|
|
 |
|
|
Pages: 1
Spyware a Necessary Evil?
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)
Posted by: Ion Silverbolt
This Wired Article examines another view on spyware. One that claims it is necessary in order to recieve free software.
Not all web surfers think spyware is a problem. Some say the snoopy software is a fair trade-off for free applications, even with the intrusion into their computers and lives.
"Typically the assumption has been that spyware sneaks onto computers, or users are unaware of what they have agreed to install," said Gregg Mastoras, a senior security analyst at antivirus vendor Sophos. "But some people actually do knowingly install adware because they want to use a particular application that comes bundled with it. Some just aren't particularly concerned by adware's presence on their computers."
I had a good idea what the Marketscore software does, though I didn't read the entire user agreement," said 19-year-old New York University student Keith Caron. "In general when any application asks to install another application, I assume the other application is spyware. But you have to support spyware if you're going to have free file-sharing applications. Fair's fair."
Posted by: Ion Silverbolt
I can't think of one piece of software I must have that comes bundled with spyware and is free. Where do these naive views come from?
Posted by: redwench
depends on your definition of spyware. a lot of it is just targeted ads, which can come with almost anything. but from what ive seen, its usually games and site-hosted applications that have that stuff.
|
|
|
|
|
