Patriotism? No, Just More Pop-Ups
from the fun-for-the-whole-family dept
If you read Techdirt, you're probably aware of things like adware and spyware that invade computers through various "free" applications. Many people don't know about them, though, and are increasingly falling victim to them. The companies who provide those products are getting increasingly desperate to trick users into installing them. MSNBC is writing about how eUniverse, a public company, is sneaking adware into their "free" patriotic cursors that they're trying to convince people to download. Of course, in the fine print, it tells you you're actually installing adware, but you really have to hunt for it. eUniverse says they're doing nothing wrong, because they don't see anything wrong with adware ("it's not spyware!", they say) and the information is there for the 3 people who actually read the end user license agreement and privacy policy. MSNBC notes that the license agreement even gives eUniverse the right to install additional programs at a later date and, if you uninstall the cursor, those other programs remain. Yet another desperation business model based on annoying users, instead of providing them with something they want and value.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
