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Privacy Tools 2004
Security experts pressure author, pulls product from sale
The author of Privacy Tools 2004, a spyware removal product mentioned recently due to the false positives it returned, has been engaged in an active discussion at Spyware Warrior over the past week. Many security experts have already classified Privacy Tools 2004 into the rogue and suspect anti-spyware category. Several negative reviews including those found on download.com apparently led Ashley, who identified himself as the Privacy Tools 2004 author, to the discussion in defense of his product. It appears the controversy has resulted in Privacy Tools 2004 being pulled from sale until things can be resolved.
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Optimized
MVM,
join:2001-05-03
Ringwood, NJ

1 recommendation

Optimized

MVM,

Seems that ...

... he doesn't handle pressure very well
said by Ashley:
I'm still looking around to buy another database, if a decent ones come then i'll implement into my software. I'm still going to continue distributing anti spyware removal programs. As soon as i have the F/P's fixed in my application it will be sold. And you cant really do nothing about it. All your xxxx and it comes to nothing.

And to be honest i'm even thinking of having some programmers write me some spyware. Yep, actual spyware to infect ppls machines. Why? Cus you all suck. I'm trying to work with you but you couldnt give a sh1t. So why try and work with the anti-spyware community when there only against you? You guys are against me so much that i'm going to start distributing spyware myself, its not hard. UNDETECTABLE stuff too To be honest theres probably more money in this then the actual spyware removal.

I've always been treated as your enemy so soon i will be.

Some of you need to get a day job too. There are more important things in this world that need your help. And you want to fight spyware? LOL

Listen, I'm 22 years old and making more money then most of you old enough to be my parents. We all need to make living. Just like the ppl at Gator and all the spyware companies. We all need to make money As long as my money making ways continue to be legal, i'll continue to do them. Including the distribution of spyware for the means of selling advertising

Good day to you all
Sure makes me want to buy his product when he gets it fixed.
Schnook
I Flatulate On Your Approximate Azimuth.
Premium Member
join:2004-04-12

Schnook

Premium Member

Re: Seems that ...

Fortunately my wallet is sucked to my pocket, so I won't be bothering this idjit with my money.

Marilla9
I Am My Own Arbiter
Premium Member
join:2002-12-06
Belpre, OH

1 recommendation

Marilla9 to Optimized

Premium Member

to Optimized
Nice illustration for the following saying:

Better to keep silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth, and remove all doubt.

Andy456
@dip0.t-ipconnect.de

Andy456

Anon

Re: Seems that ...

Marilla says:

"Nice illustration for the following saying:

Better to keep silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth, and remove all doubt."

Actually a modified version of a proverb from the Bible.

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

Glaice to Optimized

Premium Member

to Optimized
This sucker gets what he deserves

Nerdtalker
Working Hard, Or Hardly Working?
MVM
join:2003-02-18
San Jose, CA

1 edit

Nerdtalker

MVM

Re: Seems that ...

said by Glaice:
This sucker gets what he deserves

AMEN.

I just read through that thread with "ashley". I liked this best:
said by stupid ashley:
Well i'm being honest and making a living at the same time. So its all good Very Happy When i install 'spyware' or 'adware' on ppls comps i will ensure they know whats happening by placing it in the EULA of the software.
Oh, so its okay to install crap on people's computer, just make sure you tell them you're going to.

This is funny:
said by stupid ashley:

Hon? WTF u on? I'm male so you must be gay or a female. Yes the people here are smarter then me... But I am employing ppl even smarter then them. Ppl who can write UNDETECTABLE spyware.
OH NOS!!! UNDETEctAbl3 SPyws4re!!! OMG! T3H h4x0rs Ar3 ComiNg!!1!!

Come on Ashely, post over here, we'll pummel the shiznit out of you.

This proves his status as idiot of the year:
said by stupid ashely:
I have contacted an attorney in the US to represent me.

I quote from an email they sent me:

"You can sue for any defamatory posts that in fact do damage you-- Our attorneys could also become directly involved"

From here on I retain my right to remain silence until further advice is sought.
Stupid people always cry "lawyer" when they don't know what to do. Good job Ashley, it takes someone being paid $200+ an hour to tell you what people were giving you for free, shut the heck up before you sound even worse. Everybody can flame you if they please, nothing can be done about your ignorance. The way you handled yourself in there speaks more about your character than your crappy software. I'm looking forward to an IP ban on him in that forum, it'll take him days to figure that out.

