Going From Gator to Claria 221
Ant writes "Wired News has an article on the famous spyware company that went from Gator to Claria. From the article: 'Three years ago the company was considered a parasite and a scourge. Today it's a rising star -- selling virtually the same product. How a pop-up pariah won the adware wars.'" The name change happened about two years ago, and a lot has changed since then.
They'll always be Gator to me. (Score:5, Funny)
Steps to regaining legitimacy:
Personally, I still despise Gator...uh...Claria, and all it stands for. The legitimization of spyware...uh...adware just leads to it being even more prevalent, and for every 'legitimate' adware app, there's a score of spyware apps out there that don't bother to play by the rules. Things would be much easier if all spyware could be treated like the infectious waste it is, but of course economics dictates that will never happen.
From TFA:
In other news, cats are in favor of open birdcages.
Re:They'll always be Gator to me. (Score:5, Interesting)
The question is, can Claria be trusted to gather enough personal information to allow for accurately targeted ads, and not use that information for evil? I think the answer to that question is no. Gator/Claria has the soul of a whore, and they'll sell you out to anyone for a nickle. Look how little time it took them to transition from being semi-useful to being pure evil in the first place!
Given the opportunity for profit, they'll go pure evil again.
Re:They'll always be Gator to me. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:They'll always be Gator to me. (Score:2)
Re:They'll always be Gator to me. (Score:5, Funny)
If their software figures out that you're middle class and are a big spender (very likely if it intercepts at least 10 unique credit card numbers from your particular copy of their spyware), then it could put up a "no payments until 2007" ad for the website. You're also a good target for Ponzi schemes and Nigerian scams. If it never sees a single credit card number but you visit shopping sites, then it might put up an ad touting how secure the vendor's system is or that the vendor will accept checks/money orders. If it notices that your root password or your bank account password is in a dictionary or is = 3 letters long, then it won't bother showing ads touting security, since obviously you could care less about it. However, if the passwords are for Swiss banks (and you are not from a Swiss IP), then you're an easy sell of secretive banking and tax evasion services.
The following is lawsuit-bot bait:
claria spyware gator claria spyware gator spyware spyware spyware spyware
Re:They'll always be Gator to me. (Score:5, Funny)
It's like advertising on your television or on billboards. Don't think of it as wasting your time and destroying the scenic view. Think of it as helpful messages to alert you of products and offers you may be interested in.
Re:They'll always be Gator to me. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:They'll always be Gator to me. (Score:5, Funny)
Step 7: Lobby HomeSec (Score:5, Informative)
>
> Lydia Parnes, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, says it's possible to track people online without being underhanded. The FTC is in favor of online advertising, she explains, "and sometimes tracking makes advertising work better for consumers."
>
> In other news, cats are in favor of open birdcages.
If step 7 is "..." before "Profit", then I humbly submit that the answer for "..." is to "lobby HomeSec".
Gator CPO at the Department of Homeland Security [slashdot.org]
In United Soviet States of America, privacy watchdog watches YOU!
Re:They'll always be Gator to me. (Score:2, Insightful)
When did they ever have legitimacy?
Re:They'll always be Gator to me. (Score:4, Interesting)
When did they ever have legitimacy?
Nice catch. This is one of those ways PR types love to manipulate the English language to give their product or actions a sense of nobility. Here are a few more examples:
They're not draining wetlands, they're reclaiming them.
They're not forcing creationism into public schools, they're just reaffirming their freedom of religion.
Name changes (Score:3, Funny)
However...
I have heard that there is a growing market for "Personal Entertainment Practitioners" who make house calls. Perhaps there is a place for our company in the lucrative field of Realtime Adult Entertainment Facilitating.
