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Annoying The Users Of Your Trial Software Until They Pay Is Not A Legitimate Business Model
from the about-time dept
One of the well known distribution tactics of the spyware/adware industry is to bundle the adware with another application people want, such as a file sharing system. Usually, this is seen as a business model for those products. However, it seems that some others are viewing adware as a different type of business model: leveraging the annoyance factor of adware until you break down and pay up to remove it (in some places, this may be known as extortion). Washington's Attorney General is apparently now going after Movieland.com, which appears to be the software that is bundled with a nasty bit of adware. According to the complaint, Movieland promised a three-day free trial -- but it also installed some adware in the process. Following the expiration of the "trial," the user would get bombarded with popups that could not be closed -- until the user agreed to sign up for the full service.
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My copy of Windows does the same thing!
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Re: My copy of Windows does the same thing!
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Re: Re: My copy of Windows does the same thing!
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My copy of Windows does the same thing!
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Post Something Good!
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this
I'm sorry, but that's just the way I am.
-Homer Simpson
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first actual comment on the story
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Re: Post Something Good!
Should I really need to point out that the largest software creator in the world, based in the state that the lawsuit is originating from, pops up nag windows similar to the lawsuit for similar reasons?
No.
But for you, I will.
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Re:
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Fortunately no reasonable person (jury...) is going to take that "permission fine print" argument seriously.
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i can say it isnt impossible to remove it, but it may as well be.
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I know!
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Re: I know!
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your house
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Yeah right!
Yeah it's a business model for the low lifes of the world right up there with date rapes, telemarketing, and time -sharing opportunities!
Anything that has to be slipped in, unknown to the user, is underhanded and sneaky. It's like some guy buying a girl a drink, slips her drink a spanish fly, it knocks her out, he f---- her, then acts like they had mutual sex.
In fact both parties involved suffer the consequences the vendors whos software is being piggybacked and the piggybacker. Because once the owner finds out they avoid both like the plague.
So vendors, next time you consider this as a model, stick this in your pipe and smoke some.
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Re: Re: Post Something Good!
One you have not agreed to and don't want to use and hijacks your computer for a period of time - the other you do (you can always use a different OS if you like).
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Re: Re:
So many laymen computer users out there don't know how to do anything more than use the 'Add/Remove Programs' section in their control panel. If a company hijacks a computer by making it so difficult to remove that you have to be a more advanced computer user to do so it is essentially the same as making the ads impossible to remove.
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Companies should not be allowed to take advantage of people to the point that they can fully control eveything we do on our PC's.
I should never have to hire a lawyer to be sure I'm not going to get bent over and nailed by some dick-head company just to install software. That mindset is bullshit.
If this kind of thing continues to get worse it could become a serious problem for the software industry - people will stop buying software from no-name companies out of fear they're going to get screwed. That does nobody any good and these jackass startups that create this kind of crap shouldn't be allowed to exist in such a manner.
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O.K.
I recall having to support people after they've installed AOL.
AOL was the biggest pain in the ass to remove back in '98. Litterally, if you installed AOL it took your whole machine hostage. I found it alter things that it had no business altering. Yet people used it all day long untill the install failed or caused other problems. I take a certain level of pride in my skills but I have never seen a more insideous piece of code than that of AOL.
People needed AOL but didn't want all the crap that it caused to fail. In fact, in order to correct some things required 10-15 registry settings and that was after uninstalling AOL!
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Basic Rule
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Re: Basic Rule
Go figure, $0 does have some value.
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Re: Re: Basic Rule
In fact there are many reliable distributions of software but the sources need to be trusted first.
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Well, look here
IF YOU DO NOT PROVIDE PAYMENT INFORMATION DURING THE TRIAL PERIOD OUR BILLING SOFTWARE WILL BE ENABLED UPON THE EXPIRATION OF YOUR TRIAL PERIOD. THE BILLING SOFTWARE WILL RUN ON YOUR COMPUTER, DISPLAYING POP-UP WINDOW REMINDERS THAT PROVIDE YOU WITH VARIOUS METHODS OF PAYMENT FOR THE ANNUAL LICENSE. THESE POP-UP WINDOWS WILL APPEAR MORE FREQUENTLY UNTIL YOU CHOOSE ONE OF THE PAYMENT OPTIONS AND PAY FOR THE LICENSE. THE BILLING SOFTWARE IS SOLELY DESIGNED TO PREVENT FRAUDULENT AND UNAUTHORIZED USE OF THE MEDIAPIPE SOFTWARE." from movieland.com/terms
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Unwanted Ads and Offers
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