Gator Suckage

Gator is a piece of software that a lot of freeware applications bundle with their product to offset the cost of development and distribution. It runs on the user's PC and gathers information about the user's surfing habits, reporting this data back to Gator's central servers. Gator then uses this information to target ads to the user. Many users are unaware that this software is being installed when they install things like Kazaa or similar peer-to-peer programs. Because of its reporting capabilities, it has deservedly earned the distinction of being known as "spyware." However, because of the (again, deserved) negative connotations associated with that term, Gator doesn't like being referred to by it. They prefer to be called "adware".

The distinction between such "adware," which can report back to its creator with information about the computer user's surfing habits, so as to allow for supposedly more effective ad serving, and "spyware," which similarly monitors surfing habits and serves up ads, is sometimes a hazy one, and lies at the heart of Gator's libel suit.

Gator maintains that its software differs from spyware in that people are clearly notified before they download it, and in that they do so in exchange for a service, like the peer-to-peer software.

Spyware, the company maintains, is surreptitiously installed and gives the unwitting computer user no benefit.

But critics of adware companies question how clearly such downloads are marked--PC users may suddenly be deluged with pop-ups and have no idea where they're coming from--and protest that companies like Gator are collecting information without sufficiently accounting for what they do with it.

They now intend to go after anyone who refers to their product as spyware. Their protestation that it isn't spyware because it isn't installed "surreptitiously" doesn't work with me. Frankly, they're full of crap and I'm going to continue to refer to them as spyware because I consider any software that reports on anything you do as spyware. These semantic games won't convince me that their product isn't spyware.

Further, most installations of Gator are hidden behind a wall of legalese or snuck in through a pop-up on a website (sometimes even with the logic reversed so that when the user hits "Cancel" Gator is installed). If the use of Gator is fully spelled out such that even the most naive user understands it (i.e. it's up front, in large print, and in plain English) and if Gator would tell people exactly what data they collect and what they're doing with it, perhaps I wouldn't have a problem with them. As it is, I am very careful to avoid any chance that Gator will get installed on my systems and I avoid any software that bundles it.

And in case Gator's legal eagles are trolling the internet to find stuff like this, don't forget about that pesky little thing called the First Amendment. I honestly believe that your product is SPYWARE, and by the common sense definition of the term, it most definitely is (i.e. what the average person perceives it to be). As such, I feel that I have an absolute right to say so and will continue to do so. You may be able to shut down some websites through your legal intimidation tactics, but that doesn't change the reality of the situation. Anything that reports on usage habits will be considered SPYWARE by the common user, even if they derive a benefit from it. If the user thinks the benefit is great enough, then they'll consent to use it. I don't have a problem with people making such free-marked decisions, provided they're fully informed. I do have a problem with people who use the legal system as a club to try to do stupid things like change the common sense definitions of words.

Of course, if the Gator lawyers keep doing stupid things like this, people will just come up with more "interesting" terms for it. Some of the commentors on the Slashdot thread were using terms like "suckware," "crapware," and "malware." I somehow doubt that this is what Gator intended...

Link via Slashdot.

Posted by Aubrey at October 23, 2003 09:24 AM | TrackBack