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Microsoft to Buy Gator/Claria?
Possibly worst PR move ever...
According to the New York Times, Microsoft has been in talks to acquire Adware vendor Claria for several weeks. Apparently there's division within Microsoft over whether the move would embolden a "big brother" image of the company, or if it would aid them to clean up the adware industry. If you recall, Claria is the outfit that infested everyone's PC with Gator, then sued the PCPitstop website for calling the product spyware.
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moo2
join:2003-02-14

moo2

Member

Well...

Time to switch to Linux I guess...

lkicck
@nrockv01.md.comcast.

lkicck

Anon

Re: Well...

Perhaps M$ will adopt the position that if they can't keep this stuff from being installed on the windows Operating system, then just buying the companies and getting rid of the software is the next best thing?

a
@qwest.net

a to moo2

Anon

to moo2
cool, obviously ms will be able to turn them into something useful instead of a pain.

linicx
Caveat Emptor
Premium Member
join:2002-12-03
United State

linicx to moo2

Premium Member

to moo2
I'm with you, I'll wait and see. Most of Gates ideas that were called dumb by experts were catastrophic by proportion. Rewriting IE is one example. It opened users to a 10K percent increase in SPAM, in the last say 7-8 years.

TechyDad
Premium Member
join:2001-07-13
USA

1 recommendation

TechyDad

Premium Member

Re: Well...

How does rewriting IE open users to spam? To spyware, perhaps (via ActiveX installers), but spam?

Frankely Scarlet
@nrockv01.md.comcast.

Frankely Scarlet

Anon

Re: Well...

Does this about say it?

linicx
Caveat Emptor
Premium Member
join:2002-12-03
United State

linicx to TechyDad

Premium Member

to TechyDad
X???? Well, let's see.,, Hmmm, There was an internet long before Active X. Heck there was even an Internet and good software before Microsoft. Then SPAM was minimal -- maybe one piece per every six months, and developers actually wrote clean code. When IE was released it was purely awful and it had a lot of competition from browsers that didn't crash every keystroke. The second and third releases weren't any better and Netscape steadily gained in popularity.

About that time I got really interested in Unix and security, and paid little attention to MS until the security experts started talking about the problems VBS was going to cause if it was released in the same form as the Beta, and it did. And the same experts warned about rewriting IE in VBS citing the ease of finding and/or writing poison scripts and other potential problems it would cause.. And it came to pass the experts were right just as they were with the release of XP.

Now before we start the trolling let me say one more thing - just to clarify my position. I don't' like MS operating systems. I didn't like MS DOS, I didn't like the first version of Windows, and I don't like the current version, Maybe Longhorn will be better, I hope so. I built PCs for a number of years because I always hoped Bill Gates would get a clue. He didn't because he didn't want one. He still doesn't, but the difference is today he can do it from behind the doors of his $30b empire. He became a millionaire while he sold snake oil. And I finally had enough micro-managing of Windows to last a life time. I reached a point where it was taking more hours per day to keep Windows running properly than it did to take care of a two year old. I haven't owned a PC for a couple of years. Last year I gave a PC nut five complete, running PCs - the smallest of which was a nine bay, six drive, tower.

We can throw sand at each other all you like but the facts won't change. Bill gates was warned about the spam and viruses and he released the re-written IE anyway. And we, his adoring public got exactly what we were promised.

Go find someone who was on the internet before ICANN. and when the original U of I Mozilla browser was popular, and ask what the time line was.

TechyDad
Premium Member
join:2001-07-13
USA

1 recommendation

TechyDad

Premium Member

Re: Well...

Actually, I've been on the Internet since about 1993. I was there before the first Mozilla browser was released when Gopher was the hottest thing around. I've seen quite a lot of the development of things online. Spam was minimal back then because simply there were very few people online then. As the Internet became more popular and more and more people went online, the spammers found they could make money sending more and more spam e-mails. This has nothing to do with IE, however.

VBScript doesn't let you find out a person's e-mail address. Spammers find that out by various methods (e.g. spiders that cruise the web in search of e-mail addresses or generating possible e-mail addresses by using common names and service providers). None of these methods involves VBScript, JavaScript, or cookies. Bill Gates isn't to blame for the current level of spam. Spammers and the people who purchase from spam are to blame.

