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Antivirus Software – Get The Bugs Before They Get You!
You turn on your computer, and it doesn’t look quite right. Maybe your icons have changed, or the background picture is wrong. Some options are disabled. Even worse, you may not be able to boot your computer up at all. Guess what – it’s probably got...
Back Up Your Email Box Before It is Too Late
When so many of us rely so much on our email to operate our businesses or our personal lives, it is important to take preventative measures to avoid the ultimate disaster of unrecoverable email. I come to this subject as a matter of multiple...
Got a Small Business? Choose the Right Domain Name
Choosing a domain name can be daunting. Research the subject (after all, you're the type of marketer who researches, right?) and you'll be hit with a landslide of opinions, most contradictory. There is, however, two points that everyone agrees...
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...
The House Of Print.Com
Publishing has always been a difficult business to promote successfully, which titles by which authors to promote, which genre, will it be fiction or non-fiction? Will they sell? Will they make money, both for the publisher and for the author?...
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Adware And The Case Against Bundled Software
Bundling software applications together is a practice much abused by purveyors of adware. The potential for sneaking unwanted software into a bundle of desirable software is obvious. The benefits of bundling software aren't so obvious. Isn't it time to consider dumping the practice of bundling software altogether?
Bundled Software: When Is It Not Adware?
If a user wants a piece of software, why can't he or she be allowed to install it separately? If the bundled software were essential to the functioning of the original software (excluding generic functions such as install, un-uninstall, and documentation), why wouldn't the developer build its functions directly into the original software?
Sure, sometimes there's a software application that clearly complements another application. But for users who do not want the complementary software, having it just means a bloated install file and a needlessly long installation process.
Does the chance that users will want the bundled software ever outweigh the risk of the bundled software being installed without the user noticing? In the case of adware, the technology community is increasingly willing to put the burden of proof on the adware bundlers:
* Cnet's download.com website recently removed any and all software that comes bundled with another piece of software that
shows advertising, regardless of how well informed the user is of the bundled software.
* Affiliate networks such as Commission Junction and Kolimbo have either cautioned advertisers against accepting adware distributors into their affiliate programs or kicked them out altogether.
* Many technology law experts are saying that the click-wrap license agreements that supposedly legitimate adware are not proof of informed consent. Some experts even say that such agreements amount to unconscionable contracts: the burden imposed by adware is so great and the benefit offered so negligible.
Adware and Bundled Software: A Modest Proposal
If the spam arms race is any indication, we may soon face even more aggressive attempts to get adware on our computers. There will be even more tortured arguments that bundled adware is installed with users' informed consent. Why not head off any of those arguments right now? Let's push for an industry standard that reputable developers do not bundle software (with a few highly specific exceptions such as documentation, installation, and error reporting).
In the end, by getting rid of bundled software, what do we have to lose except adware?
About the Author
Read more of Joel Walsh's articles on spyware and adware: http://www.spyware-refuge.com
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| Listing of the GNU software packages. |
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| Joel on Software |
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| IBM home page for all of its software products, including Lotus and Tivoli, with keyword search, category browse and AZ product names. |
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