|
|
Easy Web Page Watcher Watches Web Pages For You
Too many days I found myself constantly checking the same financial news web pages for any news about the companies I was currently invested in. Between clicking on these web pages and constantly clicking on other financial web pages to obtain stock...
How To Install Cable,Dls,And Dialup Modems Fast
When you want to access the Internet,you want to have the fastest Modem connection possible.And the dialup modem will do if you want just email basic surfing. The faster cable or dsl are a must have for such internet downloads of large...
It's 12 Noon, Do You Know Who's Using Your Network?
Wireless networks are becoming more and more popular, and for
good reason. Especially if you have broadband Internet access, a
wireless router can give you instant communication with the
world that is worthy of the science fiction I grew up...
Set up Your Own Webcam
These days, web cameras are everywhere. Your friends have one, maybe your office or the university that you study in also do. So, you decided to finally go with the crowd and get a camera. Now that you have it at home and connected to your...
Unlimited Bandwidth in Web Hosting
Bandwidth explained: Bandwidth is the amount of data transfer that you are allowed to have for a hosting package i.e. Let’s say you have a web page that is 48KB in size, now each time a user opens your site and goes to that page S/he downloads 48...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Real Life Internet Evil: Brilliant Digital Entertainment
Our purpose with this series is to use real life examples of deception, fraud and other evil to show how you can better protect yourself. The examples cited in these articles are intended to demonstrate best practices and recommendations.
What would you think about allowing someone to have unlimited access to your computer system without your knowledge or permission? Now, how do you feel about letting that person rent out your CPU, spare disk space and extra memory? Do you like the idea of these strangers downloading programs, data and lord knows what else to your machine and using your bandwidth?
A company called Brilliant Digital Entertainment has been quietly preparing to do just this. They have been distributing their "free" 3D advertising technology since last fall, and along with that software they have quietly been installing file-swapping software called Kazaa.
Brilliant Digital Entertainment has stated as a part of their SEC filing that they will soon be turning on a vast, multi-million machine P2P (point-to-point) network. This network consists of the machines belonging to those people who have downloaded and installed their software. The network is known as Altnet.
What does Brilliant want to do with this vast network? They have some very grand plans, but one major task is using these personally owned computers to store and serve ads (banners and other things). Their logic is described in an excerpt from their SEC filing:
"An example of Network Services is ad serving. When a user opens a new Web page, and the banner ad which appears on that page is delivered by a third party ad serving company, such as DoubleClick, the third party ad serving company incurs infrastructure, management, bandwidth and processing costs for every single banner ad which gets served. Often times, the same ad gets "served" millions of times each month. Using Altnet's proposed solutions, all of those ads could be delivered to the users via the Altnet network, thereby saving costs for third party ad serving companies."
Brilliant does have some vague plans in place to compensate the people involved in the network, at least some of them. Here's what their SEC filing says about that:
"To maximize the efficiency of the Altnet network, selected users with higher than average processing power, significant free space on their hard drives and broadband connectivity to the Internet, will first be engaged by Altnet to become main hubs on the network. We refer to each of these hubs as a qualified PC, or QPC. We intend to enter into an end user agreement with the owner of each QPC pursuant to which we will
compensate the owner for access to and use of their computers while logged onto the Internet. We have yet to finalize the terms of compensation, however we anticipate it will be a combination of non-cash components, which may include gift certificates, products and/or access to video content, and we expect to initiate this process some time in Q2 2002."
According to other news reports, the end user will have the option to opt-out from this grand plan. The opt-out method (as well as the compensation for those who opt-in) is unspecified at this time, but will most likely be insignificant.
The SEC filing is a very interesting document, and goes on to explain in exhilarating terms the benefits and uses of this network. It's very clear that Brilliant see's lots of dollar signs in this concept.
Now for the big question: what is the benefit to the end user? Absolutely nothing. In fact, the end user's computer gets used to serve advertisements and perform other tasks as determined by Brilliant.
The disadvantages of this scheme are many:
Your computer gets used by others - Do you really want unknown, unnamed third parties to have direct access to your hard drive, memory and CPU power as well as your bandwidth? Do you want to trust this company, who covertly installed this software (yes, there is a clause in the Terms and Conditions, but it's pretty small and in legalize) throughout the world?
There is a risk of contamination - In theory, viruses and other dangers could be loaded onto your system. This is just another way for hackers and others to gain access and do whatever they want.
Your own documents could be at risk - Who knows what this software allows the vendor to do? Perhaps they are looking over your hard drive...
Automatic updates could damage your system - Ever installed something on your computer which caused it to become unusable or damaged? Well, I'd bet this software will have (or already has) the capability to update itself with new versions. Do you want to take the risk?
