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Pest Patrol Pulls Claria Detection
Latest vendor to waffle on definitions

Ad/spyware vendors have been threatening websites who call their product spyware, as well as threatening (or offering marketing partnerships to) security companies to weaken their detection criteria. Pest Patrol is the latest to bend to the pressure, and has temporarily suspended all detection of Claria ad/spyware.

CA's Vendor Appeals page carries the news, which indicates that all Claria products - including Dashbar, Date Manager, Gator/GAIN, GotSmiley, and Precision Time, have been temporarily removed from their detection database pending further analysis. Security Researcher Eric Howes discusses the move in our Security forum.

If you recall, Lavasoft (the makers of AdAware) were recently roundly criticized by our community after they removed WhenU products from their detection database. Lavasoft failed to clearly explain the move, subsequently offered users an uninstallation tool that didn't work, and then ultimately decided WhenU products were a threat after all, and began detecting their products again.

While Pest Patrol is on Claria hiatus, they've failed to offer users any sort of removal tool, instead - as Eric Howes notes - offer a dead link to removal instructions (now fixed). This of course is assuming Pest Patrol users make the product's Vendor Appeals page part of their daily reading in the first place.

This waffling by Lavasoft, Computer Associates, and other anti-spyware developers is thanks to legal threats and warnings being hurled about by the spy and adware industry, who are frightened that looming laws could curtail their revenue party. Spyware analyst Ben Edelman last week compiled a list of the websites and developers who have received legal threats from the industry.
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cbrigante2
Wait til Next Year
Premium Member
join:2002-11-22
North Aurora, IL

1 recommendation

cbrigante2

Premium Member

Add another one...

Another application to add to my "do not bother with" list.

TheMetrix
R.T.F.M. - P.E.B.K.A.C
Premium Member
join:2002-06-15
Utica, MI

TheMetrix

Premium Member

Re: Add another one...

There is only two products I use for removing adware/spyware from computers I get in, Spybot S&D and Ad-Aware.

Everytime I've tried using Pest Patrol it doesn't work worth a damn so I just uninstall it too. Why waste my time with a product that doesn't do what it advertises.
Hickerx2
God Bless The U.S. Military
join:2001-03-04
Franklinville, NY

Hickerx2

Member

Re: Add another one...

said by TheMetrix:

Why waste my time with a product that doesn't do what it advertises.
We don't know.....
Tell us why you use AAW then?

roamer1
sticking it out at you
join:2001-03-24
Atlanta, GA

1 edit

roamer1 to TheMetrix

Member

to TheMetrix
said by TheMetrix:

There is only two products I use for removing adware/spyware from computers I get in, Spybot S&D and Ad-Aware.

Everytime I've tried using Pest Patrol it doesn't work worth a damn so I just uninstall it too. Why waste my time with a product that doesn't do what it advertises.
I've long used Ad-Aware, but right *before* the recent Lavasoft/WhenU spat added Spybot S&D to the mix -- and found that the "resident" feature is really nice. I also have the M$ anti-spyware beta around here somewhere, but haven't installed it yet...

That said, I rarely get spyware in the first place, as I use Firefox and not IE and generally avoid the types of software (P2P apps, etc.) that carry it (and when I *do* torrents and so on I use open-source stuff)...

-SC

cbrigante2
Wait til Next Year
Premium Member
join:2002-11-22
North Aurora, IL

cbrigante2

Premium Member

I'm more of a Spy Sweeper guy myself. I used to like AdAware, but even before the questions of Claria, I found Spy Sweeper solving more issues with my pcs than AdAware was.

Slidetbone
Mazin Go
Premium Member
join:2002-11-10
Land O Lakes, FL

1 recommendation

Slidetbone to cbrigante2

Premium Member

to cbrigante2
Another app bites the dust.
Lavasoft made themselves look vulnerable and now, Pest Patrol wusses out.

No thanks. Once a company balks at the very thing they are offering protection against, they lose credibility in my book.

rtcpenguin
Premium Member
join:2001-01-21
Fairfax, VA

rtcpenguin

Premium Member

Re: Add another one...

said by Slidetbone:

Another app bites the dust.
Lavasoft made themselves look vulnerable and now, Pest Patrol wusses out.

No thanks. Once a company balks at the very thing they are offering protection against, they lose credibility in my book.
At least we have Microsoft in the game now. I've had good luck with their program, and I don't think they're going to "wuss" out.
63353372 (banned)
join:2003-06-18
Canada

63353372 (banned)

Member

Re: Add another one...

said by rtcpenguin:

said by Slidetbone:

Another app bites the dust.
Lavasoft made themselves look vulnerable and now, Pest Patrol wusses out.

