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[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of CDT
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Sent: 03 April 2006 19:01
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Cc: CDT Policy Posts
Subject: Policy Post 12.07: CDT Report Untangles Nuisance Adware Business
Model<
A Briefing On Public Policy Issues Affecting Civil Liberties Online from The
Center For Democracy and Technology
(1) CDT Report Untangles Nuisance Adware Business Model
(2) Anti-Spyware Coalition Unveils Tips, Prepares for Canada Meeting
(3) New Group Emerges to Complement Anti-Spyware Efforts
(4) Major Company Announces Plan to Divest Adware Holdings
--------------------------------------
(1) CDT Report Untangles Nuisance Adware Business Model
Though still early, 2006 is shaping up to be a landmark year in the ongoing
battle against spyware and unwanted adware. The array of public interest
advocates, technologists and high-tech companies working together to combat
the program continues to grow as anti-spyware advocates become more
sophisticated in their efforts to protect consumers and expose malicious
distributors.
Law enforcement at every level continues to pursue bad actors for illegal
activity, even as public interest advocates ratchet up public pressure on
the companies that support and/or distribute unwanted software.
CDT released a report in March that took a new approach to the problem of
nuisance adware.
In "Following the Money: How Advertising Dollars Encourage Nuisance and
Harmful Adware and What Can be Done to Reverse the Trend," CDT details how
-- through a complicated network of intermediaries -- major advertisers pay
to have their products and services advertised though pop-ups and other ads
generated by unwanted advertising software or "adware." The report dissects
the financial relationships behind those arrangements and identifies several
mainstream companies that advertise through one particularly unscrupulous
adware distributor.
The report urges all companies that advertise online to adopt and enforce
meaningful ad placement policies. It points out that several organizations,
including the Interactive Travel Services Association, Major League
Baseball, America Online, Dell and Verizon, have established policies that
prohibit or discourage the use of nuisance or harmful adware in serving ads,
the report found. By adopting such policies and making sure that all of
their affiliates abide by them, advertisers can begin to dry up a major
source of funding for unwanted adware.
Earlier this year, CDT filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission
alleging that 180solutions, one of the world's largest adware distributors,
had engaged in a pattern of unfair and deceptive trade practices. The
complaint detailed how 180solutions and its affiliates had duped countless
Internet users into downloading the company's advertising software. In
"Following the Money," CDT sought to identify companies that were
advertising through 180solutions, and to inquire about their ad placement
policies. Two companies responded to CDT's requests by establishing ad
placement policies, and five more said they already had policies in place.
Eleven other companies didn't initially respond to CDT's requests, but after
the publication of the report, three of those firms contacted CDT to discuss
their adware policies and announce that they were no longer doing business
with 180solutions.
Updated CDT Adware Report: http://www.cdt.org/privacy/20060320adware.pdf
180solutions Report - January 2006 (large file: 15 MB):
http://www.cdt.org/privacy/20060123180complaint.pdf
--------------------------------------
(2) Anti-Spyware Coalition Unveils Tips, Prepares for Canada Meeting
The Anti-Spyware Coalition in April released two new resources to help
consumers and enterprises better protect themselves against spyware and
unwanted adware. The coalition also unveiled final plans for an
international workshop slated to take place in Ottawa on May 16.
The coalition's two new documents walk consumers and network operators
through the steps they should be taking to protect their machines against
adware, spyware and other malicious software. The documents -- "Protecting
Your Network: Mitigating Spyware in Organizations" and "Protecting Your
Computer: Detecting and Avoiding Spyware" -- discuss technological defenses
against spyware; safe surfing and network management practices; and
techniques for removing unwanted programs once they are installed.
In a related development, the ASC announced that Michael Binder, Canada's
Assistant Deputy Minister for Spectrum, Information Technologies and
Telecommunications will keynote the Anti-Spyware Coalition's second-ever
public meeting and the first to be held outside of the United States, in
Ottawa, Ontario May 16. Binder joins some of the world's top spyware experts
from academia, the public interest community and the high-tech industry to
discuss the state of international anti-spyware efforts, emerging challenges
and likely solutions. A full agenda is available online
http://www.antispywarecoalition.org.
The Ottawa conference follows on the success of the Anti-Spyware Coalition's
first-ever public workshop held in Washington in February. More than 300
people attended that event, which featured a keynote by Federal Trade
Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras.
CDT convened the ASC -- which brings academics and public interest advocates
together with the worlds foremost anti-spyware companies -- to build
stronger relationships within the anti-spyware community and to help provide
users with better tools to defend their computers from unwanted software
downloads.
ASC Tip Sheets: http://www.antispywarecoalition.org/documents/
Ottawa Meeting Agenda:
http://www.antispywarecoalition.org/events/may2006agenda.htm
ASC web site: http://www.antispywarecoalition.org
--------------------------------------
(3) New Group Emerges to Complement Anti-Spyware Efforts
Launched earlier this year, StopBadware.org -- a project launched by Harvard
University's Berkman Center and the Oxford Internet Institute
-- is the latest group to set its sights on the spyware problem.
Taking a novel approach to the spyware problem, StopBadware joins a growing
phalanx of organizations working together to combat unwanted software. CDT
Deputy Director Ari Schwartz, who coordinates the Anti-Spyware Coalition and
directs CDT's anti-spyware efforts, sits on the advisory board of the
StopBadware.org.
StopBadware.org, which collects consumers' accounts of their own experiences
with "badware," released its first reports in March. The reports examine
four pieces of downloadable software drawn from the thousands of reports
filed by visitors to StopBadware.org.
StopBadware.org rated the four software software packages based upon a
series of criteria including installation practices, uninstall procedures
and effects on normal computer operation. StopBadware.org also examined
whether those software packages were installed with appropriate user notice
and consent.
The four software packages examined by StopBadware.org were: P2P client
"Kazaa", download manager "MediaPipe", spyware detector "SpyAxe" and
Screensaver.com offering "Waterfalls 3". All four were found to be unsafe
for normal users. StopBadware.org suggested that users do not install any of
the software packages that they tested, unless comfortable with the level of
risk outlined in the report.
Like the CDT report, the StopBadware.org reports serve to put pressure where
it's needed. By exposing software that comes bundled with unwanted adware or
spyware, StopBadware.org aims to reduce the number and virulence of unwanted
programs infesting user's machines.
StopBadware.org Reports: http://www.stopbadware.org/home/reports
--------------------------------------
(4) Major Company Announces Plan to Divest Adware Holding
Adware producer Claria (formerly named "Gator") announced on March 21, 2006
that it would sell the adware portion of their business by the end of June
and would shift its internal focus to concentrate on a personalized web
portal project called PersonalWeb.
As Claria moved in the past few years to distance itself from the stigma of
malicious adware, the profitability of the adware market decreased for the
company. Industry experts have observed that ad impressions are more
difficult to obtain when adware is installed with the knowledge and consent
of users.
Claria's divestiture is one of the strongest signals yet that legitimate
organizations are moving away from the traditional adware distribution
model. Though that can be partly attributed to market forces, mounting
anti-spyware efforts by groups like CDT, the Anti-Spyware Coalition and
StopBadware.org are putting pressure on companies to clean up their
practices, and end relationships with companies that fail to adequately
protect Internet users.
--------------------------------------
Detailed information about online civil liberties issues may be found at
http://www.cdt.org/.
This document may be redistributed freely in full or linked to
http://www.cdt.org/publications/policyposts/2006/7
Excerpts may be re-posted with prior permission of [log in to unmask]
Policy Post 12.07 Copyright 2006 Center for Democracy and Technology
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