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www/server/staging/proprietary proprietary-addi...
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From: |
Therese Godefroy |
|
Subject: |
www/server/staging/proprietary proprietary-addi... |
|
Date: |
Wed, 13 Nov 2019 06:39:44 -0500 (EST) |
CVSROOT: /webcvs/www
Module name: www
Changes by: Therese Godefroy <th_g> 19/11/13 06:39:44
Added files:
server/staging/proprietary: proprietary-addictions.html
Log message:
Draft for social network addiction; new style.
CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/server/staging/proprietary/proprietary-addictions.html?cvsroot=www&rev=1.1
Patches:
Index: proprietary-addictions.html
===================================================================
RCS file: proprietary-addictions.html
diff -N proprietary-addictions.html
--- /dev/null 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 -0000
+++ proprietary-addictions.html 13 Nov 2019 11:39:44 -0000 1.1
@@ -0,0 +1,380 @@
+<!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" -->
+<!-- Parent-Version: Revision: 1.86 -->
+<!--#set var="DISABLE_TOP_ADDENDUM" value="yes" -->
+<!--
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ Please do not edit <ul class="blurbs">!
+ Instead, edit /proprietary/workshop/mal.rec, then regenerate pages.
+ See explanations in /proprietary/workshop/README.md.
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+-->
+<title>Proprietary Addictions
+- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title>
+<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/proprietary/proprietary.css"
media="screen,print" />
+ <!--#include virtual="/proprietary/po/proprietary-addictions.translist" -->
+<!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" -->
+<div id="navlinks">
+<h3>Proprietary malware</h3>
+<h4>By type:</h4>
+<ul>
+ <li><a class="current"
href="/proprietary/proprietary-addictions.html#main-heading">Addictions</a></li>
+ <li><a
href="/proprietary/proprietary-back-doors.html#main-heading">Back doors</a></li>
+ <li><a
href="/proprietary/proprietary-censorship.html#main-heading">Censorship</a></li>
+ <li><a
href="/proprietary/proprietary-coverups.html#main-heading">Coverups</a></li>
+ <li><a
href="/proprietary/proprietary-deception.html#main-heading">Deception</a></li>
+ <li><a href="/proprietary/proprietary-drm.html#main-heading">DRM</a></li>
+ <li><a href="/proprietary/proprietary-fraud.html#main-heading">Fraud</a></li>
+ <li><a
href="/proprietary/proprietary-incompatibility.html#main-heading">Incompatibility</a></li>
+ <li><a
href="/proprietary/proprietary-insecurity.html#main-heading">Insecurity</a></li>
+ <li><a
href="/proprietary/proprietary-interference.html#main-heading">Interference</a></li>
+ <li><a href="/proprietary/proprietary-jails.html#main-heading">Jails</a></li>
+ <li><a
href="/proprietary/proprietary-manipulation.html#main-heading">Manipulation</a></li>
+ <li><a
href="/proprietary/proprietary-obsolescence.html#main-heading">Obsolescence</a></li>
+ <li><a
href="/proprietary/proprietary-sabotage.html#main-heading">Sabotage</a></li>
+ <li><a
href="/proprietary/proprietary-subscriptions.html#main-heading">Subscriptions</a></li>
+ <li><a
href="/proprietary/proprietary-surveillance.html#main-heading">Surveillance</a></li>
+ <li><a
href="/proprietary/proprietary-tethers.html#main-heading">Tethers</a></li>
+ <li><a
href="/proprietary/proprietary-tyrants.html#main-heading">Tyrants</a></li>
+ <li><a href="/proprietary/potential-malware.html#main-heading">In the
pipe</a></li>
+</ul>
+<h4>By product:</h4>
+<ul>
+ <li><a
href="/proprietary/malware-appliances.html#main-heading">Appliances</a></li>
+ <li><a href="/proprietary/malware-cars.html#main-heading">Cars</a></li>
+ <li><a href="/proprietary/malware-games.html#main-heading">Games</a></li>
+ <li><a href="/proprietary/malware-mobiles.html#main-heading">Mobiles</a></li>
+ <li><a
href="/proprietary/malware-webpages.html#main-heading">Webpages</a></li>
+</ul>
+<h4>By company:</h4>
+<ul>
+ <li><a href="/proprietary/malware-adobe.html#main-heading">Adobe</a></li>
+ <li><a href="/proprietary/malware-amazon.html#main-heading">Amazon</a></li>
+ <li><a href="/proprietary/malware-apple.html#main-heading">Apple</a></li>
+ <li><a href="/proprietary/malware-google.html#main-heading">Google</a></li>
+ <li><a
href="/proprietary/malware-microsoft.html#main-heading">Microsoft</a></li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+<div class="article">
+
+<p class="edu-breadcrumb">
+<a href="/proprietary/proprietary.html">Proprietary malware</a> →
+Addictions</p>
+<!--GNUN: OUT-OF-DATE NOTICE-->