Hmm, I don't think I'd go that far... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Hmm, I don't think I'd go that far... (Score:2, Funny)
KFG
Re:Hmm, I don't think I'd go that far... (Score:2)
Microsoft / Claria (Score:4, Insightful)
Microsoft != Claria (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Microsoft / Claria (Score:2, Informative)
Microsoft considered acquiring Claria. The two went as far as holding meetings to discuss terms. However, Redmond employees who were aware of Claria's reputation demurred, setting off what the Times called an "internal battle" among Microsoft execs. Neither company will comment on the article.
the cited times article is archived, but you get the idea. i would have loved to have been on the wall for that "internal battle" at MS. kinda would tell you som
A Rose of a Different Name (Score:5, Interesting)
No punishment is too lean for these cockroaches.
Re:A Rose of a Different Name (Score:2)
So, what you are saying, then, is that this beautiful flower [freeserve.co.uk]
is still a turd??? [millsgrenades.co.uk]
Boy, I sure prefer to smell one over the other!
I think what you are trying to say is that "A rose, by any other name, is still a rose" (which implies beauty, wonder, as in its original use by Shakespeare) or maybe, "A turd, by any other name, is still a turd". (which certainly has a different connotation)
Used this way, your metaphor actually argues that Gator (the turd) changed its nam
Re:A Rose of a Different Name (Score:2, Funny)
Re:A Rose of a Different Name (Score:2)
SMELL AS SWEET! (Score:3, Funny)
By any other name would smell as sweet.
Romeo and Juliet. Act ii. Sc. 2. 6
cf "A rose is a rose is a rose" by Gertrude Stein.
Also, I am beginning to think that Tourette's is not caused by genetics, but one gets it by being exposed to the internet.
So, get the fucking quotes right next time, dickhead.
Re:A Rose of a Different Name (Score:2)
I can understand people getting trojans, because we all can be fooled. And I can understand people getting viruses or worms, because nothing is ever truly secure. But how in the hell can people get spyware and adware without explicitly installing
Re:A Rose of a Different Name (Score:2)
Re:A Rose of a Different Name (Score:3, Informative)
Re:A Rose of a Different Name (Score:5, Informative)
The other day I had to recover an old access database. Nobody remembered the password, of course, so I donwloaded the trial of one of the password recovery programs. 1 second after clicking on it the nastiest scumware I've ever seen appeared (Spy Sheriff).
This thing:
Changed my background, and locked it to 'you have been infected with spyware'.
Ran no less than *four* copies of itself.
Installed a service that went 100% CPU, and downloaded more spyware in the background (well it tried to.. I pulled the cable after about 10 seconds.. still managed to get a hell of a lot though.. damned broadband).
And here's the clincher:
It killed MS Antispyware, then found its install directory and erased it. Not only did Antispyware not detect it, it was powerless to defend itself.
Took me nearly a day to get rid of that bastard. Spybot would say it had cleared it, then it'd all come back again after a reboot. MS Antispyware was the same... it'd see it, but fail to remove it properly. Of course neither of these run in safe mode (Antispyware won't even *install* in safe mode... some use that is). I eventually killed it by manually tracking it down in the registry and finding its 're-spyware' routine (which was a priviliged service it had installed, that *none* of the anti spyware apps detected.. because it had managed to rename itself in memory to svchost.exe).
Re:A Rose of a Different Name (Score:3, Insightful)
The problem is, nobody bothered to ask users (Score:5, Insightful)
The problem is, the online business community never asked the right question. What they need in that disclosure is "Are you willing to give up half the bandwidth and computer memory you paid for so that we can serve you advertising?"
Re:The problem is, nobody bothered to ask users (Score:3, Insightful)
Spyware! (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Spyware! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Spyware! (Score:3, Funny)
Oh come now, it's totally straight forward.
Their products are entirely Spyware and you get them for free.
You're joking. (Score:2)
Re:You're joking. (Score:2)
Pay no attention to the dead anonymous coward. This is not, I repeat, this is NOT a mole-hunt!
Won what? (Score:5, Insightful)
- Won? The tech savy people ditched IE for Firefox, Opera or simply moved to Linux, so the tech savy people "won". The non tech savy people had no clue WTF was Gator, nothing changed today, they have no clue who Claria, 180 and other scumware makers are. All they know that their PC is spamming them with p0rn and it's slower. Not to mention they accept this blindly. Face it, 90% of computer users are too lazy, don't care and/or clueless.