Thaler
Premium Member
join:2004-02-02
Los Angeles, CA

1 recommendation

Thaler

Premium Member

Re: Seems that ...

"You can sue for any defamatory posts that in fact do damage you-- Our attorneys could also become directly involved"
Erm, doesn't this guy think that...if you can sue for flamer posts on a message board, or website...that some of the BIGGER companies would've done so already? I mean, if companies could sue for "defamatory" posts, there would be a flood of lawsuits on BBR users at the Security forum, for talking smack about Firefox, Linux, Macintosh, etc.

People have a right to their opinion, dumbass. I only wish I could make a big giant internet sticky on his own web page...directing customers to Spybot and AdAware.

LOL, like the world really needs another paid-for spyware remover that doesn't function as well as the freeware versions. I hope if anyone questions about paying for these spyware remover softwares...that they just paypal the Spybot/Adaware accounts like $5, or something.

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

Glaice to Nerdtalker

Premium Member

to Nerdtalker
I really would love to see someone lure that idiot over here.

Nerdtalker
Working Hard, Or Hardly Working?
MVM
join:2003-02-18
San Jose, CA

Nerdtalker

MVM

Re: Seems that ...

said by Glaice:
I really would love to see someone lure that idiot over here.

I was going to, but they've locked the thread where he made an idiot out of himself.

BBR was mentioned as being one of the places which is now talking about him, it'd be awesome if he came over here.

WhyADuck
Premium Member
join:2003-03-05

WhyADuck to Optimized

Premium Member

to Optimized
Did I misinterpret this, or did this immature turkey actually state publicly that he is thinking of committing what would almost certainly be a felony act, if it could be pinned to him? Unless, of course, he first discloses (probably in fine print) that he plans to put spyware on someone's computer and gets the user to agree to it somehow.

Maybe what we need is legislation that forbids the creation of software that is intended to be undetectable or that is not removable using standard methods of software removal. I don't know exactly how you'd craft it, but basically I feel that it should be a requirement that any program that runs invisibly on a system be required to show up in the task manager and to be removable using either the standard Add/Remove software from the Windows control panel (or similar equivalent in another operating system), or via a removal program supplied with the software. The idea being that most malicious software tries to deliberately hide its tracks, while most normal software is intended to be accessible by the user (at least inasmuch as you can enable or disable its operation).

I know, in one way I dislike the idea of ANY additional computer-related legislation, but just as the [expletive deleted] spammers have ruined e-mail, the [expletive deleted] virus writers and spyware authors are going to ruin the ability of people to trust their own computers if something isn't done. At some point people just say, "Enough is enough, I'd like to be able to use my computer again without having to worry that it's sending my personal information out to who knows where!"

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

Rogue Wolf

Member

Re: Did I misinterpret this?

said by WhyADuck:
Maybe what we need is legislation that forbids the creation of software that is intended to be undetectable or that is not removable using standard methods of software removal. I don't know exactly how you'd craft it, but basically I feel that it should be a requirement that any program that runs invisibly on a system be required to show up in the task manager and to be removable using either the standard Add/Remove software from the Windows control panel (or similar equivalent in another operating system), or via a removal program supplied with the software. The idea being that most malicious software tries to deliberately hide its tracks, while most normal software is intended to be accessible by the user (at least inasmuch as you can enable or disable its operation).
Well, if we're going in that direction, I have an additional idea. Require a SEPARATE and DISTINCT install screen and EULA for EVERY program included in a package. Or, barring that, require that EVERY program be listed in some sort of "checkbox lineup" showing each program's existence and intention (of course, we should allow companies to require you to accept ad programs as a condition of using their program... but they won't be able to HIDE the ad programs).

Dr Demento
I Vant Blud
join:2002-01-02
Denville, NJ

Dr Demento to Optimized

Member

to Optimized
quote:
... he doesn't handle pressure very well

said by Ashley:I'm still looking around to buy another database, if a decent ones come then i'll implement into my software. I'm still going to continue distributing anti spyware removal programs. As soon as i have the F/P's fixed in my application it will be sold. And you cant really do nothing about it. All your xxxx and it comes to nothing.

And to be honest i'm even thinking of having some programmers write me some spyware. Yep, actual spyware to infect ppls machines. Why? Cus you all suck. I'm trying to work with you but you couldnt give a sh1t. So why try and work with the anti-spyware community when there only against you? You guys are against me so much that i'm going to start distributing spyware myself, its not hard. UNDETECTABLE stuff too To be honest theres probably more money in this then the actual spyware removal.