+<!--#if expr="$OUTDATED_SINCE" --><!--#else -->
+<!--#if expr="$LANGUAGE_SUFFIX" -->
+<!--#set var="DISABLE_TOP_ADDENDUM" value="no" -->
+<!--#include virtual="/server/top-addendum.html" -->
+<!--#endif -->
+<!--#endif -->
+<h2 id="main-heading">Proprietary Addictions</h2>
+
+<div id="about-dir">
+<hr class="thin" />
+<p>Nonfree (proprietary) software is very often malware (designed to
+mistreat the user). Nonfree software is controlled by its developers,
+which puts them in a position of power over the users; <a
+href="/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">that is the
+basic injustice</a>. The developers and manufacturers often exercise
+that power to the detriment of the users they ought to serve.</p>
+
+<p>This typically takes the form of malicious functionalities.</p>
+<hr class="thin" />
+</div>
+
+<div id="about-page">
+<p>Here are instances of proprietary programs that add addictive
+functionality to lure users into using it perpetually. Some of these
+programs also <a
+href="https://www.intelligenteconomist.com/economics-of-microtransactions";>
+trick users into paying real money</a> for unlocking features of alleged
+value.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="important">
+<p>If you know of an example that ought to be in this page but isn't
+here, please write
+to <a href="mailto:address@hidden";><address@hidden></a>
+to inform us. Please include the URL of a trustworthy reference or two
+to serve as specific substantiation.</p>
+</div>
+
+<h3 id="addictiveness">How software is made addictive</h3>
+
+<ul class="blurbs">
+ <li id="M209900000">
+ <p>Many games are designed to
+ keep gamers compulsively playing—and renewing
+ their subscription. To achieve this result, developers use <a
+
href="http://www.cracked.com/article_18461_5-creepy-ways-video-games-are-trying-to-get-you-addicted.html";>
+ techniques that derive from behavioral and brain research</a>:</p>
+
+ <dl class="compact"><dt>The Skinner Box</dt>
+ <dd>An environment in which the user is trained
+ to “push the lever“, i.e. do a certain action over and
+ over again in order to get a reward.</dd>
+
+ <dt>Virtual food pellets</dt>
+ <dd>Items that have nothing to do with the game itself, but are
+ valuable to gamers because of the work required to obtain them
+ (e.g., EverQuest); some people will end up collecting them for the
+ sake of collecting.</dd>
+
+ <dt>Random rewards</dt>
+ <dd>They turn the game into the equivalent of a slot machine (e.g.,
+ World of Warcraft, ZT Online).</dd>
+
+ <dt>Elaborate cycles</dt>
+ <dd>Gamers' behavior can be “shaped” by making cycles
+ (progress from one level to the next) slower and slower, designing
+ complex tasks that are difficult to get out of (e.g. World of
+ Warcraft), or conversely dividing them up in small chunks to avoid
+ frustration (e.g., New Super Mario Bros.Wii).</dd>
+
+ <dt>Decay of game assets</dt>
+ <dd>This makes it necessary for a gamer to keep playing, without
+ vacations, simply to avoid losing what they have earned so far
+ (e.g., Farmville, Ultima Online, Animal Crossing).</dd>
+ </dl>
+
+ <p>Games such as World of Warcraft, which are considered very addictive,
+ use several of these techniques.</p>
+
+ <p>However, the addictiveness of a game is only one of the determinants
+ of addiction. Equally important are the psychological make-up and life
+ circumstances of the gamer. Gaming addiction, like other addictions,
+ is a form of mental escape from an unrewarding life. The sad truth
+ is that, in the long run, it leads to an even worse life.</p>
+
+ <p><em>Note:</em> We are not gamers. If you think we
+ have misunderstood some point, or have suggestions for making
+ this text clearer or more correct, please send them to <<a
+ href="mailto:address@hidden";>address@hidden</a>>.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li id="M209800000.1">
+ <p>The developers of gratis mobile games apply the <a
+ href="#M209900000">techniques described above</a> to <a
+ href="https://www.psychguides.com/interact/the-psychology-of-freemium/";>
+ turn their products into slot machines</a>. This is clearly described
+ in an infographic.</p>
+
+ <p>The revenue generated by these games is directly related to the
+ number of strongly addicted gamers (called “whales”) and
+ to the amount of money they are willing to spend. Thus developers
+ carefully study the behavior of millions of users to increase the
+ addictiveness of their games.</p>
+
+ <p>Unfortunately, the article uses “free” to mean
+ “zero price.” We recommend saying “gratis”
+ instead.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li id="M209700000">
