More On Earthlink's Spyware Counter (Not Blocker)

(Mis)Uses of Technology

from the well,-that's-perfectly-useless dept

Earlier this year we wrote about how ISPs trying to deal with the spyware issue were giving out anti-spyware tools that didn’t actually remove the spyware. It just pointed out that the user had spyware but didn’t help them remove it. They were doing this for two main reasons: to avoid increasing liability (and support costs) for spyware removal that ended up breaking things and to avoid pissing off the (highly litigious) companies that provide this software (who were, in some cases, “marketing partners”). So, now, Broadband Reports is trashing Earthlink of their latest press release about how wonderful their spyware software is – by talking about just how much spyware is out there, but completely leaving out the fact that most of it is still there since they did nothing to help remove it. This isn’t rocket-science. Customers are increasingly looking to their broadband service provider to protect them (whether it’s spam, viruses or spyware) and this kind of “oh, look, you have a problem – but we won’t help you fix it” solution is only going to upset more users than it helps. This is, to some extent, the same problem the anti-virus companies faced when debating whether or not to mark spyware as viruses. The decision making factor should be the end-users – and they clearly want these programs off their computers. The ISPs are going to need to come up with a real strategy for dealing with these hazards, because the current strategy is simply window-dressing.