Re:Won what? (Score:3)
Aurora, aka NAIL.EXE. What a terrible, nasty, dirty bastard it is. Removing it is a 3 page and probably 2 hour project, depending on whose old piece of crap pc you're working on.
Two Words: Law Suits (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Two Words: Law Suits (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Two Words: Law Suits (Score:2)
>They've gone on a very offensive offensive to try to change public perception of their products by silencing their critics.
Hey, if it works for the government, why not them?Not enough has changed (Score:5, Insightful)
They are human scum of the worst possible kind. High Priests in the religion of capitalist greed.
Re:Not enough has changed (Score:2)
Re:Not enough has changed (Score:2)
Sounds good in theory, but I gotta tell ya, from what I see capitalism relies on no such thing. It does fine withtout it.
From TFA (Score:2, Funny)
Wow! These Microsoft guys are running out of ideas how to piss their users. Hopefully Gator's experience will do a vast contribution in that area.
(Only joking)
Pirates! (Score:3, Funny)
Some would also say they were mangy dogs and landlubbers as well...
Arr!
PR ? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:PR ? (Score:2, Insightful)
I did not feel the article was giving Claria any positive recognition about their current business practices at all.
Still caught by anti-spyware software? (Score:3, Interesting)
- Toned down their intrusiveness on victims' machines
- Become a known quantity rather than a shocking intruder
- Survived and made some money, thus earning de facto legitimacy as a business
They're still a scourge -- just a legal and known one.I know THREE THINGS that HAVEN'T CHANGED. (Score:4, Interesting)
1. That they are still purveyors of one the most insidious brand of spyware.
2. Most of us still know it.
3. My already-low opinion of them remains so.
In other news... (Score:3, Interesting)
Wow, because they changed their name they must be a peaceful and genial organization now...
Re:In other news... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:In other news... (Score:3, Funny)
nothing has changed! (Score:2, Interesting)
Nothing has changed, not at all. Even the article admits that it is the same old same old, but with a brand new spiffy suit. Changing the name does not change the function of the software.
I remember Gator from when I was a freshman in college. Everyone was installing it on their computers, I even admit to installing it on mine once. However, it was a beast to get rid of. I think I had to put a fresh install of windows on there to clear it up. Claria is no different from Gat
Agent Smith is coming to a spyware near you (Score:3, Funny)
CEO Scott VanDeVelde doesn't deny this. "I don't feel like there's a need to wipe the slate clean," he says. "Our technologies are dead center of where the market is going." The spyware wars are over - and spyware has won."
Why does this quote sound oddly familiar?
Agent Smith: We're willing to wipe the slate clean, give you a fresh start. All that we're asking in return is your cooperation in bringing a known terrorist to justice.
Neo: Yeah. Well, that sounds like a pretty good deal. But I think I may have a better one. How about, I give you the finger [Neo flips off Agent Smith]
Neo:
RTA, I just can't shake the feeling... (Score:5, Interesting)
There's a lot of talk about revenues. There's a lot of talk about private lawsuit settlements. There's a lot of talk about how effectively these guys can invade your user experience on a personal computer. At one point in the article, I read a line about Gator (Claria) suing another company for "(interfering) with its right to deliver pop-ups."
As P.J. O'Rourke would say, "What the fuck, huh?! I mean, what the fucking fuck?!" Where on Earth did these scumbags ever get the idea that they have the right to do these things? I don't see anything at all mentioned about about ethics or otherwise doing the right thing. When a few weeks ago Stewart Baker admonished Sony BMG (not directly, but everyone knew who he was talking to), "It's very important to remember that it's your intellectual property -- it's not your computer," I was astonished that someone in such a position as his would step up to the plate for people like us.
Thing is, whether they're Claria, or Gator, or whatever name they want to call themselves, I still think they're still bad news. I'm just glad they're myopic enough that they haven't targeted Macintoshes yet.
As an aside, Annalee Newitz first came to my attention in the entertainment paper Metro distributed here in the South Bay area. I'm not sure if she's syndicated, but I like to think of her as a local. She's pretty sharp.
