Realnetworks and netscape (Aol) do spy on you.

[Jorden]

Not when your name is Holly, Steve. She installed Media Player 7, and now her PC refuses to boot into Windows, not even in Safe Mode. Reinstalling Windows didn't help, putting back the old registries didn't help, fixing the registry 14 times didn't help, so a reformat of the first hdd might help

Thank you Microsoft!! She didn't even get to see the Headspace skin

Jord.

[fds]

Now, if I right-click a link and choose "Save target as" in either NS or IE, I'm sure that that shows up somewhere that Microsoft or AOL could ferret it out...

No, at least Microsoft certainly isn't getting anything sent to them when you are downloading with IE. Unless of course it is Microsoft itself you are downloading from.

The same is probably true for Netscape if you aren't using that SmartDownload thing, although about this I cannot be certain as it was several years ago I last used NS. Why would one use NS if IE is available on your platform I cannot see.

[The PIT]

Perhaps Billies boys checked her hard drive and found to much pirated software. Expect a knock anyday on your door.
Only Kiddin.
The question of Aol etc collecting information about your web habits is where do you draw the line? Some poeple aren't that bothered some are. As far as I'm concerned where I go or what I do on the Internet is my business and no one elses.
Netscape could have easily had put a tick box up letting you choose whether you want them to collect the info or not just like many companies do for email address's "Do you wish us to send your email to blah etc".
I wonder how much info netscape have collected and can they sift through it all.

In the UK a lot of companies are beginning to monitor web usage and email usage and reading emails. Do you want your boss to know whether you got aids or not or crabs.
You can argue that you shouldn't use your work email however poeple still send personal email to my work address although I've asked them not to.

In the end theres got some guidlines to privacy otherwise "in his billiness future" The Dairy is going to emailing you "why haven't you got our latest milk in the fridge?"

[The PIT]

One or two companies do keep your credit card details on a database but leave things off like the expiry dates.
Of course other companies store the dat on their web server for any cracker to knick like powergen.

[SteveC]

MS puts in a cookie monster into IE5!
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/1/12076.html

------------------
Cheers,
Steve

"Life is what we make of it, yet most of us just fake"

[The PIT]

Good but all I can see happening is that the user gets a barrage of pop up boxes saying do you wish to block this cookie.
If you say yes to all you'll find that some sites won't work properly or that certain areas won't and no doubt that will be the section you need for an update.
Better if the company says in the first place we want to see what your downloading but if you do mind tick this box and we won't do it.

[HollyBerri]

"If you do mind, tick this box and we won't do it"????

Yeah, right.

Like people don't lie.

Like we could catch them at it if they did.

Sure, that'll work.

(I admit, it would be nice, if it did )

------------------------------
Holly

[paulcs]

Well, thankfully there are people out there who are concerned with these issues and with the technical expertise to determine if a company is lying.

It's funny. I've seen what seems to me to be a disproportionate number of claims that installing IE 5.5 and MediaPlayer 7 has created havoc with people's systems. At the same time, AOL/Netscape and RealNetworks have been accused of creating software that intentionally breaches users' privacy. It seems the big software companies are hellbent upon rendering hackers and script kiddies obsolete.

With vendors like these, who needs hackers and viruses?

Years ago, I had the "warn me before accepting a cookie" feature enabled in Netscape, and it drove me insane. I'm hoping Microsoft comes up with something better. Maybe something that tips off the user that information is being uploaded and an easy to read, detailed log of exactly what is happening. Call it "RatWare," "FinkWare," or "TattleWare." AOL/Netscape and RealNetworks are MS competitors. I think it would be in their interest to do so.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[The PIT]

The problem is they have been caught! Okay this has been going on for a long time and if they have been upfront would they been as much trouble as there are now?
Cookie warnings. Well you can always install a personnel firewell and and then block cookies to a site temporaly and see if still works if it does then block them all together.
However it won't be long with the new, fast always on internet connections that many poeple will employ personnel firewalls. I've installed Nortons internet security (Standard Modem) on one pc and it's surprising how many times sometimes tried to download a trogen onto that machine. It could be that norton have designed the program to lie but I don't think so then saying that before I installed the software the computer must have been open and the Virus checker has never grumbled about it although it's in the data base.

[paulcs]

The ironic thing is, RealNetworks, with a threat of a lawsuit, force him to reexamine his data and a dig further to verify his findings, and that's when he discovered the cookie activation.

Firewalls are not going to help, unless you increase security settings to the point where your ability to use your browser is seriously impaired.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[Genom]

Come on guys. I know people on these fori are smarter than avergae. You cant tell me you didnt feel a twinge of suspicion after reading the license agreements? you DO read your license agreements right? I havent used real audio software for the past 3 years because thats when they changed their license agreements. I also make sure to not care in the least about stuff like this and you know what? I couldnt care less. They wanna know what I dl and from where, hey, go for it. But thats just me I'm also the guy that bill's every single spammer that sends me crap and you'd be amazed at the fact that I get maybe 2-3 spam messages a week on all 3 email accounts. Guess they got tired of having to pay out 150 bucks to me for every crappy little email huh?