An Interview with 180 Solutions

Paperghost writes "Here's a great interview between Jimmy Daniels and an anonymous ex-employee of 180 Solutions, who portrays the company as being somewhere between turmoil and meltdown. There's so many notable quotables it's scary, but here's one that really sets the tone: 'Shutting down these rogue distributors turned out to be a lot more difficult than they expected though. When you lose them, your daily installs go down drastically and the revenue goes to hell. The layoff in September could be laid directly at the feet of this effort.'"

Goes down drastically?

How can they have so many "rouge distributors" and not notice? It seems like someone had to say "Oh, this doesn't look right". I guess it's hard when you're a spyware company.

Re:Goes down drastically?

> How can they have so many "rouge distributors" and not notice?

You'd think having so many "rouge distributors" would cause a lot of red faces.

eh?

How can they even exist without "rogue distributors"? I was under the impression that that was about 90% of their installs... I don't really know anyone that decides to install that on their own >_>

Who?

I know I'm not the only one has has never heard of 180 Solutions. From Wikipedia [wikipedia.org]:

180 Solutions is the company that produces adware applications such as Zango and Seekmo. Formerly, they also produced the 180 Search Assistant (also known as 180sa) and ncase.

Re:Who?

I know I'm not the only one has has never heard of 180 Solutions. From Wikipedia [wikipedia.org]:
Those fuckers are evil - even the Wikipedia page on 180 Solutions tried to install spyware on my computer.

Re:Who?

By far the worst thing about slashdot editors--worse than the dupes, the typos, the mischaracterizations--is their apparent inability to write headlines and summaries that mean a damn thing to readers who don't already know every bit of obscure trivia about what's being discussed. I'm longstanding geek, I read slashdot more or less daily; I'm smack in the middle of the target audience. And yet, at least once a week I see a "summary" that's completely incomprehensible gibberish to me.

One has to wonder why, if the editors submit writeups that are meaningless to anyone who doesn't already know exactly what's being said, they bother writing anything at all.

Screen Saves and Wallpapers AHOY!

180 Solutions has forever ruined the free multimedia industry of the internet. Anytime I see a "free screensaver" or "free desktop wallpaper", they're usually somehow connected with spyware and adware.

And their popups/popunders.... ugh.
--
BMW Forums [unitedbimmer.com]

Re:Screen Saves and Wallpapers AHOY!

Complaining about advertising and then he pastes advertising at the end of his post. Typical of 2006 astroturfers.

content economy?

You're not creating a content economy by making your advertising an anoyance. This 'blink tag' mentality doesn't work when everyone can provide content. How many of you, googling the capital of faroffistan, type 'wiki'? No ads, obnoxious loaders, browser crashing javascript.

Now that content is a two (multi?) way stream we have to go back to a pre-electronic mindset. Some of the greatest paintings of the 19th century were sold to hang in restaurants. Now that's good advertising.

Vmware?

Uninstalls? Yeah. I've taken it off my neighbors computer a couple times He has three girls and it finally got so bad that I rebuilt his laptop and installed vmware, then decreed that he was the only person in the house allowed to use the computer without starting vmware first and surfing from it. He backed it up and has been happy ever since.

Who sets up Vmware as a permanent use type of solution like this? Why not just install anti-spyware tools, use mozilla, and even toss on the tea-timer from spybot.

I guess its been so long since I've been that naive I forget what its like..

Re:Vmware?

"Who sets up Vmware as a permanent use type of solution like this?"

I do. I run a few public access computer centres, and this is the only way to keep them intact. The computers run Ubuntu by default, but if someone absolutely positively needs Windows (e.g. Teaching a class about Word), they run XP in a VM, which reverts to its initial state the moment it's powered off. Thank heavens for snapshots!

In public access situations, I really do have an 'infinite number of monkeys' at the keyboards, and this is the best way I've found to guarantee that things never break.

Re:Vmware?

Setting up to run Vmware simply to surf because you're afraid of spyware is absolutely ridiculous.

You can make a very good case that the exact opposite is true, especially if you're dealing with someone who insists on using Internet Explorer. IE has had a large number of flaws that allow hostile remote websites to do silent installs of arbitrary software. It quite likely still has some. I'm also not prepared to say Firefox doesn't have any, even though I'd expect it to be somewhat better.

So what, you say? You only browse the safe websites? I respond, oh, you mean you absolutely, positively never make a typo in the location bar? The websites you browser are absolutely guaranteed to not be hacked?

Heck, I've accidentally clicked on links in my spam when my touchpad acts up. I use Linux so I'm not too worried, but in Windows, that could have been enough!

It certainly ought to be ridiculous, but if you really examine the facts of the case as they are rather than as they should be, setting up a VM for browsing makes quite a lot of sense in any situation where the user can't be trusted to re-install their OS if necessary. If that includes home use for some family where all the members have better things to do with their time than learn the arcana of Windows, so be it. The only downside is memory consumption and the fact that it makes downloading things for the host system that much harder... something in that scenario I'd be inclined to call a feature anyhow.

Oh yeah...

Shutting out your primary distribution channel and clientele is ofcourse, a bad business policy.

Which no sane company will ofcourse do. Especially considering that their entire business model depends on adware/spyware.

So all I can surmise is, they are trying to get at least some good PR value out of a bad quarter :p

They do need a more positive public perception of them, considering the recent cases against spyware makers/distributors.

Oh....no...

I feel so bad for these guys...especially the guys that are surprised by the pink slips.

Poor malicious coders.

Wonder what they put on their resumes...probably would load it with spyware if the paper supported it.

