Spyware Stories
I got a request via e-mail, and am quoting it verbatim here:
I am a third-year student at Stanford Law School. Stanford University’s Center for Internet and Society and the Stanford Cyberlaw Clinic want stories about how spyware and adware affects personal computers. We hope to help enact dramatic and much-needed reforms in the ways in which spyware and adware companies operate and contract with Internet users. We regularly file lawsuits as well as amicus briefs in other lawyers’ lawsuits, testify before governmental bodies and advocate for legislation, assist civil liberties organizations, and author white papers. We are a high-profile catalyst for change and the spyware industry is our major
focus at the moment. Stanford’s Center for Internet and Society, of which the Stanford cyberlaw Clinic is a part, is directed by Lawrence Lessig. The Cyberlaw Clinic is run by Jennifer Granick, Wired columnist and renowned San Francisco cyberdefense attorney.In particular, we are curious about your experiences with these programs:
PacerD: also referred to as Exfol
180solutions: also known as 180 Search Assistant, BlazeFind
EliteBar: also known as YupSearch, Search Miracle, Elite Toolbar,
Enternet Media Toolbar, EM Bar, 3D DesktopPlease fill out (or forward on) our very brief spyware questionnaire at:
http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/spyware/Pacer D and Exfol, two drive-by download programs taking advantage of Windows exploits, are of mysterious origin and not easily traceable to a distinct responsible party. It is all too easy for “companies” like those to mess up people’s computers and get away scot-free because of their hidden nature. Enternet and 180solutions are already the target of litigation by private parties
and the FTC. We want to do our part to hold these companies accountable for their deceptive practices and reform the spyware/adware landscape. Given our goals, it is imperative that we
speak to consumers who have been harmed by these particular products, as well as any other spyware-impacted consumers that would like to share their stories with us. And while our goals
necessitate that we gather personally identifiable information, at least during this initial phase of our project, it will not be shared with anyone outside the Stanford Cyberlaw Clinic and only
shared with the faculty and students involved in this particular project.Your help is sincerely appreciated. Thanks so much!
Sincerely,
John Eden and the Stanford Cyberlaw Clinic
March 11th, 2006 at 4:31 pm
When I deal with spyware I don’t really pay attention to what it is, I just clean it. And only if I can’t get an anti-spyware program to clean it do I try the uninstall. The few times there has been an uninstall and I actually tried it, often it didn’t work or actually undid the partial removal I was able to do manually or with an anti-spyware program.
I hope they can get some good info about spyware, but I wasn’t able to fill out their survey. I don’t get spyware on my own computer and don’t pay attention to what I remove for other people. Plus they require “personally identifiable information,” name, email, and phone number.
It would be helpful if you made the survey URL a link.
By the way, I really like Webroot Spy Sweeper. I have run across a few things that neither Adaware or SpyBot could get rid of and gave Spy Sweaper a try and liked it enough to pay for it.
March 11th, 2006 at 4:32 pm
I now see you linked to the survey at the top of the post. It is easily overlooked when you see the unlinked URL in the message body.