salahx
join:2001-12-03
Saint Louis, MO
| Informed consent is not sufficient It doesn't matter if is on a 50-ft billboard, with multi-coloring blinking lights, and 100 100db speakers. The program is Behaving Badly
"IMPORTANT: You have to uninstall Ad-Aware before using RadLight" - that is questionable but tolerable.
"If it is found on the system it will be removed !!!" - that part IS NOT
NO APPLICATION, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD BE TOUCHING OTHER APPLICATIONS
Even if there were technical reasons the application was incompatible with another, application don't put a warning 'If you proceed, this application will uninstall XXX". The installer should return an error "This application is not compatible with XXX. Installation has stopped. Please fix problem, and then run Install again"
Three reasons why:
You application is a GUEST on MY COMPUTER. Looked under various version of Windows, the icons are called 'My Computer', 'My Network Places'. and so forth. My house. My rules. Don't like it? Don't enter. The installer can always quit.
Furthermore, is the application really that smart? Just look at certain broadband-providers 'install software' automatically that puts on who-knows-what crap which (all to often) usually winds up blowing up the machine 3 months later and cause the user to pay $25 for OEM tech support so they can say 'run the restore CD'. Sure, I could Ad-Aware to disable the 'bundled software' that came with the offending application. Or maybe some other application that added some 'bundled software'. However, THAT application touched it, and broke it. 'The last one who touched it gets to fix it'.
And though that EULA MIGHT protect the owners from CIVIL damages, there are state and federal laws against certain categories of malware, one may very well interpret this kind of activity a 'Trojan Horse' - the application might very well violate one of them. and the EULA does nothing for CRIMINAL damages. Even then, at least ONE AV vendor put in Gator as a Trojan Horse. Having an application on a major AV vendors detection list isn't so good for sales.
The summary:
1) Its my computer
2) The application isn't smart enough. Its bad programming.
3) The EULA means squat to state and federal DA's. The application may find its way on Symantec's, McAfee/Network Associates, or Trend Micro's pattern detection list.
This bad programming design to check for Ad-Aware prior to install. If one really feels that is necessary, print an error, then stop. There NO reason for the installer to facilitate the uninstall of another vendor's program. It is arrogant to do so. |