Wow. (Score:2)
Wow. I never thought I'd see the day that the Slashdot editors whored for a spyware/adware company.
Do you guys really think we're *that* gullible? Posting a link to this article does nothing either way when the entire presumption of interest in this "rising star" is flawed. No one here cares about Claria, all our anti-spyware and anti-adware programs remove it so. Posting an article about it doesn't even give us a rise anymore, it's such a non-issue.
The only assumption one can make
Sort of like Phillip Morris (Score:3, Insightful)
When in trouble (Score:2)
Still considered a threat by Microsoft AntiSpyware (Score:2, Interesting)
To whoever is maintaining Microsoft AntiSpyware: People are annoyed by Claria. Even the most computer-iliterate understand that something is wrong with their computer and it reflects poorly your product. People think they have "a virus".
I think Microsoft AntiSpyware is a great product, please modify it so it removes Clarias' software by default
Re:Still considered a threat by Microsoft AntiSpyw (Score:3, Informative)
It's not the product, it's the presentation. (Score:5, Funny)
Indeed. (Score:2)
Claria. Ask your IT department. It's time to ask your IT department. Ask about Claria.
Claria side effects include bandwidth loss increased advertisement and loss of privacy if they continue or are bothersome check with your IT department contact your IT department immediately if your develop rapid or pounding disk access OS instability or unusual sluggish
They havent won shit. They're still scum. (Score:5, Interesting)
I resent the statement that a "Spyware" company won the adware wars. There isnt anything to win, other than the total obliteration of these kinds of software.
Gater lives on, the war continues.
Modern Day Robber Barons (Score:3, Insightful)
If the effort to change their ways is sincere, then they can be forgiven. As comments thus far have shown, proving that can be pretty hard to do.
Profit from the ignorance of the massess (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Profit from the ignorance of the massess (Score:2)
oh.. yeah... I guess you're right.
Claria is spyware! (Score:5, Funny)
I said it again, where's the lawsuit?
-bZj
Re:Claria is spyware! (Score:2)
What I tell you three times is true.
Won the war my ass (Score:4, Insightful)
The only thing they won is the attention of the media, and the sales from people who click on everything and anything they see...in short, the kind of people you wish you could set up a Linux box, lock them out of everything more dangerous than thier web browser, and never let them know the root password.
Morons.
Re:Won the war my ass (Score:2)
How can they sue? (Score:2, Insightful)
A
Re:How can they sue? (Score:2, Insightful)
Claria / Google (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Claria / Google (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Claria / Google (Score:2)
I have no objection to a company keeping a profile of me when I USE their services. My doctor also keeps a provile on me, is he evil as well?
Re:Claria / Google (Score:3, Insightful)
Google does not slow down my PC without my knowledge
Google does not pop up ads whenever I visit other sites
Google's about page is not hidden
I can use Google whenever I want
I do not have to uninstall Google from my PC, if I choose not to use Google anymore
You do not use Google by accident
People who use Google do so intentionally and are happy with the results
Friends do no ask me for help, cause their PC got infested by Google
What does Claria do for the user?! (Score:2)
It can't be eWallet. All modern browsers can store usernames and passwords.
It appears to be that Claria succeeds on nothing more than tricking (l)users into installing the software. And how is that a good thing?
Re:What does Claria do for the user?! (Score:3, Informative)
Claria lets developers release an ad-supported version of their software without developing their own ad framework, thus allowing them to release free software and still make a profit. Popular programs Go!Zilla and Kazaa both used Claria at one point.
This is wonderful news! (Score:2, Informative)
Basis for class action lawsuit
Time effort and lost productivity and bandwidth in removing gator/claria products
1)
a) time to remove the product, and the time and effort learning how to
Claria is still a parasite and a scourge (Score:3, Insightful)
This Wired article is full of misinformation, and reads like a press release from the Claria public relations department.
Here's the truth.
1. The perception: Spyware continues to be perceived as a huge threat. Just look at the Sony fiasco (a google search for "sony spyware" returns 18,600,000 hits). The anti-spyware market place continues to be active, with lots of competing products, and new players are still appearing.
