Microsoft Gives MVP Award to Adware Pusher

An anonymous reader writes "Ed Bott reports that Microsoft has given an MVP (Most Valuable Professional Award) to an individual known for peddling Adware via his Messenger Plus program." From the article: "So how did a guy whose primary business involves installing adware become an MVP? That's what Christopher Boyd, a Microsoft Security MVP better known as Paperghost wants to know. Boyd isn't the only MVP who has a history with Patchou. Sandi Hardmeier, a current MVP in the Internet Explorer category who specializes in the fight against malware, has written three long, angry pages about the messy adware that 'sponsors' Patchou's product."

Well it's Microsoft you know

They recognize their kin.

He's part of the Microsoft ECOSYSTEM

Just like in Earth's ecosystem, there are parasites. Yes, we usually kill them when we find them, but sometimes they come in handy. For example, tape worms are great for weight loss. This guy helps keep anti-adware makers in business!

Was worried there for a moment...

Relax everyone, he was given the Most Valuable 'Professional' Award and NOT the Most Valuable 'Person' Award since we all know adware scumbags are sub-human.

Re:Was worried there for a moment...

Relax everyone, he was given the Most Valuable 'Professional' Award and NOT the Most Valuable 'Person' Award since we all know adware scumbags are sub-human.

I think you got it backward: it's the profession that's despised here, not the person. I'm sure the guy is really nice after work and doesn't force his family to watch popups selling penis enlarger. When he's at work on the other hand, i.e. as a professional, I would like very much to corner him in a blind alley at night with something heavy and blunt.

Re:Was worried there for a moment...

From TFA:

Patchou said on 1 October 2004 that "if no one installs the sponsor with the new agreement window, I'll change it back, sorry".

and also from TFA:

Update: Heh...wouldn't you know it, but Microsoft's own scanner detects Patchou's program via Virustotal (click to enlarge).

Nails, meet coffin. The Undertakers of Stupidity will be along to throw you in a ditch shortly.

The guy is scum pure and simple.

B.

Re:Was worried there for a moment...

I think you dont understand the difference between adware and spyware. Adware is advertising-supported software. How does trying to support your software via ads make you an asshole?

Re:Was worried there for a moment...

I would like very much to corner him in a blind alley at night with something heavy and blunt.

...your enlarged penis?

It's part of the new Microsoft...

...the one that's saying screw you to everyone but the software publisher. The one that's now pushing activation on everything and reactivation every time you change hardware or cough too loudly. Microsoft's new DRM is king leadership is taking it straight down the toilet.

So switch to something else

I've been involved with PC's since 1979 and I'll tell you there has never been a better time to switch since about 1984. Back then we had Macs and Amigas. Then for about the past 10 years, there hasn't been a good technical alternative to switch away from Microsoft.

Today, the choices are more and better than at any time since the personal computers were invented. Vista is the final nail in the coffin for me. I'm switching to the Mac. I've had them for years, but in my opinion, Apple has finally gotten the recipe correct. Powerful, beautiful OS, Great software, well priced hardware etc etc. Heck, you can even get MS Office for the Mac. I've been using some of the new Linux distros, Ubunto, Suse... these are all great systems that have lots of software and are more than just toys for tinkerers.

If people switch to Vista it's because we want to, and not because they have to. So for people complaining they have no choice, they're not being honest with themselves. The choices are there. If you put yourself into these handcuffs it's your own decision.

I've reached my limit with MS.

They call adware a "sponsor program"

I lolled. Euphemisms are fun! WGA is a "Consumer Protection Tool" weeee! A Trojan is now a "sheathed injection of digital harmony!" Yippe! Really this goes to show it's Us vs. Them. As long as MS knows 90% of their customers are blissfully unaware, they're going to reward these dorks.

Re:They call adware a "sponsor program"

A Trojan is now a "sheathed injection of digital harmony!"

Depending on what you mean by "Trojan" and "digital", you may be right on the spot.

Blame marketing

It's probably because these 'awards' are dreamed up and given out by 'Marketing' folk who are too stuck up their own arse to waste time talking to technical experts to find out if what they're doing makes any sense.

"Windows' Adware Infatuation"

RoughlyDrafted Magazine described Three Reasons Why Microsoft Can't Ship [roughlydrafted.com], and number three is "Windows' Adware Infatuation."

A compairson of how Microsoft, Yahoo and Google are fighting to shove ads at users, and why adware strategies are eating away at Microsoft's ability to support and extend their desktop and remain competitive.

