dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
uniqs
23
PX Eliezer704
Premium Member
join:2008-08-09
Hutt River

PX Eliezer704 to amigo_boy

Premium Member

to amigo_boy

Re: magicjack is a RIPOFF

I'm going to be a "moderate".

They say that a "moderate" is someone who gets shot from both sides....

Here goes.

amigo_boy, you make very good points. But putting in an uninstall program is so easy, one wonders why MagicJack just doesn't do it already. Pretty much every piece of software I've ever seen comes with an uninstaller.

BUT ON THE OTHER HAND:

RockyBB, if MagicJack was actually so evil, then what they would do would be to HAVE an uninstaller, but a SNEAKY one that would only PRETEND to remove MagicJack. The uninstaller would actually leave behind the trojan potential, thus misleading people and giving them false confidence.

In other words, RockyBB, if MagicJack DID have an uninstaller, would you trust it?!

The fact that they do not have an uninstaller, at least proves that they are not providing a fake one!
amigo_boy
join:2005-07-22

amigo_boy

Member

said by PX Eliezer704:

putting in an uninstall program is so easy, one wonders why MagicJack just doesn't do it already. Pretty much every piece of software I've ever seen comes with an uninstaller.
I'd say: the way MJ engages in distasteful marketing to sell more units, if they had some sense that the lack of an uninstaller bothered enough people, they'd add one immediately. (From their advertising tactics, I get the impression they'd sell their grandmother if there was a profit in it.).

I'd also say: if MJ's stated behavioral monitoring and advertising is the basis for suggested malware/spying behavior, they haven't been very good at it. For over a year there has been no targeted advertising. If we were being served a variety of ads, I'd be a little sympathetic concerning MJ's aleged capabilities and motives. But, right now it looks like they're going nowhere with their gmail-like snooping for money.

Mark

RockyBB
Premium Member
join:2005-01-31
Steamboat Springs, CO

RockyBB to PX Eliezer704

Premium Member

to PX Eliezer704
said by PX Eliezer704:

if MagicJack was actually so evil
I didn't say that they're evil. I said that the possibility exists that they could do bad things. And I asked the still unanswered question of why they don't want the software removed from any computer ever attached to a device. I don't think that MJ is in the phone business ... I think they're in the eyeballs business. It seems that they're not yet large enough, with the correct demographic, to interest significant mass or targeted advertising, so they don't do it yet. But that changes one day. I'm not worried about the day they send down advertising. I'm worried about the day that some off-shore dude conveniently finds a back door hack into MJ servers and starts getting info from the software -- personally identifiable info from user PCs. As all money guys in Florida know money guys in Grand Cayman, it's not so far fetched. Why won't they allow their software to be taken off? Would it disrupt some master plan? I'm just pointing out the clue, prior to the crime. Do you remember the big stink when Teleblend started taking over the gizmos in end users homes? How you gonna feel when little bots start looking at your personal info through MJ's software? And remember, that software gets left behind on every computer a MJ was ever connected to, like your friends and neighbors and family members ... most of who really didn't understand what you were showing them, and didn't buy one, don't remember ever being connected to one, but still have that software resident on their computers, waiting, waiting, waiting, for the signal.
PX Eliezer704
Premium Member
join:2008-08-09
Hutt River

PX Eliezer704

Premium Member

RockyBB, as always, you make interesting points.

Let me get back to what I think was the crux of my post:

At this point, if MagicJack DID have an uninstaller, would we want to trust it? Think about it.

Thus, for folks who want to uninstall, I think that these remain good options:

»uninstallmagicjack.com/

»www.snapfiles.com/get/re ··· ler.html

By the way, I always use something like Revo Uninstaller to supplement a manufacturer's uninstall program!

-------------------------------------------------------

Let's suppose that one fine day, some future manager at MJ tries to use the software for data crawling instead of phone calling.

Among all the users with MJ installed, there will be a huge number of (choose your term): techies, nerds, geeks, hackers, boffins. And all of these people will be using a wide variety of security programs of all types. And even if improper behavior is missed by many or most of the security measures, some of the programs will pick it up. And about 10 minutes after that, it's going to be all over the internet. Game over.

This is especially true because the longer any inactive MJ code remains on computers, the more obsolete it is. 2006 software won't be a match for the firewalls, rootkit detectors, virus scanners, HIPS programs, anti-trojans, routers, and so forth, from 2010 or 2012 or beyond.
amigo_boy
join:2005-07-22

1 edit

amigo_boy to RockyBB

Member

to RockyBB
said by RockyBB:

I said that the possibility exists that they could do bad things.
Some bad things are worse than others. What you've suggested falls into the "evil" category.
said by RockyBB:

And I asked the still unanswered question of why they don't want the software removed from any computer ever attached to a device.
But this is a classic component of your argument. You constantly overstate the problem. If a customer contacts tech support, they tell them how to uninstall it. If they didn't want it uninstalled, they wouldn't do that.

They would also do a better job of hiding what they installed. Or, as was mentioned previously, they would provide a fake uninstall feature that leaves the program in place.

You've ascribed evil intent to someone who, at every turn, has demonstrated none. It's at this point that you backpeddle, saying "I didn't say *evil*, just that they could do something" (and then proceed to describe the most outrageous and preposterous scenario which isn't supported at all by MJ's actions.).
said by RockyBB:

I don't think that MJ is in the phone business ... I think they're in the eyeballs business.
As mentioned in another post, if that's true, they've failed miserably. After over a year we haven't seen a single third-party advertisement. Evidently they can't sell the information gathered from phone numbers called. And, they haven't done anything to eavesdrop on behaviors on the computer.

Based upon MJ's actions so far, I'd be about a million times more concerned about Google (relatively speaking).
said by RockyBB:

Why won't they allow their software to be taken off?
Again, this is your signature trait (overstating, drama). They make it very easy to uninstall. If you contact them, they'll tell you how to do it. They don't obfuscate their install. They don't even run as a daemon. They require you to execute the software. Therefore, anyone who stops using it, it does nothing (even if not uninstalled).

For someone who "won't allow" it, they sure go out of their way to allow it.

Mark