Comet Cursor and the concept of Spyware (was: Cool Technique)

I'm probably going to end up way, way off the original topic here, but since
I just love to fan the flames of paranoia, here are some pretty cool links
on the topic of "spyware".

I don't doubt for a minute that Comet Cursor, right along with a great many
other freeware gizmos, gadgets, or gimmicks out there, runs some nasty
little tentacle through our already over-investigated lives.  This even
though Comet Cursor or its company name show up on The Spyware Infested
Software List, found at
http://www.infoforce.qc.ca/spyware/.

The by now infamous Opt-Out site, at http://grc.com/optout.htm, however,
lists Comet Cursor right there in bold print.  There is no doubt in my mind
that these free products pay for themselves in other ways, and that is
simply to sell either ads or your browsing history to the highest bidder.
Icky?  You bet.  Scandalous?  Dangerous?  Depends, I suppose.

While I absolutely, positively DESPISE an application that either won't tell
me these things up front, or will bury its files on my machines in such a
way that there is no option to remove them, I use several freeware apps that
say "we are supported by advertisers".  Generally, I don't have a problem
with that, but it's not unusual for me to install in an un-sensitive
environment first, then uninstall, then run an Opt-Out type program to
double check the uninstall.  If that comes out clean, then I'll use the app
and happily recommend it to others.  I know that this is really not a
guarantee that something won't be passed to the application later on, and
it's a very good idea to check up on your applications occasionally.

(If anyone is interested in a true spyware horror story, contact me
privately about the very interesting i-opener internet appliance product and
what's *really* going on inside that cute little box!)

All that said, I suppose it's all a matter of (very, usually) personal
preference.  I'd like to think that many people are prudent and
sophisticated enough to accept the consequences of our choices, and
intelligent enough to know that *somebody* out there pays for our "free"
gizmos and gimmicks.  The people I worry about are the new folks who want
one of everything, load up their systems with it, then can't understand why
things either don't work right, or why their mailbox is suddenly full of
bizarre stuff they neither asked for nor wanted.

Kind of looping this thing around and back on the original topic... I think
that clients can have the tendency to fall into that "I want everything!"
trap and it is our responsibility to educate them to the potential
consequences.  Plug-ins, add-ons, applets, blahblahblah... they all fall
into the same category as "when is it appropriate to use Perl, or will
javascript do just as well... but then again, what about browsers that don't
support js, etc etc and on it goes".   For some projects, the gizmo-du-jur
might be perfect, but the client's decision to use it might be different if
they clearly understood the facts.  If the client still thinks it's perfect,
then forge ahead and have a little peace of mind that it (hopefully!) won't
come back to haunt you in the future.

Karin



----- Original Message -----
From: <MVHOG(at)aol.com>
To: <kransdell(at)squishedmosquito.com>; <jcohen02(at)snet.net>;
<hwg-techniques(at)hwg.org>
Sent: Friday, October 27, 2000 10:00 AM
Subject: Re: Cool Technique---Comet Cursor


> In a message dated 10/27/00 8:54:32 AM Central Daylight Time,
> kransdell(at)squishedmosquito.com writes:
>
> << The granddaddy of them all...
>  http://cometcursor.cometsystems.com/
>   >>
> I must admit this struck home with me, as I use the Comet Cursor, on
several
> of my pages within 3-4 sites I work on:  about a week ago I had signed a
> guestbook and the webmaster returned the visit and emailed me with the
> following, which I have copied and pasted below regarding the Comet
> Cursor---although, I have enjoyed many sites with this feature and have
not
> decided whether to remove the feature from my sites....I would like some
> imput regarding this information which was sent to me, thanks in
> advance........below is what was emailed to me regarding the Comet Cursor:
> *************************************************************************
> Toured your site, is really nice..kinda down home and warm. I like it.
>
> I do have a comment about "Comet Cursor" It looks cute, it may be free but
> it can never be removed from your computer unless you format it. Doing
> uninstall only removes the front end. The main program stays totally
intact.
> BTW the main part of the program is a tracer. It collects info on every
site
> you visit and sends it to Comet headquarters. They sell your user info to
> advertising agencies ect. Just thought you might want to know. Us computer
> industry folks out here avoid it like a plague.
>
>
***************************************************************************
> It tracks where, when, how long and the IP of every site you visit all the
> time. Each visitor of yours that says yes and accepts comet cursor gets
the
> same wonderful treatment. While I was on your site I was tracked. Sorry I
> didn't stay long. Something about telling big brother the places I visited
> before stopping by your site. Once I left it stopped tracing me. But you
are
> still being traced. Free isn't always without a cost. Just think, after
> installing comet did it take about a month and you started getting more
> Spam. Plus it was directly addressed to you?????
>
> To remove the front end use add remove programs. To remove it
> all.....reformat hard drive and reinstall.
> Option install a firewall on your machine ("Zone Out") or something
similar
> to stop it from communicating out. With a firewall you must set
permissions
> for each program to talk one way or both. You can change the settings. BTW
> Zoneout or Zone alarm is freeware available at   tucows.com   or
cnet.com
>
> As a note real player which is a nice free Mp3 program does the same
thing.
>
> I physically called comet folks after it auto installed on me after seeing
a
> cute English site. Well needless to say.. I wasn't pleased. I sincerely
hope
> things have changed in 6 month but I wouldn't bet on it. After all who
pays
> for their programmers time and wages?
>
****************************************************************************
**
>
> **************************************
>
> I do have to add, that I HAVE NOT rec'd any more than the norm of spam
mail
> since using the Comet Cursor.
> ~~Lanice~~

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