Internet Explorer has it's share of problems (some might say more than it's share). For the longest time, it's ActiveX default settings left users vulnerable to spyware infections. It's CSS support is ancient by Internet standards. It doesn't support recent innovations such as tabbed browsing natively. But spam e-mails aren't something that you can pin on Internet Explorer.

Oh, and just a question. What do you mean by the following statement?
said by linicx:

And the same experts warned about rewriting IE in VBS citing the ease of finding and/or writing poison scripts and other potential problems it would cause..
Is it just your phrasing or are you actually suggesting that Internet Explorer is itself written in VBScript? If it's the latter then you're sadly mistaken.
gh4456
Premium Member
join:2004-04-07
Beverly Hills, CA

1 edit

gh4456 to linicx

Premium Member

to linicx
Apparently he had one good idea that any of us wouldn't have mind having (regardless if it was original or not)

I wouldn't mind the $30 billion +

~DSL Tech
lesopp
join:2001-06-27
Land O Lakes, FL

lesopp to moo2

Member

to moo2
I agree, especially after reading the article.

When you peel off the altruistic reasons for this acquisition you are left with the inescapable truth. Those that want this want it because the company will "benefit from the anticipated increase in personalized advertising."

My guess is that they will embed this crap into all their supported software and there will be no getting away from unwanted advertising or unwanted snooping.

Portmonkey
My watch stopped
Premium Member
join:2004-04-09
Southern IL

Portmonkey to moo2

Premium Member

to moo2
Agreed, or anything that's not MS. Likely the straw which breaks the camels back that will send some, hopefully many looking for alternatives to Microsoft products.

redxii
Mod
join:2001-02-26
Michigan
Asus RT-AC3100
Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH2

3 edits

redxii

Mod

Re: Well...

said by Portmonkey:

Agreed, or anything that's not MS. Likely the straw which breaks the camels back that will send some, hopefully many looking for alternatives to Microsoft products.
When it comes to Microsoft, why do we always assume the outcome of something (the worst one)? Either read the article if you haven't, or find something else to do, or better yet go register on Slashdot.

Linux still has a lot of shortcomings. For years to come I wouldn't touch anything that's touched it.

Asinine statements like "Oh better get Linux then" DO NOT contribute anything...

I'll leave the judging to after I get the facts, NOT ASSUMING.

Portmonkey
My watch stopped
Premium Member
join:2004-04-09
Southern IL

Portmonkey

Premium Member

Re: Well...

I said what I did because I like Microsoft and out fear of the potential it could someday become something I don't like. The last thing I want to do is go to Linux or any other OS other than Microsoft. I've always felt that when it looks like something bad is about to possibly happen to something you like or love then stand up and at least voice your opinion against it. If enough people cry out together then perhaps it will reach the ears of the powers that be and will never happen.
Spudge_Boy
join:2004-09-17
Orange, CA

Spudge_Boy to redxii

Member

to redxii
"When it comes to Microsoft, why do we always assume the outcome of something (the worst one)?"

Because it always is the worst one that is why. The people bitching here are bitching for good reason. They have history with Microsoft and their products. That is why.
itguy05
join:2005-06-17
Carlisle, PA

itguy05 to redxii

Member

to redxii
quote:
Linux still has a lot of shortcomings. For years to come I wouldn't touch anything that's touched it.
There's always OSX from www.apple.com. Easier to use than Linux, has the lowest TCO of all OS's and hardware platforms, and Just Works.

I made the switch 3 years ago and laugh at the BS I have to do to keep Windows working. But that's my job and it puts a roof over my head, a car in my driveway, and a Mac on my desk!

If any other product were as defective as Windows, it would be long dead. Yet people keep on buying it....

Seriously, though there are options other than Windows - Macs and Linux are very close.
19579823 (banned)
An Awesome Dude
join:2003-08-04

19579823 (banned) to moo2

Member

to moo2
Ah i found the front page area

I usually only go here if i see NEWS articles on the top bar...Hmmmmmmm,thanx to my friend on the PUB

Yes this is a stupid idea and most liklely will produce more spam!!!!! And spyware crap for IE users mostly...

