
The program installs secret spyware on your computer, it will scan your computer for anything you can think of, and then send all your information, including your real name (if its on the computer) back to gamesnet, and the information will then be used by Cnet, AND Zdnet, AND Download.com because they are all part of the same network. I've also heard that the manager lies about things to make you believe its going faster, as in showing a false download speed. I suggest you read <a href="http://discuss.extremetech.com/extremetech/start/?msg=16214" target="_blank">This Article/Forum</a> where others have also talked alot about it.
The program installs secret spyware on your computer, it will scan your computer for anything you can think of, and then send all your information, including your real name (if its on the computer) back to gamesnet, and the information will then be used by Cnet, AND Zdnet, AND Download.com because they are all part of the same network. I've also heard that the manager lies about things to make you believe its going faster, as in showing a false download speed. I suggest you read <a href="http://discuss.extremetech.com/extremetech/start/?msg=16214" target="_blank">This Article/Forum</a> where others have also talked alot about it.
Comments
I'm wondering if it wouldn't be possible to get some kind of legal action so that all companies are required to tell exactly what is being installed and WHAT IT DOES before you install it. Just for kicks I went back through the agreement thingy before the actual install of regular Kazaa, and it mentioned NOTHING about programs that would monitor what sites you visited and what files you dowloaded off of kazaa, when the spyware it installs does exactly that.
*edit* this just reminded me to run ad-aware again, and... guess what? I had 60+ cookies that were keeping track of my websites, and... not a single one originated from a pr0n site, almost all of them were from various shareware sites *cough* shareware.com *cough*
*/edit*
I'll make a little drawing here so i'll feel better:
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<!--emo&:asrifle:--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/asrifle.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':asrifle:'><!--endemo--> .*P AM < < spam < < < spam <<<<
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The EULA's? You know, Microsoft could actually own you. Betcha didn't read to the bottom of the agreements when you installed Office, did you? We'll never know.
What I hate the most is the horrible pop-up windows. You can get a program to stop these (AdKill, I think) - after I installed that I felt a lot more relaxed.
I usually clear all my cookies every fortnight (there's nothing in there that's that important, not to me anyway).
We're all pawns in some big damn game for someone... (I may just be paranoid here, but...)
However, I still want to get the ad detector thingy and such, just to be sure nothing is going on in my puter. How do I find this thing?
Isn't this a clear invasion of privacy though? Spyware is making me freakin scared of the internet now.
Yes, Kazaa does install spyware. get kazzalite at www.kazaalite.com
and adaware's program has the website www.lavasoft.nu listed in its window
For popups I've have popup dummy (www.shareware.com beware of cookies thou) It's perfect, <span style='color:red'>** but you need to pay for it. And not talk about how you illegally use software and steal food from the families of hard-working programmers by not paying for their efforts **</span>
<!--EDIT|MonsieurEvil|July 20 2002,10:51-->
And on the topic of spyware, its all getting scary, and most of it should be illegal
anyways:
<img src="http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2002/20020719l.gif" border="0">
Image stolen from <a href="http://www.penny-arcade.com" target="_blank">Penny Arcade</a>.
To those who have seen Minority Report, I fear that it really is the future of advertisement. In about a decade, I'll bet PlanetQuake15.com scans your retinas before choosing between the Kellog's or the Nascar popup...
I read the FAQ at Kazaalite.com and that is some pretty messed up stuff. Ad-aware is great, I just got rid of all that BS spyware.
I got rid of Kazaa immediately, and got Kazaa lite. This spyware stuff is such a invasion of rights its not even funny.
And as far as Gamespot taking down your information before letting you look around the site? Gamespot has a lot of content, a lot of writing, a lot of organzing and editing, a lot of bandwith, and a lot of server space. All that costs money. And if the way they get that money from you is by getting demographic information, then so be it. I don't go there, but I can live without it, too. If enough people decide they feel the same way, then Gamespot will just have to find some new way to make their money.
I went to the Kazaalite.com site, and surprise, surprise, I got hit with three pop-ups...advertising a piece of software that BLOCKS POP-UPS! That's just stupid, people [people being the marketing genius behind that piece of work]. Apparently, even the Kazaalite.com folks are making a buck, too.
Don't think of it so much as spying on you, as just giving you a chance to have your voice heard. On a chart in a stuffy office somewhere.
And DOOM brought up Minority Report. This is off-topic, but I have to get this off my chest. No one I've talked to agrees with me. The big cliff hanger at the beginning was based on the premise that pre-meditated murders gave the Pre-crime division a few days warning, while murders committed in the heat of the moment only gave an hour or so warning. Tom Cruise's character would commit a murder that would be in the heat of the moment, right? So, then, WHY THE HELL DID THEY GET 36 HOURS WARNING? Honestly! And the ending! They had a perfect ending, all lined up, and then it seemed that a stupid producer watched the movie, and said, "I don't understand what's going on," so then they include a 10-minute recap for the audience, complete with video footage. When that was the last thing I saw before leaving the theater, I felt cheated and insulted. Now, I just tell everyone, "Don't worry about paying too much attention to the movie, they recap it at the end for you. They do all your thinking for you." Such a good thing, thrown to the dogs...
-Ryan!
The point of quotations is that one can use another's words to be insulting.
-- Amanda Cross
No matter when it's active, spyware is still there. If I find any on my computer now if I can't disable the spyware, I just get rid of the entire program (Go!Zilla, who's spyware just wouldn't die without taking the rest Go!Zilla with it).
I'm not going to talk about Miority Report, sine with one thing and another I haven't been able to see it yet.
What happened to the free world, anyway? We should have the ability not to take part in these spyware programs - but most of the time there's no option not to install them: either we have them or we can't use the software. Would you do this to people?