No thanks. Once a company balks at the very thing they are offering protection against, they lose credibility in my book.
At least we have Microsoft in the game now. I've had good luck with their program, and I don't think they're going to "wuss" out.
Yeah, because the adware/spyware companies know that they'd go bankrupt trying to sue MS.
SkyDude
join:2000-11-19
Raynham, MA

SkyDude

Member

Re: Add another one...

So now MS is our friend...?

With friends like them, who needs mother-in-laws?

anonpornman
@dsl.net

anonpornman to cbrigante2

Anon

to cbrigante2
I've recommended to all of my customers to identify the programs they are using.. If these programs happen to be removing the Adware /spaware definitions i've told my clients to contact the Company and request a refund as their product is not working as stated..

This is going to be a field day with the states attorney generals.. Wait they have no time for this they are trying to keep brain dead people alive.

woody7
Premium Member
join:2000-10-13
Torrance, CA

1 edit

woody7

Premium Member

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

They suc$
you would think that what Lavasoft went through they would get it......

furlonium
join:2002-05-08
Allentown, PA

furlonium

Member

Re: hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I use this program, and I like it, and I'd rather not have to uninstall it because they make some stupid decision like Lavasoft did.

exocet_cm
Writing
Premium Member
join:2003-03-23
Brooklyn, NY

1 recommendation

exocet_cm to woody7

Premium Member

to woody7
Wow, I had respect for ad-aware...then lost it.
I had respect for pest patrol...now lost it.
I have respect for Spybot S&D...better not loose it.

It only takes ONE time to smear your name. Give yourself a bad rap and you will have to try twofold to get your respect back.

some guy
@dsl.milwwi.ameritech

some guy

Anon

Re: hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

spybot s&d is based in germany

good luck suing them

i guess the moral is move offshore

guitarzan
Premium Member
join:2004-05-04
Skytop, PA

1 recommendation

guitarzan

Premium Member

You Gotta Be Kidding Me

Is it the lure of easy money.? That these companies are dropping Spyware/Walware/Adware/Shitware/Fcuk up my computer/
With foreign junk I DON'T want on my O/S in the first place.?
I have Computer Associates as a fire wall and Anti Virus.Is it recommended to drop CA like a rag knowing this info.?
TIA Guitarzan

Voyager2K2
join:2001-10-04
Wayne, PA

1 edit

Voyager2K2

Member

Too Bad

Another one bites the dust.
MS AntiSpy has to dectect this prime piece of crapware so who cares?
EDIT:
CA is no Mom and Pop operation.
I wonder why they flipped so easily?
I am interested to see what happens to their stock price when the market opens today.

BetYourAzzBucko
@taylor01.mi.comcast.

1 recommendation

BetYourAzzBucko

Anon

Death to All SCUMWARE Pimps !

The only good Spammer/Spyware/Hacker PIMP is a DEAD ONE! Any Anti-SCUMWARE company who would compromise their product due to threats of litigation from the criminals, doesn't deserve to sell or distribute their USELESS product. The day some SCUMBAG criminal gets to tell me what SPYWARE/SCUMWARE they can download to my PC without my permission is they day they DIE !

cbrigante2
Wait til Next Year
Premium Member
join:2002-11-22
North Aurora, IL

1 edit

cbrigante2

Premium Member

Re: Death to All SCUMWARE Pimps !

Ok....no more coffee for you!:o

Voyager2K2
join:2001-10-04
Wayne, PA

Voyager2K2 to BetYourAzzBucko

Member

to BetYourAzzBucko
said by BetYourAzzBucko:

The only good Spammer/Spyware/Hacker PIMP is a DEAD ONE! Any Anti-SCUMWARE company who would compromise their product due to threats of litigation from the criminals, doesn't deserve to sell or distribute their USELESS product. The day some SCUMBAG criminal gets to tell me what SPYWARE/SCUMWARE they can download to my PC without my permission is they day they DIE !
Forget to take your meds today Taylor01?
lgkahn7
Premium Member
join:2005-02-15
Londonderry, NH

lgkahn7

Premium Member

bps remover

I use bullet proof software spyware and adware remover
and it is great.. it also has frequent updates

Windoze non-user

Anon

Re: bps remover

I use Linux and dont get any of that troublesome crap on my PC. I'll never look back after leaving MS. Like a divorce that went well, I'm loving it. It's nice to not even worry about petty crap like spyware.