I've always been treated as your enemy so soon i will be.

Some of you need to get a day job too. There are more important things in this world that need your help. And you want to fight spyware? LOL

Listen, I'm 22 years old and making more money then most of you old enough to be my parents. We all need to make living. Just like the ppl at Gator and all the spyware companies. We all need to make money As long as my money making ways continue to be legal, i'll continue to do them. Including the distribution of spyware for the means of selling advertising

Good day to you all

Sure makes me want to buy his product when he gets it fixed.:D
Thats why companies usually hire social engineers.

Nerdtalker
Working Hard, Or Hardly Working?
MVM
join:2003-02-18
San Jose, CA

1 edit

Nerdtalker to Optimized

MVM

to Optimized
Screw him. He's an ass, plain and simple. I hope he goes down, down all the way.

I hope he gets sued, hard. Somebody should take that statement as an admission and sue him for everything he's got. Granted, from the way he handles himself, it doesn't sound like he's got jack to his name other than a big mouth and some crappy software. For the record, I blame him for any spyware programs released from this date forward. I'd encourage any new lawyer eager to make a buck or two to do the same abeit with legal action. He'd be in so much $h1t so fast it'd make his head spin.

What an ass...

winterforge
Premium Member
join:2000-07-23
Seattle, WA

winterforge

Premium Member

Bleh

In my opinion, the best spyware removers already exist (Spybot and Ad-Aware) and are free. All this new junk is just that, junk. I have the two best and they are constantly updated, why do I need a third I have to pay for that is going to give me 500+ false positives that would most likely lead to a reformat of my PC if I followed it's instructions?

Beggar Su
Drunken Master
Premium Member
join:2004-08-15
UK

Beggar Su

Premium Member

Re: Bleh

said by winterforge:
In my opinion, the best spyware removers already exist (Spybot and Ad-Aware) and are free. All this new junk is just that, junk. I have the two best and they are constantly updated, why do I need a third I have to pay for that is going to give me 500+ false positives that would most likely lead to a reformat of my PC if I followed it's instructions?

^^What he said^^

I wonder who actually bought this program?...

dadkins
Can you do Blu?
MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA

dadkins

MVM

Oh yeah

I want this crap on my computer...

" We all need to make living. Just like the ppl at Gator and all the spyware companies. We all need to make money As long as my money making ways continue to be legal, i'll continue to do them. Including the distribution of spyware for the means of selling advertising"


AVD
Respice, Adspice, Prospice
Premium Member
join:2003-02-06
Onion, NJ

AVD

Premium Member

Just ignore this guy...

hopefully he will just disappear.

Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium Member
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30

Doctor Olds

Premium Member

So who wrote it? LOL

quote:
All the Technical people on this forum will understand this better then most (FYI I don’t do the programming of the software before you ask me any tech questions).
Anyone care to share. Rent a Coder?

viperpa33s
Why Me?
Premium Member
join:2002-12-20
Bradenton, FL

viperpa33s

Premium Member

Being legal doesn't mean a thing

Just because it's legal doesn't mean it's a good thing. Just because there are no laws to say you can't do it doesn't mean you can do what you want. You can make money by doing it the honest way or you can make money doing it the deceitful way.

This guy proved he is not honest
TercelChick
join:2002-08-13

TercelChick

Member

Oh Well

He can move to America and get a job with BellSouth.

They already sell customers' telephone numbers and email addresses. His morality (anything for a buck) will fit in nicely.

keith2468
Premium Member
join:2001-02-03
Winnipeg, MB

keith2468

Premium Member

You guys down south try to keep US software honest

This sort of thing makes the whole of the USA, its IT industry, its law enforcement industry, and its journalists look bad to foreigners.

Compare the company with other software vendors.

Compare the problems with problems other software has.

The root problem is people who are neither programmers nor engineers getting involved in creating and evaluating software.

Does any of us have any complex software on our computer that is at verision 1.0?

No. It was all shipped with bugs.

And this is true for complex shareware Linux, MS products, Sun products, IBM products, Kaspersky products, Ad-aware, etc.

And look at the size of Symantec's (Norton's) bug data base.

And this is true even for new releases of products that have existed for decades, let alone years.

Unqualified managers push products into production release without realizing that adequate testing has not been successfully completed.