I swear if there is $$$ involved,MS quickly tries to take control!!!!!!!!

Thanx for the report!!
evermoresg
join:2001-08-02
Miami, FL

1 recommendation

evermoresg

Member

Possibly good?

I say this is a good idea. MS buys Claria, owns the IP, then sues all the adware vendors for patent infringement. *POOF* Eliminated the current forms of spyware.

cdru
Go Colts
MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN

3 recommendations

cdru

MVM

Re: Possibly bad?

Also consider the flip side: Microsoft "integrates" adware into Longhorn to the extent it can't be easily removed (see ref: IE) so we now have adware permanently put into our OS.

I can just see Clippy now:
"I see you are trying to write a resume. Would you like help? Visit CareerBuilder.com for all job-hunting resources. Office Depot has a wide variety or designer papers to give your resume that extra bite. Visit ePostage.com for customized postage instantly available on your home PC."

inteller
Sociopaths always win.
join:2003-12-08
Tulsa, OK

inteller

Member

Re: Possibly bad?

ugh.....oh man....ugh.

footballdude
Premium Member
join:2002-08-13
Imperial, MO

footballdude to cdru

Premium Member

to cdru
said by cdru:

I can just see Clippy now:
"I see you are trying to write a resume. Would you like help? Visit CareerBuilder.com for all job-hunting resources. Office Depot has a wide variety or designer papers to give your resume that extra bite. Visit ePostage.com for customized postage instantly available on your home PC."
Man, that sounds like a MLB broadcast!
"We're here in the top of the 3rd, and if the top of your house is hurting, call Frederick Roofing. For a hole in your roof or a whole new roof. The pitcher takes the mound, and if a mound of termites is causing you problems, call the Orkin man. We know bugs. Here's the pitch, a little outside for a ball. If you'd like perfect pitch, call Martina's voice studio now and you could become the next American Idol! The batter takes another ball low, but not as low as the rates at Equity Mortgage!" Etc, Etc.

Advertising has crept into all forms of entertainment. If MS sells out, there will be no refuge.
bassnguitar
join:2003-09-11
Imperial, MO

bassnguitar

Member

Re: Possibly bad?

You forgot the frosty ice cold Busch Beer!!!

footballdude
Premium Member
join:2002-08-13
Imperial, MO

footballdude

Premium Member

Re: Possibly bad?

said by bassnguitar:

You forgot the frosty ice cold Busch Beer!!!
Seeing as how the Cards play in Busch stadium and the organ plays the Budweiser song every time someone gets a hit, it kind of goes without saying.

Anonymous_
Anonymous
Premium Member
join:2004-06-21
127.0.0.1

Anonymous_ to footballdude

Premium Member

to footballdude
lol

Kickrox
Premium Member
join:2002-08-18
Brooklyn, NY

Kickrox

Premium Member

$$

Is MicroSoft running out of ways to spend it's money?
neftv
join:2000-10-01
Broomall, PA

neftv

Member

Re: $$

If they are running out of ways to spend money then they should talk to me. I work for a Non-Profit in need of money.
rgillis70
Premium Member
join:2002-12-30
Washington, DC

rgillis70

Premium Member

Re: $$

I too work fo a non-profit. But we are not in need of money.

However I am in need of money.

Send it my way - Bill - I can handle it.

Nightshade
Premium Member
join:2002-05-26
Salem, OR

Nightshade

Premium Member

Re: $$

Say Bill can I have a million bucks? I am sure it's nothing more than just pocket change for you so it's not like you'll miss it. Help me out here man.
russotto
join:2000-10-05
West Orange, NJ

russotto

Member

If MS really wants to help its image...

They could buy them and shut them down.

footballdude
Premium Member
join:2002-08-13
Imperial, MO

footballdude

Premium Member

Re: If MS really wants to help its image...

said by russotto:

They could buy them and shut them down.
Can't see how that would help. No shortage of spyware creeps out there. Either MS is selling out to spyware or it's buying the company to learn all of the ropes so that it can fight it more effectively. It would be cheaper to just hire an ex-employee of Claria, though.