How do they protect your privacy? - Do you think this company has any real concern for your privacy? These guys want to make money.
I could go on and on about this concept and software. My advice is simple and straightforward - delete it or don't install it. This is a stupid idea and it deserves to be buried with the other bad internet concepts.
About the Author
Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets at http://www.internet-tips.net - Visit our website any time to read over 1,000 complete FREE articles about how to improve your internet profits, enjoyment and knowledge.
|
|
|
|
|
Broadband Internet access - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
Broadband Internet access became a rapidly developing market in many areas in the early 2000s; one study found that broadband Internet usage in the United ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
  |
UK Broadband Internet Access |
Listings of UK broadband internet access providers and their prices, links to provider guides and reviews. |
paler.com |
  |
PC World - Buying Guides - Broadband Internet |
Buyers' Guide to Broadband Internet Contents ... For the majority of those looking to upgrade to broadband Internet for the business or home, it's all about ... |
www.pcworld.idg.com.au |
  |
Broadband Internet Access Service Providers - High Speed Cable and ... |
Discount offers for broadband high speed, cable and DSL Internet access service providers from Broadbandinfo.com. Additionally we provide free online high ... |
www.broadbandinfo.com |
  |
Telewest - Broadband Internet - Digital TV - Phone - Cable ISP ... |
. ... Jump to the Homepage [Accesskey '1']; Jump to Navigation menu [Accesskey 'n']; Jump to Main Content [Accesskey 'c']; Jump to Contact Us [Accesskey ... |
www.telewest.co.uk |
  |
FCC Broadband Internet Access Page |
List of resources from Federal Communications Commission regarding broadband Internet and access issues. |
www.fcc.gov |
  |
BT.com: Broadband Internet, mobile and fixed telecommunications ... |
National telecommunications provider. Details on products and services, plus user area. |
www.bt.com |
  |
Primus > Home - Australia's leading Broadband Internet, Telephone ... |
Primus / iPrimus - Australia's leading Broadband Internet, Telephone, Mobile, VoIP and Dial Up provider. |
www.iprimus.com.au |
  |
Virgin.net ISP - Broadband Internet access, news and entertainment |
Virgin.net, the UK's innovative Internet service provider. All you need for broadband and dial-up access, entertainment, information and news. |
www.virgin.net |
  |
1 24% of rural Americans have high-speed internet connections at ... |
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML |
Your browser may not have a PDF reader available. Google recommends visiting our text version of this document. |
  |
ADSL Plans - ADSL Modems - ADSL Broadband Internet - Telstra BigPond |
Choose from BigPond broadband ADSL plans by speed and usage to suit your needs. View BigPond broadband ADSL modem options for your broadband ADSL internet ... |
www.bigpond.com |
  |
ntl.com | broadband internet, telephone packages, cable tv |
Broadband cable internet access from ntl, get high speed cable internet access at affordable prices. |
www.home.ntl.com |
  |
Westnet - Broadband Internet, ADSL, Dialup, Web Hosting, Domain ... |
Westnet provides a range of Broadband Internet, ADSL, Dialup, Web Hosting and Phone services Australia wide. Connect with Australia’s Number 1 ISP for ... |
www.westnet.com.au |
  |
Broadband Internet : Find Broadband Internet Access Providers with ... |
Find Broadband Internet Service Provider. TheBroadbandGuide.com is a comprehensive directory of Broadband Internet Provider. |
www.thebroadbandguide.com |
  |
Internode - Broadband ADSL Internet Access |
Internode - Broadband Internet Access and other Internet services. ... Internode Broadband ADSL is the broadband Internet solution you have been looking for ... |
www.internode.on.net |
  |
CHOICE - Setting up broadband internet |
Setting up broadband internet. How to get ADSL broadband, step by step Online 02/04. Contents. Setting up broadband internet · Availability and choice ... |
www.choice.com.au |
  |
Wireless Broadband Internet Service Provider: High Speed Wireless ISP |
Clearwire is a wireless broadband internet service provider (high speed wireless ISP) providing high speed wireless broadband internet access in Abilene TX, ... |
www.clearwire.com |
  |
SurfCity Networks Broadband Internet |
SurfCity Networks Broadband Verizon DSL High Speed Internet and Web Hosting. |
www.surfcity.com |
  |
ISP - Wireless Broadband Internet Provider, iBurst, ADSL Broadband ... |
Australian ISP providing business dialup, high-speed broadband, network access and datacentre services. |
www.chilli.net.au |
  |
NTL - Broadband Internet - Digital TV - Phone - Cable ISP ... |
Digital Television Network. |
www.ntl.com |
  |
|