2. The reality: Spyware continues to make workstations slower and less stable. Spyware phone-home traffic continues to suck up large amounts of bandwidth on corporate networks, if you don't have good protection installed. And Claria continues to be part of the problem, not part of the solution. Anti-spyware products continue to detect, block and remove Claria spyware.
3. The article implies that anti-spyware vendors are no longer protecting against Claria. That's certainly not true for the anti-spyware products that my company ships, and it's not true for other products I've tested. Although Wired puts the well-known spin on Windows anti-spyware (OMG Microsoft is in bed with Claria), it continues to detect Claria, it still warns you if you try to install it, and it still gives you the option to remove it.
Now, it's true that Claria software is slightly less abusive of your computer than it used to be, and Microsoft did downgrade the threat level based on this change in behaviour. But the fact that Claria has made their software less egregious does not mean that "spyware has won". It means that the anti-spyware crusaders are having an effect on corporate behaviour. Just as they are now having an effect on Sony's behaviour.
Doug Moen
Re:Claria is still a parasite and a scourge (Score:3, Insightful)
Wired depends upon readers for its revenue. Why shouldn't an article be just a big fat troll? The goal is to maximize page traffic and click-throughs, after all.
Re:Claria is still a parasite and a scourge (Score:3, Insightful)
A search for "google spyware" returns 15,900,000 hits... does that mean google are evil too?
The number of pages that google returns is absolutely no indication of the popularity of a subject.
Our overlords know the truth (Score:5, Funny)
Our webwasher message said i was denied for trying to access a site in the category: Computer Crime
What about open source? (Score:3, Interesting)
Want free email app? Thunderbird. Want free wordprocessor? OpenOffice.
And this is why the term "adware" has slowly vanished from download sites, to be replaced with "open source". If Claria has faded into a low-profile company, it's because the world has changed.
This quote from the article sums it quite well (Score:2)
Sad but true. People (including myself) are willing to sell their privacy to get free software.
Still VERY VERY hated (Score:4, Informative)
Claria is perhaps best known for the Gator spyware products, which display ads on the computers of web surfers. It bills itself as the "leader in online behavioral marketing". As a result of the problems relating to its software and the way it has often been installed, Claria Corporation may be the Internet-based company with the worst corporate reputation.
Nobody minds surrepetitious spying? (Score:2)
The comparison's to GMail aren't apt either.
GMail isn't installing crapware into your system.
name change is a common tactic (Score:3, Informative)
What about rights? (Score:3, Insightful)
At some point, the line has to be drawn legally. Perhaps the property argument can only be extended as far as it actually modifies your PC, sans Sony Rootkit DRM and other malware. But it would be nice if it can be extended to your web browser, also.
Thanks,
Leabre
Re:Slightly disconcerting (Score:2, Funny)
Print is dead.*
* They reserve the right to add the word "silly" to the end of their statement.
Re:Slightly disconcerting (Score:2)
Lets take a struggling print company: Knight Ridder, Inc. KRI [nasdaq.com]
And compare it to Slashdot's parent company: LNUX [nasdaq.com]
Evidence would seem to suggest that, in fact, being dead may be better than being Slashdot [nasdaq.com]
Re:Slightly disconcerting (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Slightly disconcerting (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Slightly disconcerting (Score:2)
I figure that buying the print edition is worth it though, it's much easier to read in the bathroom.
That and the articles tend to show up on the website about a month after the magazine comes out. Mostly it's the ease of reading in the bathroom though.
Re:Slightly disconcerting (Score:2)
Re:Slightly disconcerting (Score:2)
Re:energy is liberated through blasphemy (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Pariah or Pirana? (Score:5, Funny)
libel == !(legal power) (Score:3, Informative)
Re:mirror (Score:2, Insightful)
Does it still count as a boycott if you copy and paste the article? Is that not akin to boycotting Disney, for example, only to look over someone's shoulder to watch [insert rehashed movie here]? You did not [buy the movie/see the ads on the site], but you're still propagating their presence in the marketplace.