180solutions installation practices under fire

TalkBack 1 of 10:

Next »

• Thread View
• Flat View

The other side of the story.

First, I would encourage people to read my entire post, particularly the first point which states that only 64 installations of our software occurred via this AIM worm. That?s not quite the ?large infestation? accused on this blog.

Let me tackle each of the points you paraphrase from Ben?s post:

1. DollIdol is a child?s site ? This is patently false. DollIdol.com is not targeted at kids, period. Suggesting that a site is targeted at children because it has animated characters is a bit na?ve.
2. Off-screen footer without a scroll bar ? When you have a screen resolution of 800x600, there are a lot of things you?re going to have to move around to see properly. According to OneStat, only 18% of browsers use 800x600. Judging our business practices on an ancient screen resolution shows desperation.

3. Lack of disclosure that 180's ads are shown in pop-ups and lack of disclosure of privacy consequences ? We will be changing the language in our plain-language disclosure to better address the types of ads we serve as part of our effort to become TRUSTe compliant. Keep in mind that while TRUSTe is a proposed standard, and one we support, it is not yet a standard despite what Mr. Edelman suggests. As far as privacy concerns, I?m not sure what they are. Mr. Edelman and others like to make a big deal out of this, but despite what he says, 180solutions does NOT ?track what web sites users visit and?send this information to 180's main servers.? This is patently false. We do something very different. We parse the URL string for keywords which match keywords that reside on the user?s computer as part of the search assistant software they chose to download of their own free will and choice. When a match is found, the software sends a request to our servers to send an advertisement that matches that keyword. It?s that simple. That?s it. There is no PII collected.
4. License agreement shown in a window that discourages careful review ? This is a matter of opinion. All caps type is very common. Look at Google, AOL, DivX, Yahoo! and countless others. And while you?re looking at AOL, try downloading their Toolbar and tell me if that constitutes proper notice. There is no EULA to be found. As far as the cut and paste feature, this is an oversight on our part that I will work with our product team to see if we can change this. I should add that a printable version of our EULA is accessible via the Zango icon in the system tray.

5. Use of misleading button labels to encourage installation ? Another false statement that insults the intelligence of the increasingly savvy computer user. The user is presented with two options: Cancel or Finish. It?s very clear that by clicking finish you are installing our software and to suggest otherwise is to rewind 20 years to an age where computers were a new thing to most people and everyone used 800x600 screen resolutions.
6. Hiding standard Windows buttons that allow users to cancel installation ? There are countless examples of reputable installation screens that do not have the ?x? in the upper right hand corner. I get one from my Palm software every time I reboot my computer. There is no trickery here unless you believe today?s average computer user doesn?t understand the word ?cancel.? I for one have enormous confidence that even my computer illiterate mother understands what cancel means.
7. Use of prompts to discourage removal with false warnings about risks to other software ? Yes. Like virtually every other software company on the planet, we do discourage uninstallation of our software but we do it without trickery and without fearmongering. The use of prompts to discourage removal are an industry standard and fully compliant with the pending TRUSTe certification standards. The ?warning? we provide is absolutely true and is a service to our customers to remind them that, depending on what they?ve downloaded, they may lose access to those other related pieces of software should they uninstall our search assistant. To not provide this ?warning? would itself be deceitful to consumers. There are numerous applications offered on the Zango network that will not function if our search assistant software is removed. Virtually every downloadable application on www.zango.com fits into this category. It would be irresponsible, and against industry standard to not let people know that uninstalling a required component will impact their access to related applications or files.

I hope these explanations help provide a more balanced view of what it is we are doing.

Posted by: ssundwall   Posted on: 01/10/06 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

Alert moderator to an offensive message

Subscribe to this discussion via Email or RSS

SponsoredWhite Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads

• Open Standards Technologies Provide the Ingredients for Delivering Security Across the Papa Gino's Enterprise Dell Papa Gino's Holdings Corporation founded by the entrepreneur operates one ... Download Now
• Building the Virtualized Enterprise with VMware Infrastructure VMware VMware virtualization software has been adopted by over 120,000 enterprise ... Download Now
• Three Steps You Need to Know to Stop Data Loss Varonis Sensitive data exposed to misuse or loss... it is the stuff of nightmares ... Download Now