General Public Realizes KaZaa is Spyware

blankmange writes "CNet is reporting the slow dawning of the general public to KaZaa and spyware. "Virginia Watson unwittingly authorized a company she'd never heard of to install software that would help turn her computer into part of a brand-new network. The software, from Brilliant Digital Entertainment, came with the popular Kazaa file-swapping program. But the 65-year-old Massachusetts resident--who has a law degree--didn't read Kazaa's 2,644-word "terms of service" contract, which stated that Brilliant might tap the "unused computing power and storage space" of Watson's computer. " " Fortunately the helpful graph in the article compares the complexity of IRS tax forms with Brilliant's terms of use... guess which one is harder to read?

My favorite quote from the article:

[zbuffered]

Much as the avalanche of spam in the 1990s prompted action from legislators and regulators

Yeah, I'm glad we got that taken care of back in the 90s...

This sounds like a great article.

[n-baxley]

Unfortunatly, I lost interest and didn't take the time to read all the way through it. I hope there wasn't anything I'm supposed to know in there.

Re:And the public cried...

[Anonymous Coward]

It only goes to show that you should read everything before you sign it.

Read article -> Comprehend -> Post

Re:And the public cried...

[inKubus]

Boo hoo, the poor public. If they cared enough about their computers and what was happening to them they would learn it. THEY DON'T CARE. THEY DON'T READ SLASHDOT. THEY DON'T SPEND 8 HOURS A DAY SURFING THE WEB. I think it's fine to exploit consumers weaknesses like this. Every other industry does, why shouldn't software?

There is not a box on the front page of the New York Times that says "Certain stuff written in this paper is false." Normal people assume everthing in there is true, and smart people know to take it with a rock of salt.

The same with computers. People SHOULD just assume the software works and is safe, and if you're smart, you won't and you will read the EULA.

Then, when the conseqences occur, hire a professional to fix it. If people shouldn't be expected to learn, why should we be expected to protect them out of the goodness of our hearts? I am a home computer "consultant" and I make good money fixing people's computers. People who don't give a flying F what's running on it, so long as they can look at their porn and write their emails and print their Word docs. People who screw up their computers and are totally fine with paying someone to fix it. Real consumers. Realists. Not cheapskate wannabe good citizens who like to spout off about "protecting the consumer". You've obviously never had a real job or you'd know there are no friends in business.

So, I'm glad companies take advantage of consumers, and I'm glad computers screw themselves up. Because it gives me a job. Don't try to take it away from me.

Cheers.

Hillarious

[Kenshiro]

"... I would hate to think we could reach a point that, whenever a dialog box comes up and says, 'Do you want to do this,' bells go off and people become worried." (Robert Regular, vice president of sales and marketing at New York-based digital advertising firm Cydoor)

Oh yeah, wouldn't want that...

TextArc Revelation?

[limekiller4]

I'll bet you a nickel that if they run the Kazaa TOS through TextArc [textarc.org], Bill Gate's face will appear. =)

We're supposed to trust them

[Skidge]

"I'm not an extremist," said Robert Regular, vice president of sales and marketing at New York-based digital advertising firm Cydoor. "But all this talk of spyware is the equivalent of elevating one bad seed, and it's having negative consequences on the good software. The public doesn't have time to investigate if it's negative software; they'll just stop downloading...I would hate to think we could reach a point that, whenever a dialog box comes up and says, 'Do you want to do this,' bells go off and people become worried."

So we're supposed to trust them. These spyware folks are just a few bad apples among the wonderful adware crowd. Damn you, Brilliant, you're keeping me from all this good adware software.

IANAL, BMWISTBO!?!?

[mekkab]

(I am not a lawyer, but my wife is studying to be one)
While she was taking her contracts class, she pored over EVERY single contract (Wedding coordinator, photographer, hotel where the wedding was held, DJ, etc.) with a fine tooth comb. That is the lawyer in training method.

But when I speak with friends of the family who are lawyers, many simply sign every document thrust in front of their face becuase they know that no matter how you phrased it, they can wiggle out if need be!

That explains why I sign legally binding documents as I. P. Freely

Re:That's why we have Kazaa Lite!

[burts_here]

I have kazza light to, just i used duct tape over the right bits of the screen, and i intstalled it on a P166 machine with a 300MB hard disc, hah try and steal my spare CPU time!

Re:And the public cried...

[tenman]

So if the contract of the lease specifies that they have "the right to access and use the unused horsepower and trunk space in your car/s and/or the highways for the aggregation of sales staff and use in distributed a convoy. The leasee acknowledges and authorizes this use without the right of compensation.", they can put a guy in a trench coat in the back seat, and a black bag in the trunk. Because I signed the agreement, i understand that they plan on using my car once I park at work.

That's fine, but here is my issue.

• Said man in trench coat gets pulled over (hacked).
  
• Goverment offical searches contents of the car (computer).
  
• Finds contraban and/or dismembered bodies in that bag in the trunk (childporn/warez/etc).
• Government disables car, and then empounds it.
  
• Leasing company doesn't have to "compensate" the leasee
  

So you say "that would never happen", and I say take another look at the lows that internet companies will go to to turn a buck. especially companies that will use a another program to slip your install script onto users programs.

Oh wait... I'll have to wait until "Brilliant Digital Entertainment" is done with my CPU to finnish this post....

Re:And the public cried...

[elefantstn]

If you want to convince a court that your knowledge of English is limited, I suggest you refrain from using phrases like "intentionally obfuscating the agreement."

Understandable EULA

[stinkydog]

1. We have the right to use your computer, drink your beer and sleep with your sister.
2. You agree to binding arbitration, which means our representitve "Bubba" will tie you up and have his way with you until you stop whining.
3. You agree to purchase additional hardware as we deem necessary to run our software.
4. Your rights: NONE

Accept Yes/NO

SD

"screw you"/"screw me" instead of "cancel"/"ok"

[Anonymous Coward]

THAT might help :)

Re:Kazaa Lite

[Marillion]

Anyone else find it ironic that I visit the site and and a popup ad appears?

Retaliate?

[upshift]

Wouldn't it be great to take AdAware to the next level? I'd call it retaliation-ware. Figure out what the scum-ware is looking for and send bogus data. I wish I had the time for it.

Upshift