Google’s new BadWare alerts
p2pnet.net News:- Some time ago, Sharman Networks’ infamous Kazaa p2p application became one of the first items to be featured for mention by the prestigious StopBadware.org.
“We’ve all seen it happen: you or someone you know has downloaded something from the internet that seemed harmless enough at the time,” says the site. “Next thing you know, the computer has slowed to a crawl. Pop-up advertising starts to appear out of nowhere. Private information gets sent to some company you’ve never heard of. And the worst part? Trying to uninstall the software sometimes makes the problem worse.”
StopBadware.org was started by the Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society and Oxford University’s Oxford Internet Institute, with support from Google, Lenovo and Sun Microsystems.
Now the coalition is going to town on its promise to “call out badware creators of any size”.
“We’re entering a new phase here at StopBadware.org,” says StopBadware. “Google – which is one of our partners – is now presenting people with a warning before they visit websites that have been reported to StopBadware.org as sites that distribute badware.
“These warnings currently link to a general page on StopBadware.org, but as we finish researching sites, we’ll replace the general page with one of our individual website reports (see an example here ). Hopefully this next step will bring us that much closer to fulfilling our mission of providing people with reliable, objective information about downloadable applications in order to help them make better choices.
“If there are sites and applications you’d like us to check out before you use them, let us know here.”
We googled Kazaa which, following Sharman’s induction into the ranks of the corporate entertainment cartel community will presumably soon become approved software, but there didn’t seem to be any warning attached to the result.
Stay tuned.
Also See:
Sharman’s induction – Kazaa owner’s DRM plan, August 4, 2006
Our new environment compels commitment and participation. We have become irrevocably involved with, and responsible for, each other.
~ Marshall McLuhan : The Medium is the Massage
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