Anyone here heard, or know of GATOR? You know, that loverly peice of
software that somehow always finds it's way onto your friends and families
PC, usually without them knowing that it's even there? The one that pops-up
annoying ads, plus tracks and reports their movements on the Internet to
Claria (the creators of GATOR)??
Apparently, an executive from Claria has been appointed to give
recommendations to the US government on how best to protect it's citizens
privacy...
Isn't that a bit like putting Saddam Hussein on an advisory board for human
rights?
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http://news.com.com/Adware+maker+joins+federal+privacy+board/2100-1028_3-5587653.html?tag=nefd.top
Adware maker joins federal privacy board
Published: February 23, 2005, 5:19 PM PST
The Department of Homeland Security has named Claria, an adware maker that
online publishers once dubbed a "parasite," to a federal privacy advisory
board.
An executive from Claria, formerly called Gator, will be one of 20 members
of the committee, the department said Wednesday.
"This committee will provide the department with important recommendations
on how to further the department's mission while protecting the privacy of
personally identifiable information of citizens and visitors of the United
States," Nuala O'Connor Kelly, the department's chief privacy officer, said
in a statement.
Claria bundles its pop-up advertising software with ad-supported networks
such as Kazaa. Recently, the privately held company has been trying to seek
credibility by following stricter privacy guidelines and offering behavioral
profiling services to its partners.
In an e-mail message to CNET News.com, Kelly defended the inclusion of a
Claria representative on the committee. "I am proud of, supportive of and
grateful for those individuals in the public and private sector who are
willing to take on the hard tasks, fight the good fight, and who surprise us
with creative, fresh and unconventional thinking, and who make change where
change is needed through their hard work and personal dedication," Kelly
said.
In the past, Claria's pop-up ad software has riled some users who claimed it
was annoying, installed without permission, and not easy to delete.
Publishers also were irked about pop-up ads for a rival's product appearing
next to their own Web sites. Catalog retailer L.L. Bean sued Gator for
alleged trademark infringement.
Claria's representative on the Homeland Security privacy board is company
Vice President D. Reed Freeman, a former Federal Trade Commission staff
attorney. Other members include executives from Intel, Computer Associates
International, IBM, Oracle and the Cato Institute.
Kelly said Freeman will "bring his courage and conviction to the board, and
will contribute productively--and constructively--to the board's and the
public's dialogue on privacy and homeland security."
The committee is tasked with providing "external expert advice to the
secretary and the chief privacy officer on programmatic, policy, operational
and technological issues that affect privacy, data integrity and data
interoperability."
In February 2003, Gator settled a high-profile case brought by The
Washington Post, The New York Times, Dow Jones and other media companies.
Terms of that deal were quiet, but Claria appears to have stopped delivering
pop-ups to those publishers' sites.
Claria did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CNET News.com's Stefanie Olsen contributed to this report.
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| User: "Su Zanadu" |
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| Title: Re: Spyware creator appointed to federal privacy board in US |
24 Feb 2005 09:03:03 AM |
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I'm not surprised under the current administration.
;)
SuZanne
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| User: "R. Foreman" |
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| Title: Re: Spyware creator appointed to federal privacy board in US |
24 Feb 2005 09:46:01 AM |
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(Su Zanadu) Spat the Words
I'm not surprised under the current administration.
;)
SuZanne
Getting the fox to guard the henhouse. 'Trust me. I only require
3 hens per day to cover my costs.'
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| User: "H Head" |
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| Title: Re: Spyware creator appointed to federal privacy board in US |
24 Feb 2005 12:24:29 PM |
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On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 08:29:48 GMT, "Aidan" <nospam.aweraw@gmail.com>
wrote:
Anyone here heard, or know of GATOR? You know, that loverly peice of
software that somehow always finds it's way onto your friends and families
PC, usually without them knowing that it's even there? The one that pops-up
annoying ads, plus tracks and reports their movements on the Internet to
Claria (the creators of GATOR)??
(Big snip)
Claria did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CNET News.com's Stefanie Olsen contributed to this report.
Hopefully that is because someone rolled up some socks into balls and
shoved them in all of this bastards available orifices.
(I forget my fake posting name, but it was memorable.)
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