Quote:
Originally posted by The General8
the point of this thread, is spyware legal?
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yes, it's legal. They actually sneak spyware onto your system via software bundles that don't mention it except in the eula. You actually agree at some point to allow it to install, but the methods they use has put most of these companies into the "Allegedly Unethical Firms" category. You would be amazed at what programs are on that list and what they actually do...
Legality is something of a frontier as much of this is new. There are lawsuits out there that may prove detrimental to such companies, but it'll be a while. Until then, if they can prove that you allowed the install in some vaguely tenuous manner, they're completely in the clear.
Sadly, Gator isn't going anywhere anytime soon. It's just signed a deal with Overture, which is Google's competitor. It's also releasing "Gator Scout" which will do alternate search engine checks whenever you do a search. (actually, it will push PPC results from Overture)
The easy fix for most of these is, when you find it on your computer, block all it's components with your firewall, and then remove it with Spybot S&D.