Da22in
Buck Fush
join:2002-06-10
Charlotte, NC

Da22in

Member

Re: bps remover

I use Firefox, I also don't worry about nor ever run into *ware since I left IE. Linux is irrelevant.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

3 edits

FFH5

Premium Member

Removal link now works; but CA still stinks

quote:
While Pest Patrol is on Claria hiatus, they've failed to offer users any sort of removal tool, instead - as Eric Howes notes - offering a dead link to removal instructions.
This link to manual removal of Claria software at CA's web site now works:
»www3.ca.com/content/defa ··· ID=67999

But I still think CA's process for removal of Claria from the database stinks. The process removes the detection as soon as an appeal is lodged. What it should do is remove the detection only after the investigation is over, not before it starts. Stinking lawyers.

My Web Page
My Blog
Join Red Room Forum
JPCass
join:2001-01-23
Denver, CO

JPCass

Member

Should there be more options?

A lot of the controversy, and the difficulty the detection companies have with these companies putting out the invasive software, is the lumping together of the most abusive of it - uninstallable, reporting to remote servers, etc. - from the more moderate adware. While it's close to equally objectionable to most of us technical users, there may in fact be a real distinction to be made.

Would it help clarify these controversies, for the detection companies to break software into different categories? They might be able to deal with the adware vendors more easily, by having criterial for downgrading applications that were uninstallable and better behaved, rather than having no choice between dropping the application completely from detection or else getting into an ugly fight. Users could then make choices as to what level of software removal they wanted. Or would that just muddy the waters, and complicate the fight against mal/ad - ware?

Rogue Wolf
An Easy Draw of a Sad Few
join:2003-08-12
Troy, NY

Rogue Wolf

Member

Re: Should there be more options?

While there are plenty of what I might term "fanatics" whose view is "crapware is crapware, if I didn't put it on my computer it doesn't belong and I want it to die", I personally think you may have a point. It seems as though these companies are more using the terminology as an excuse for these lawsuits, and not actually suing the makers of the anti-(X)ware programs for REMOVING the programs in question. Maybe they know that angle to be a hopeless fight, and are using the attack available to them? Would changing the terminology or perhaps ranking these programs help- and if so, how would we avoid the mess Lavasoft ran into with its TAC system concerning WhenU?

Worth thinking about, I believe.
LostMile
Premium Member
join:2002-06-07
Coloma, MI

LostMile

Premium Member

Here's my favorite...

antivirus, antispyware, antitrojan, anticrapware.

Just a simple/quick reboot and ALL the crap is gone.

»www.faronics.com/html/de ··· eeze.asp

notbuyingit

Anon

It will hurt them in the long run

We have 2,000 corporate licenses and one of the primary reasons we purchased antyspyware was to get rid of the gator program and the smileys. Our lawyer is going over the SLA agreement right now to determine whether or not they violated it by pulling this major piece of crapware from their detection engine.
I understand that CA may be threatened by these money hungry pigs but soon they will start to realize that letting down your customers, especially large businesses will have legal and financial consequences as well.

Voyager2K2
join:2001-10-04
Wayne, PA

Voyager2K2

Member

Re: It will hurt them in the long run

Go git 'em notbuyingit!

I wonder how many other corp. customers are going to start yelling when Claria's "products" start popping up on their employee's screens?

oliphant
I Have 8 Boobies
Premium Member
join:2004-11-26
Corona, CA

oliphant

Premium Member

Whores...the lot of 'em

That's fine. They can whore themselves out to Claria just as Lavasucks did with WhenU.

And their reputations will be gone 4-ever. When they come boo hooing back they'll get the middle finger from the users they screwed over.

captokita
Premium Member
join:2005-02-22
Calabash, NC

captokita

Premium Member

This is crazy

I don't have such an issue with the decision not to detect/remove certain known crapware, but WHY then provide a link for removing said crapware manually????? If you're gonna sleep with the enemy, then do so and be done with it. I'll choose not to use your compromised software, and go on with my life. But double standards make you look as lame as you are.

That's like (insert fav. AV software) saying "We're no longer going to detect the Blaster worm, because we feel it's really misunderstood, but here's a link to remove it yourself if you like." The whole reason I USE your software is because I don't want to manually remove it.

reub2000
Premium Member
join:2001-12-28
Evanston, IL

reub2000

Premium Member

Don't get spyware

Don't get spyware. Tighten up IE, or don't use it. Only use GPL P2P apps.

I think it would help in the future if congress indemnified anti-spyware and anti-virus and anti-whatever vendors from lawsuits like they have gotten. Hopefully that would help the situation.