Of course, normally by the time software is noticed by ordinary folks it has been through a few iterations already, and most of the serious bugs are out. (When "professional computer journalists" evaluate products, they usually make one or two remarks about there still being serious bugs in the product, but then, rightly or wrongly, they move on.) But most serious bugs are not all serious bugs, and that still leaves more serious bugs to be fixed.

Yes company mangers and directors should make sure the products work fairly well before they ship. But most of these managers aren't programmers, so they don't realize what is required to do that.

Same goes with independant product evaluators.

And the average quality of programmers turned out by schools today is typically not that terrific any more either. Through no fault of their own, they need additional training, and on-going training, on the programming tools and environment they are required bytheir employers or prime contractor, to use to do the work.

So many product evaluators have no experience in programming in a work environment.

They don't realize that the problems they are making a big deal out of with product A, are so similar to problems they see or hear about everyday with other products, and that they normally overlook.

They don't understand what goes on behind the scenes. Because they don't understand how programs are developed and how they work, they don't have a feel for what went wrong, when it went wrong, and what the motivation for it going wrong were.

Oh there is a bug, oh it is inefficient, oh it must be malicious malware, must tell the entire world before the nasty vendor finds out.

There is no malice in such cases. It is incomptetence.

There are other cases of malice. Vendors attacking each other and playing dirty tricks are nothing new in the IT industry.

So one should carefully consider the source of reports on software, and try to determine if it might be a rival vendor.

This all said, I feel the consumer's best bet for computer security is stronger laws and law enforcement against cracking and hacking, and the same sort of minimum standards for Internet connected software that we have for cars and trucks.

So far as I know, there is no single product you can buy that will provide foolproof protection for your PC no matter what OS you run.

So if someone touts another product as actually adequate for providing overall computer security, a warning flag should immediately go up in your head.

And if you think someone is actually breaking the law by spreading malware, especially viruses and remote access trojans, you have a duty as a citizen to report it to law enforcement. Then their experts can conduct preliminary investigation to see if your beliefs are worthy of a more indepth investigation.

US law enforcement will take action on these things if approached by reasonably credible people:
»Operation Web Snare

If you are in the country of origin on the particular product you can do this and actually have it investigated. Your fellow netizens who live in other countries cannot easily get foreign rogue products officially investigated.

You guys down south try to keep US software honest, and I'll try to keep Canadian software honest.
TercelChick
join:2002-08-13

TercelChick

Member

Re: You guys down south try to keep US software ho

I appreciate your concern, but "honesty" in software is hardly a national problem. As you said, even share and freeware has its problems. Lavasoft, one of my favorite internet companies, is European. Making good software is difficult, and it is the productive comments of those in the community like yourself that makes subsequent versions an improvement upon the original.

That being said, Ashley, the purveyor of the product in question, was not a haphazard vendor. He was a (British) con artist. Apparently, he bought a flawed database of a questionable spyware remover, PAL, and either added spyware to it, or never bothered to QC it due to his disregard for end-users. Read the links to the thread above for more info.

We need to keep all software "honest" everywhere, and Americans are doing as much as anyone else.

jsmarkbrown
Premium Member
join:2002-12-16
Baltimore, MD

2 edits

jsmarkbrown

Premium Member

Unbelievable

I just spent a good hour or so reading every post to the thread at Spyware Warrior. The most difficult thing to consider in all of this crap is how do we control it? The internet will no doubt (if it's not already) be the largest source of revenue for a majority of businesses around the world. What makes it so great is that everyone can participate easily, whether you are selling or buying. But there seems to be little to no policing done; most, unfortunately, done by people who have been ripped off. You can make just about any claim you want on the internet, and profit by it. Recently, I started receiving emails offering liscensed software for dirt cheap. It was obviously pirated software. I reported this to Microsoft, Adobe, and Macromedia. Not only are the sites I reported still operating, but many new ones have popped up, coming from the same person/people. I never received a reply from Adobe or Marcromedia, and received a form letter from Microsoft. They obviously don't care. (one site is using the same host as it was a month ago) Although pirated software and rougue software are two different things, they are indicative of how we are left to fend for ourselves in alot of ways. We get frustrated with the software we use, because it breaks, or breaks our computers, or maybe doesn't fix everything we want it to fix. And we are increasingly being forced into using a smaller selection of software, because we're afraid of what we may get (or not get) in return for our hard earned money. Perhaps the only thing we are left with is a lesson well learned, and hope that as the internet gets even more popular, people will become more educated about how risky the internet can be, not only to our privacy, but also to our wallets.