Nightshade
Premium Member
join:2002-05-26
Salem, OR

Nightshade

Premium Member

Re: If MS really wants to help its image...

True, but we are talking about MS here. Where things done as inefficient and expensive as possible and we are the ones paying for it cause well, they can for the most part get away with it.
the niTz
Premium Member
join:2004-07-05
Sahuarita, AZ

the niTz to russotto

Premium Member

to russotto
but then others will pop up cause they think they will make money off of ms, it will end up worse then before

GercekSeytan
Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder.
Premium Member
join:2001-10-19

GercekSeytan

Premium Member

I've No Idea What...

...Claria's personalization software is or means, but I think it is definitely a bad move from a PR stance and it does qualify as one those things that cause me to go "hmmm" and look over my shoulder (virtually speaking, of course).
Primis1
join:2005-06-13
Coldwater, MI

Primis1

Member

Sky's Not Falling.... Yet

Don't everyone jump to conclusions about this.

For one thing, MS obviously knows (and knew) even thinking about this would be controversial. So they'd have to have a pretty good plan or reasoning (at least to them) to even have it get this far.

Secondly, if it's true I can't believe MS would want Claira just to use them in quite the same way. It's quite possible MS wants to use their tracking technology in some other way (something totally off-the-wall even that we haven't thoguht of but someone there has), and it'd be easier for them to buy Claria and modify from there on instead of starting their own from scratch. In which case... if it can potentially make a splash I wouldn't blame them for taking the PR hit for even considering it.

That's my thought -- they maybe don't want to track for advertising purposes, and they don't want to use it to fight spy/ad-ware. They want its tech to use for something completely different.
paperghost
join:2005-04-13

1 edit

paperghost

Member

Re: Sky's Not Falling.... Yet

June 1st:

"In a surprising move, Sean Sundwall, Senior Corporate PR Manager at Microsoft, is taking the job of Director of Corporate Communications at 180Solutions/Zango.com."

Conspiracy! Conspira...

/ bang

Nightshade
Premium Member
join:2002-05-26
Salem, OR

Nightshade to Primis1

Premium Member

to Primis1
That makes much more sense based on MS's history and practice of buying out software companies.

All MS cares about is how they can use the technology of the software itself, rather than what the software does. MS acquiring GIANT software is a great example.
techteam9
join:2005-06-17
Meadville, PA

techteam9

Member

M$ - Silly!

I might as well just turn off my Internet connection now...


garagerock
Premium Member
join:2002-06-14
Louisville, KY

garagerock

Premium Member

CompuGlobalHyperMegaNet

"buy em out, boys"....
Damon85
Premium Member
join:2004-12-25
Houston, TX

Damon85

Premium Member

Re: CompuGlobalHyperMegaNet

I like the sounds of that...

koitsu
MVM
join:2002-07-16
Mountain View, CA

koitsu

MVM

Wow...

I'm amazed. Incredible...
jDaniel7
join:2005-06-30
m2p0e1

jDaniel7

Member

Buying them out is rewarding them

If MS is buying out Claria to shut them down then this is a terrible idea. The original investors and VCs responsible for building Claria need to be tought a lesson - don't sneak software onto people's computers to spy on them - not rewarded for having gotten away with it for so long. Buying them out means payday for all the guys who built Claria and provides an incentive for future spyware vendors follow their business model.

In any case I don't believe this 'buying out to shut down' theory - Claria profits $40 mil a year, making it's company worth probably at least half a billion dollars - no matter how much money Bill has he's not going to flush half a billion dollars down the toilet in some misguided attempt to clean up the internet.

Don't do it Bill.

Combat Chuck
Too Many Cannibals
Premium Member
join:2001-11-29
Verona, PA

Combat Chuck

Premium Member

Just a thought

Could it be MS is thinking of offering, say, an ad supported versions of their software or trying to revive the market for free (ad supported) internet access.
Nighttime5
join:2001-11-30

Nighttime5

Member

Re: Just a thought

MS is already anoying enough!