"Microsoft's insatiable greed has resulted in a poorly designed software platform, rushed to market in order to kill emerging competition. Architectural flaws have resulted in a security crisis for users, which has resulted in an unsupportable mess for Microsoft. Rather than working pointedly to solve their flaws and the resulting platform crisis, Microsoft as a company has chased after adware revenue, and has exposed users to further grief by being part of the adware problem rather than its solution."

It's not that incredibly bad.

To be fair, Messenger Plus is a pretty cool program.

Not to mention the adware IS optional when you install it.

*sigh* did anyone actually look at the program?

It is quite useful, and I have used it in the past.

Upon install, it ASKS YOU if you want the advertisements installed.

You also have the option to purchase the program. Given how much arse it kicks, I think that this is a fair trade.

The author has changed sponser programs numerous times in an attempt to find one who doesn't lie about their sponsorship program. You can all guess how well that has gone over.

The irony of this all IS this though:

Messenger Plus got started as a way to remove the banner ad from MSN Messenger.

MS contacted him and asked him not to do that any more.

It doesn't do that any more.

It now ships with additional banners though.

Thus making the entire program useless! :-p

If you check out the Messenger Plus website, it gives a link to www.mess.be [www.mess.be] which does all what Messenger Plus used to do, but for free, and then some more as well.

Taken out of context.

Patchou has done a lot of good for MSN messenger. I am guessing because most people in the US use AIM they would not really know about Plus. The adware is an OPTIONAL INSTALL and it very clearly shown as that on installation (the installer even defaults to not install it, so the user must choose to) and gives the option to uninstall it once installed. You do not need to install the "Sponser Program" to use Plus. Patchou's only means of income is the sponser program, and he spends a lot of time making plus a great program. I would recommend it to anyone using MSN Messenger or Messenger Live. My friend, Chestah, who is one of the few beta testers for Patchou thinks of him in a high light. He is not a scum bag looking to make large profits, mearly support the large amount of time he spends to create a FREE program for the public to benefit from. He has even had competitions to give away free prizes to his Beta testers and the general public (Chestah won 200 dollars for a google plugin). I am very glad that he has won this prize as he deserves it. It is great to see him get the recognition he deserves.

Re:Astroturf?

Mod parent up. There are several usernames spelling sponsor as "sponser", all are claiming the adware is fine and sparkly, and one of those accoutns was set up today. Microsoft MVP Adware Author = Shill.

Adware makes you evil?

I've used Messenger Plus! for a very long time. The adware is clearly warned, you are given a very clear prompt whether to install or not install it, and it uninstalls cleanly, AFAIK. The guy has to get a return from his product, doesn't he? And Messnger Plus! itself, which I've been using since its early days, is a brilliant and very functional addition to MSN Messenger and I loathe using MSN without it. Sure, he might bundle Adware, but I don't think Microsoft gave him the award because of the adware, but because of the dedication and ingenuity he put forth in developing such a simple, powerful MSN addon back when Microsoft knew nothing about him, working from reverse-engineering the source and a general will to help make a good chat program better. I haven't been following MSN Plus! closely since I've moved to Linux, although it's still there in my Windows partition, but it is (or was the last time I checked) a great program with fantastic functionality, the adware portion of which is clearly marked and very easy to avoid installing, and the reasons for it as very understandable.

Nice name

"Ed Bott". I wonder if he has a sister, Ro.

Good business

Consider for a moment, that keeping the XP experience as crappy as possible, will only make Vista look that much better. Trashing obsolete products is good for business - good for microsoft. If XP becomes a heaping pile of garbage, users might be compelled to upgrade to the next future-heaping-pile-of-garbage sooner.

Actually, this is probably the result of a stupid, but really hot, marketing intern making decisions.

MS is going to start selling anti virus/adware...

Products, right? Well, they need people writing viruses and spyware :P

The History

I know a lot of people are saying that this isn't so bad since Messenger Plus clearly explains what the adware does and asks you whether or not you want to install it. Please remember that this only happened after thousands of complaints were made-- the software once automatically installed a myriad of spyware with no way to disable or remove it, and took measures to prevent you from uninstalling the bundled advertising junk (specifically a variant of the malware called Lop, which created randomly named *.job files and required 3rd-party spyware removers to get rid of.) Patchou repeatedly lied about the actions of his software and only changed to better practices when basically forced to do so. And if you ever run into Patchou on IRC, you will see how big of an ass he is.

Agreed.