Doctor Four
My other vehicle is a TARDIS
Premium Member
join:2000-09-05
Dallas, TX

Doctor Four

Premium Member

CA pulls a Lavasoft

IMO, any anti-spyware vendor that pulls definitions
from its database because of legal threats or marketing
deals is no better than the adware companies themselves,
and doesn't deserve to be trusted any more. I'm glad I
dumped EZ Antivirus more than a month ago (around the
time that 180 Solutions joined COAST). This is going to
cost them in the long run, as users choose a company
they can still trust for their security software.

Noah Vail
Oh God please no.
Premium Member
join:2004-12-10
SouthAmerica

Noah Vail

Premium Member

JUSTICE!

Spyware CEO's house invaded by unwanted intruders

»www.l33t.com/articles/00 ··· -ceo.php

If only....

NV

Glaice
Brutal Video Vault
Premium Member
join:2002-10-01
North Babylon, NY

Glaice

Premium Member

Re: JUSTICE!

sounds fake to me

Noah Vail
Oh God please no.
Premium Member
join:2004-12-10
SouthAmerica

Noah Vail

Premium Member

Re: JUSTICE!

If only....it were true.

NV
Noah Vail

Noah Vail

Premium Member

Yahoo; Majority owner of Claria?

According to this year old blog, which is giving what is now 2 year old info, Yahoo owned (2003) $31M of Gator's then $100M.

Can anyone confirm/deny/update this rumor?

»www.pcpitstop.com/news/r ··· 0406.asp

NV
Underplay
join:2003-10-19
Tacoma, WA

Underplay

Member

Re: Yahoo; Majority owner of Claria?

Money talks

Noah Vail
Oh God please no.
Premium Member
join:2004-12-10
SouthAmerica

Noah Vail

Premium Member

Yahoo=Claria - Confirmed

Excerpt from their S-1 filing of 2004 prior to their aborted IPO.

Overture is the advertising arm of Yahoo.

"Revenue from Overture accounted for 31% of revenue in 2003 and we expect it will account for a substantial portion of our revenue in the foreseeable future. For a further description of our agreement with Overture, please see “Business—Key Strategic Relationships.”"

Taken from Google Cache of the S-1 filing.
»64.233.179.104/search?q= ··· 4+&hl=en

Please forgive my sudden rash of posts. (Perhaps some cream would help.)
It's just that I REALLY DESPISE GATOR.

Thank You.

NV
Noah Vail

Noah Vail

Premium Member

Nowhere left to go....

For those of us who slept well at night thinking that the might of Microsoft would ultimately protect us,
well,
wake up.

Turns out the original spyware enabler (that would be MS) really isn't dancing to OUR tune.

Microsoft Caves to Weatherbug.
Read about it here.
»netrn.net/spywareblog/ar ··· crosoft/

NV

Ant718
join:2002-01-30
Bronx, NY

Ant718

Member

I Never used Pest Patrol..

..& Never Will!

TechyDad
Premium Member
join:2001-07-13
USA

TechyDad

Premium Member

Good reason to use multiple anti-spyware apps

This way when one of your anti-spyware apps caves into the pressure of a SLAPP lawsuit (and that's what I consider these threats), the other one(s) might still protect you.

I really hope that Congress passes a law protecting anti-spyware vendors. Granted, I don't think a law is really needed as I think the vendors have done nothing wrong. All they've done is taken an opinion ("Claria's Gator software is spyware and should be removed") and written software to allow the users to implement that opinion ("delete these registry keys, remove those files, etc").

Users aren't being forced to accept the opinion. If you happen to think that Gator is the best program in the world, you can decide to tell the program not to remove it. (Contrast this with spyware programs that sneak onto your PC with other applications or via security holes and then won't leave.)

If a program were to detect a non-spyware application as spyware then the program would be publically ridiculed and forced to change. Imagine if Microsoft's anti-spyware detected OpenOffice.org as spyware. They'd be laughed at and their tool would be less and less recommended until they fixed it.

The only thing a law would do is save anti-spyware vendors the costly legal battles needed to fight off the spyware vendors.

Grail Knight

Premium Member
join:2003-05-31
Valhalla

Grail Knight

Premium Member

Once again...

The consumer is called upon to show a company that joining the Dark Side does not pay.

Let them eat PB & J's along with Lavasoft instead of filet mignon.
aldeo
Deocon 1
Premium Member
join:2001-06-04
Fishers, IN

aldeo

Premium Member

Let CA know what you think.

I spent about 15 minutes on the phone trying to lodge a complaint with CA. I was finally given a email address to send complaints to:

myetrustclientadvocate@ca.com

This forum is great, but we should be saying it directly to CA.
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