Re: [Pan-users] Re: OT: freedomware vs... Was: Building Pan onWindows?

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Sun, 7 Mar 2010 06:09:55 am Alan Meyer wrote:

> However there was one program I particularly remember that was
> indisputably spyware.  I bought a Memorex branded scanner at
> Staples at a big discount.  After I installed the driver,
> ZoneAlarm told me that a program called BM.EXE was attempting to
> use the Internet.  I looked it up and it seemed to be a program
> running a "service" called "Bookmark Central" that gathered up
> the identities of all my web browser bookmarks and sent them to a
> central server that, no doubt, sold information about what and
> where I was browsing to who knows whom.  I was particularly angry
> that Staples, a company that is normally very consumer friendly,
> and Memorex, a company with a long history and reputation,
> participated in this underhanded practice.
>
> It won't make me stop buying at Staples.  As far as I can tell,
> their competitors are no more ethical than they are and their
> rebate and return policies are about the best and most ethical of
> the retailers I've dealt with.  But it was pretty annoying.
>
> This happened around 10-12 years ago.

Staples themselves almost certainly weren't aware of this. Even if they 
had been aware of the concept of "spyware" (and ten years ago, they 
almost certainly weren't), they no doubt trusted Memorex.

Memorex themselves may not have been aware of it. Chances are very good 
that they merely licenced scanner software from some third party, or 
hired a consultant to write it, and truly didn't know all the gory 
details of what it did. The same thing happened with the Sony Rootkit: 
although Sony had ultimate responsibility for the rootkit, they 
actually weren't aware of precisely what it did.

And of course the truly paranoid (or realistic, if you prefer) would 
consider the possibility that ZoneAlarm itself has been trojaned, and 
is lying about the BM.EXE program as part of an attack on Memorex's 
reputation.



-- 
Steven D'Aprano