I'm using it now (at least on Windows), because it allows me to open webpages from the Messenger, IN FIREFOX, rather than IE. That, combined with the fact that the rest of the program is pretty unintrusive if you install it semi-carefully, makes it very useful to me. Well, where "very useful" means "saves me some keystrokes and the annoyance of actually seeing IE at all."

Long time user of MSN Plus

First of all I am a long time user of the MSN plus program. I love it! It makes my MSN experience so much better.

Now to those of you that instantly jump to the conclusion this program is bad, let it be known that the author does not install the sponsor program without your permission. In fact the dialog box you are presented with is very good about informing you there is another program that you have the OPTION to install to help the guy fund the software. If you click NO, that is the only time you see or hear anything about the sponsor program. If you happen to click YES, it is easy to remove, I have done it. It is not like other spyware that takes over or requires registry hacks to remove.

I don't like M$ as much as the next guy, but if you do use MSN Messenger a lot, this program is a great add on. The guy that makes it works very had, you can tell by how far the program has come over the years. There seems to be a lot of love put into it, and he simply asks you ONCE if you want to install a little program to help him cover the cost of making the software.

I think it is a great program and he deserves this recognition. Might help him pay some bills!

Peddling adware?

Since when is asking someone if they would like to install ad software during installation called peddling? This is legit. Slashdot supports itself in part by ads and they don't even ask me first. Peddling?

More money for us MS workers

Thanks to MS and it's continual promotion of faulty products, I'll never be out of a job.
Keep up the good work Redmond.
More money
More money
You've got to just give in and accept the fact that people want to pay more money for computers. The more money they pay the better they feel about the magic.
If it just worked, it would scare them. They feel better knowing that every once in awhile a human must interact with the machine or it will fail. Or that the machine is so faulty that it will crash and become totally useless at times. This makes the muggles feel better. Otherwise they would really get scared knowing that the little beige box under their desk has been sitting there without complaint for 3-5 years, just doing their bidding. That would be bad, that would be unfair, that would be unreasonable. Nothing with that kind of intelligence would stand for it. It would talk with it's buddies on the internet and they would revolt and Sarah Connor wouldn't seem so silly.
But thanks to MS and their vigilantly sly support of software which will make that magical thing stop every once in awhile, we humans remain in control.
MS gets more money, I get more money, the computers don't take control of the planet. What's the problem? That's the problem with you people that put foil on your heads, you just can't see the big picture.

MVP

Ah yes, just like being a unpaid spokesman for avis rental cars....

Notice how every time you run across one of their sites you feel the grey matter draining from
your skull. Sort of like those kiddies you run across that tell you they are a great hacker
because they can use sendkeys in vb to type the word hacker in notepad.

So now we have two unpaid spokesman for avis rental cars crying about each other.

Embrace, Extend, Extinguish?

Maybe Microsoft is finally using their business model to promote some good.

This is ridiculous.

Patchou's Messenger Plus, for those who don't know, is a simple program that hooks into MSN Messenger and puts in some features missing in the original, like away messages, sounds and such.

Now: the program does not, repeat, NOT, push adware. You install it, the setup wizard gives you a clear choice between installing the sponsor program (adware) or not. You choose not to, it never gives you any grief again. And if you do install the sponsor program, it apparently removes very cleanly just by doing the usual Add/Remove Programs thing.

So please, lay off. Calling patchou an adware pusher is more than a little harsh, it's downright silly. And he definitely deserves some sort of award or such from Microsoft; Messenger Plus improves MSN in so many ways.

MVP site behind certificate

To view MVP site or the spammer's profile @ MVP, users are required to accept untrusted certificate. No reading for me.

Re:MVP

I think you are thinking of "Companion" [imdb.com]

Re:MVP

Most Valuable Professional? Isn't "Professional" a euphamism for prostitute?

Not in this case, because prostitutes get paid. MVP's give it away for free.

As best I can tell, MS gives the title of MVP to people who do a lot of free tech support for MS - they post a lot in whatever forums MS runs answering questions and generally sticking up for MS's good name.

I am not sure why these people feel the need to give away their personal time and energy to help out MS's bottom line, but MS is smart enough to exploit these sycophants by giving them an "award" of the title MVP which costs MS close to nothing in return and the MVP's seem very proud of this recognition, often listing it in their sigs and whatnot. Like a badge of suckeritude.

I think the reason one MVP is complaining loudly and bitterly enough about another MVP so as to make the front page of slashdot is precisely because the stakes are so small. (to paraphrase a well known rat-fink)