+ <p id="M201902220">On-line gambling services (and their nonfree
+ client programs) are <a
+
href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/feb/22/gambling-apps-more-dangerous-than-fobts-study-finds";>
+ designed to be addictive</a>, much like on-line games. They achieve
+ this with various different malfunctionalities, often in combination.</p>
+
+ <p>Many of these malfunctionalities are implemented by the server and
+ the client program together. In some cases, there is no honest way that
+ the client program could counteract the nastiness—for instance,
+ when the server manipulates amounts won in order to get the user
+ addicted, the only way the client program could block that is to pretend
+ the win did not happen. But users would not want that modification.</p>
+
+ <p>However, modification of the client program could cover up some
+ addictive behaviors without losing the user anything.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li id="M209600000">
+ <p>Some social network apps are <a
+ href="https://www.jeffbullas.com/facebook-creates-addiction/";>
+ designed to get users addicted</a>. These try to merge into your
+ daily routine by exploiting social pressure and your natural desire
+ for socialization, converting habitual gestures into thorough
+ addiction. As already noted for <a
+ href="#M209900000">games</a>, addictiveness is essentially based
+ on random rewards. In the present case, the rewards are messages
+ from friends and followers, “likes,” news, interesting
+ videos, etc. The software is designed to trigger users' desire
+ for these rewards, and keep this desire alive as long as
+ possible.</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>By default, notifications are sent every time a new item comes
+ in, instead of, say, once a day. They are associated with sounds or
+ vibrations which make them even more compelling. (Remember Pavlov's
+ experiments with rats.) These triggers are often opt-out, and many
+ users don't try to turn them off. They are most effective when the
+ app is installed on a mobile device which is always on and never
+ leaves the user. As a side effect, they may contribute to the <a
+
href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/reading-between-the-headlines/201307/smartphone-addiction";>
+ addictiveness of “smart” phones</a>.</li>
+
+ <li>The app is loaded with JavaScript that is largely used to <a
+
href="https://theconversation.com/facebook-is-killing-democracy-with-its-personality-profiling-data-93611";>
+ profile users</a>, in order to show them selected material that is
+ likely to interest them. (This paves the way to <a
+ href="/proprietary/proprietary-manipulation.html">manipulation</a>,
+ by the way.)</li>
+
+ <li>The app interface is designed to make
+ users stay on the site as long as possible, using <a
+
href="https://uxplanet.org/ux-infinite-scrolling-vs-pagination-1030d29376f1";>
+ infinite scrolling</a> for example.</li>
+
+ <li>The company that own the social network tries to cover
+ users' needs as extensively as possible, by <a
+
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Facebook";>
+ acquiring other companies</a> if needed. Once users have concentrated
+ most of their online activities and a lot of their personal data on
+ a single platform (or a set of platforms that belong to the same
+ group), they find it <a
+
href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/jan/01/antisocial-media-why-decided-cut-back-facebook-instagram";>
+ almost impossible to leave</a>. And even if they wanted to, they
+ would have a hard time digging out the relevant options, and the
+ app would aggressively nag them to stay.</li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <p>A good way to minimize the risk of addiction, short of avoiding
+ social media altogether, is to turn off notifications and leave as
+ little as possible of your own data on the platform.</p>
+ </li>
+</ul>
+
+<h3 id="proprietary-addictions">Examples of addictive software</h3>
+
+<ul class="blurbs">
+ <li id="M201907090">
+ <p>Resourceful children figured out how to <a
+ href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-48908766";> empty their
+ parents' bank account</a> buying packs of special players for an
+ Electronic Arts soccer game.</p>
+
+ <p>The random element of these packs (also called “loot
+ boxes”) makes the game <a
+ href="/proprietary/proprietary-addictions#addictiveness">
+ strongly addictive</a>, but the fact that players
+ are pressured to spend more in order to get ahead of their
+ competitors further qualifies it as <em>predatory</em>.
