Glen,

Thanks for sharing this information.  It explains the persistent iexplore
error message that I've been getting ever since my wife Installed one of the
programs using this software.  I'd encourage everyone to read these web
sites and become informed if you aren't already.

Thanks,
Jack Bailie


                -----Original Message-----
                From:   COLE,GLENN (Non-HP-SantaClara,ex2)
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]
                Sent:   Wednesday, March 22, 2000 6:38 PM
                To:     [log in to unmask]
                Subject:        OT: spyware

                InfoWorld's Brian Livingston has an interesting summary of
--
                and a "cure" for -- an emerging class of apps sometimes
called
                "spyware."

                Basically, some apps generate revenue for their authors by
                displaying ads.  These ads are downloaded by the user, and
                feedback about user responses (and maybe more info!) is
                returned to the company supplying the ad software.

                Among other problems, users generally are not told of the
                ad-downloading nature of the apps, there is no guarantee
                of what info is being returned, and the daemon lives on
                even when the app which installed it has been deleted.

                Supposedly, there are over 400 apps using this technique,
                including LapLink FTP, CuteFTP, lots of MP3 utilities, some
                games, and others too numerous to generalize here.

                Mr. Livingston provides more info about the technique and
                the problems it creates, and a link to much more info by
                Steve Gibson (formerly of SpinRite fame).  Mr. Gibson has
                a utility called "OptOut" which can be used to scan the
                system registry for signs of the "spyware."

                Both articles make for very interesting reading.

                Brian Livingston (with apologies for any wrap):

http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/00/03/20/000320oplivingston.xml

                Steve Gibson:
                   http://grc.com/optout.htm

                (A screenshot for "OptOut.exe" and a link to the executable
                are halfway down the page.)

                List of apps known to install the daemon:
                   http://www.aureate.com/advertisers/network_members.html

                (An *alphabetical* list can be found a third of the way
                down Mr. Gibson's page.)

                --Glenn (happy they don't support the Mac :)