AC

OT: TV Ads

Lately I've been seeing TV ads featuring smiling, happy actors standing in front of expensive automobiles and houses claiming that they now earn $5K (and up) per month for doing relatively little work. Somehow this is possible by using a computer and the internet.

Reading the small print on the screen tells the viewer that, after registering online, the viewer will be directed to some other website that features "business opportunities". It seems like every time I catch this ad there is a different URL and the URLs are always alphanumerical.

180 solutions can burn in hell

I had a run in with one of their people not too many months ago. I had been put on one of their spam mailing lists and I emailed their address to ask for my domain to be removed. Initially, I got a person who said that they wouldn't do it. When I replied and said that I would file a complaint with their upstream data provider, I found my email address mailbombed with additions to about 5000 mailing lists. Luckily these days most mailing lists ask for a confirmation and those that don't I weeding out pretty quick. The moron also didn't realize that most mailing lists confirm messages also include the IP of the subscriber. I replied again and included the draft letter to the upstream provider and a letter of the local police department's electronic crimes office for an attempted DoS attack, but this time someone else responded and apologized. Never heard from them again. Before the slashbots jump on me for replying to SPAM, I'd like to say that I've already paid the price.

I don't want them to go under...

I am honestly not trying to start a flame war or be a troll, just wanted to say what I feel. In some ways, I don't want the adware crap companies like 180 to go away. I make a lot of extra money off of companies like them. Heck, after I left my last job, this sort of crapware kept me employed for a few months until I got another decent job. We all know it's about money and money only. You think that ANY of these people care one bit about the damage to people's computer they cause, or they money these people spend to get rid of the crapware? Hell no! Just like ANY company now days, as long as the big-wigs and/or share holders are richER that's all that matters and all that EVER will matter. Call it capitalism if you wish, but I call it greed and the day I never make a dime from the crap they put on people's computers will be a great day indeed. Good riddance to bad rubbish! Even if I won't get extra money.

Now that's what I call...

a "180" degree turn! :P

good news to me

I welcome the day when adware/spyware companies start going out of business. These companies should expect that these are not long term ventures, and most people are very irratated by their software no matter how they try to present it. Yes, a small economy surrounds the business of spyware, but it's business based on mass numbers (i.e. casualties) and not by innovation, or any sort of usefullness. Just like the old days of selling blind-link traffic and 404 traffic, except we knew it had its days numbered. Surfing the net for most people means easy access to information, it shouldn't be a blind pit of junk waiting for you to stumble upon the wrong link :)

180 Solutions exploits Wikipedia for marketing

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zango_Me ssenger&oldid=14840188 [wikipedia.org]

Look at this Wikipedia revision, creating an article on a 180 Solutions product. Look at the history tab, and you will note this revision was done by the IP address 206.169.156.2. The IP address corresponds with 180 SOLUTIONS HOOKED-2 when looked up in the American Registry for Internet Numbers [arin.net].

The article was changed to give it a more neutral tone many times, but in all cases the IP address tried to revert to the original version. The article in its current form is located here [wikipedia.org], but with a sign that says that everything in this article but not be accurate, nor true. The IP address range for 180 Solutions is 206.169.156.0 - 206.169.156.255. See this American Registry for Internet Numbers [arin.net] entry for 180 Solution's physical address. The city can be confirmed by Wikipedia itself.

This was done in June 2005, around the same time the U.S. Congress staffers began editing Wikipedia, coincidentally. Again, using Wikipedia as a source, this company has less than 250 employees. Because this IP address came from the company, what are the odds that the editor created that article about that "instant messaging service" for love of the company alone? It reads like an advertisement.

They used Wikipedia to market their filth, and spyware company or not, that's something I'll always hold in contempt. (mod up)

Their business model

When your business revolves around shoving ads down consumers' throats with nothing in return, you're destined to fail.

Unemplyed is the best option

I don't think they should be afraid to be unemploeyd. If ever anyone deserved to be the vistim of a drive by shooting, these f*ckers are top of the list.

They are in the same league with Al-Quaieda when it comes to evil.

They have destroyed billions of dollars of pruductivity and are probably directly responsible for the attitude that computers have to be thrown away on a regular basis because its easier to throw them away than get rid of the spyware.

Another interview from the same site last April...

http://www.revenews.com/wayneporter/archives/00056 5.html [revenews.com] Interesting to compare and contrast the official line with the anonymous version!

scum

i am the designated pc fixer dude round here and 180 solutions has absolutely made my life a complete hell time after time. so to all the peaple who work at 180 solutions that are reading slashdot i hope each and every one of you die of cancer.

180 who? oh yeah!

I had to read the first posts to remember when I had seen that name before.
Then it all came back to me: Last week, as I wasted a few hours cleaning up a relative's computer, and was getting amazed at the seemingly endless list of malware that can fit on one single computer.
At least, they didn't have a hidden service that refused to die and kept rewriting the same registry key every 2 seconds to guarantee it'd run next time the box reboots. (if you ever bump into that, setting a draconian ACL on the parent registry key can help.)

Another misleading Slashdot heading

How can an interview with an ex-employee be regarded as "An Interview with 180 Solutions?"

3/10 ???? are you retarded

7/8 emule screwed me.. DAMN you EMULE!!!!!

Re:take the spyware test

6/8... anysonglyrics needs to look slicker to deliver lyrics through activex IMO. and hey. i thought smileysource was safe, because the site SAYS you're getting spyware. I figured the other one was much worse. I'll take spyware that TELLS ME it's coming over a surprize any day. real world experience FTW. You do something dumb and then spend 3 hours un-doing it, you don't do it again. :D