Titus
Mr Gradenko
join:2004-06-26

Titus to Combat Chuck

Member

to Combat Chuck
said by Combat Chuck:

Could it be MS is thinking of offering, say, an ad supported versions of their software or trying to revive the market for free (ad supported) internet access.
Yes, I totally agree: MS's motivation for any business decision is always customer based.

--
"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on."- George W. Bush

Toilet Mouth
@nrockv01.md.comcast.

Toilet Mouth

Anon

Straight from the Sewer

Ok... so here's the unoffical answer...

I got it after having to flush the toilet twice.

M$ is going to purchase Claria and as many other adware programs as possible.

Then during the registration / activation process, if you wind up being a pain in the tail feathers for M$ support, they send a small sequence of enablers to your system which turns all this crap on.

Theory: Since you'll be so busy tring to figure out:
• where all this junk came from
• why your dual processor has just ground to a halt
• how to fix it
• who you can complain to

you won't have any time to pester M$ any more
jazzy1124
join:2003-12-05
Fargo, ND

jazzy1124

Member

It's all about money....

They will buy claria and put all of the combined resources towards making a product that will infect non MS-Users. I say good luck, but if they are going to be retarded enough to put this crap in their own products.....may they burn in hell. Well they are a big corporation...and therefore support republican idealogy... so they could be that close minded.
devicenull
Premium Member
join:2002-12-01
Piscataway, NJ

devicenull

Premium Member

Bad move

If this does happen, I think its seriously time for me to install linux. The last thing I want is a bunch of spyware integrated into the next "Critical Update"

Toilet Mouth
@nrockv01.md.comcast.

Toilet Mouth

Anon

Re: Bad move

Buzzzz.... Opps.. too late.. u know that big critical update you installed 2 days ago???? Opps....

Nightshade
Premium Member
join:2002-05-26
Salem, OR

Nightshade to devicenull

Premium Member

to devicenull
Or worse yet, being intergrated into ActiveX.

abbyn
@capgroup.com

abbyn

Anon

Why do they want it?

"They want its tech to use for something completely different."

And THAT is exactly what would worry me, had I not switched to OSX.

dfc888
Premium Member
join:2003-07-22
San Bruno, CA

dfc888

Premium Member

*Blinks*

*Blinks Retardedly*

Anonymous_
Anonymous
Premium Member
join:2004-06-21
127.0.0.1

Anonymous_

Premium Member

GET firefox

after installing firefox i get only

"spyware" cookies
jsouth
Jsouth
join:2000-12-12
Wichita, KS

jsouth

Member

Re: GET firefox

For now.
compton
join:2002-02-08
Brooklyn, NY

1 edit

compton

Member

it looks

It seems that Claria has technology that Microsoft want. Most likely MS wants to challenge Google. Maybe MS wants to embed personalize ads in IE. MS could then control most web based advertising. Another reason to use Firefox.
19579823 (banned)
An Awesome Dude
join:2003-08-04

19579823 (banned)

Member

Re: it looks

Or to have an older version of IE that MS cant touch!!
Zyniker
Zyniker
Premium Member
join:2004-12-25
Anaheim, CA

Zyniker

Premium Member

...

Are all the anit-Microsoft, anti-IE, anti-Gates, mouth-breathing, hunch-backed, Firefox, Linux, et cetera fanboys starting to annoy anyone else?

Do the lot of you realize how retarded you sound? All you do is complain constantly. How about you stop whining for a minute or two and actually think before you post? We don't need to hear you attempt to bash Microsoft et al simply because you have decided (for what reason God alone knows) that there are better alternatives to whatever it is you are bashing at the moment.

The point of these fora is not to house the comments of blithering idiots; stop whining and post something useful or crawl back into your hole.

redxii
Mod
join:2001-02-26
Michigan
Asus RT-AC3100
Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH2

redxii

Mod

Re: ...

said by Zyniker:

The point of these fora is not to house the comments of blithering idiots; stop whining and post something useful or crawl back into your hole.
That's what I said earlier. Slashdot is a horrible place to be and I don't want BBR turning into a Slashdot clone :(

RDins
@comcast.net

RDins

Anon

Could be good

Heck just buying them to stop the methods they were doing would be a huge stopper to spyware.....

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