+ Note that Belgium <a
+
href="https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/01/29/fifa-ultimate-team-packs-blocked-in-belgium/";>
+ made these loot boxes illegal</a> in 2018.</p>
+
+ <p>The only good reason to have a copy of such a proprietary
+ game is to study it for free software development.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li id="M201809210">
+ <p>Clash of Clans is a good example of a gratis mobile game that its
+ developers <a href="https://gamerant.com/clash-of-clans-addiction/";>
+ made very addictive</a> for a large proportion of its users—and
+ turned into a cash machine for themselves—by using <a
+ href="/proprietary/proprietary-addictions.html#addictiveness">
+ psychological manipulation techniques</a>.</p>
+
+ <p>The article uses “free” to mean “zero
+ price,” which is a usage we should avoid. We recommend saying
+ “gratis” instead.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li id="M201612290">
+ <p>In the game Fruit Pop, the player buys boosts with coins to get
+ a high score. The player gets coins at the end of each game, and can
+ buy more coins with real money.</p>
+
+ <p>Getting a higher score once leads the player to desire higher
+ score again later. But the higher score resulting from the boost <a
+
href="https://qz.com/873348/50000-coins-for-1-99-how-mobile-game-in-app-purchases-are-warping-kids-understanding-of-basic-economic-ideas/";>does
+ not give the player more coins, and does not help the player get
+ a higher score in subsequent games</a>. To get that, the player
+ will need a boost frequently, and usually has to pay real money
+ for that. Since boosts are exciting and entertaining, the player is
+ subtly pushed to purchase more coins with real money to get boosts,
+ and it can develop into a costly habit.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li id="M201507290">
+ <p>Game Of War: Fire Age is an iPhone game with <a
+
href="http://www.cracked.com/personal-experiences-1762-5-reasons-i-lost-249000-iphone-game.html";>
+ addictive features</a> which are based on <a
+ href="/proprietary/proprietary-addictions.html#addictiveness">behavioral
+ manipulation techniques</a>, compounded with group emulation. After a
+ fairly easy start, the game slows down and becomes more difficult,
+ so gamers are led to spend more and more money in order to keep up
+ with their group. And if they stop playing for a while, the equipment
+ they invested in gets destroyed by the “enemy” unless
+ they buy an expensive “shield” to protect it. This game
+ is also deceptive, as it uses confusing menus and complex stats to
+ obfuscate true monetary costs.</p>
+ </li>
+</ul>
+
+</div>
+
+</div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above -->
+<!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" -->
+<div id="footer">
+<div class="unprintable">
+
+<p>Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to
+<a href="mailto:address@hidden";><address@hidden></a>.
+There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a>
+the FSF. Broken links and other corrections or suggestions can be sent
+to <a href="mailto:address@hidden";><address@hidden></a>.</p>
+
+<p><!-- TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph,
+ replace it with the translation of these two:
+
+ We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality
+ translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection.
+ Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard
+ to <a href="mailto:address@hidden";>
+ <address@hidden></a>.</p>
+
+ <p>For information on coordinating and submitting translations of
+ our web pages, see <a
+ href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations
+ README</a>. -->
+Please see the <a
+href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations
+README</a> for information on coordinating and submitting translations
+of this article.</p>
+</div>
+
+<!-- Regarding copyright, in general, standalone pages (as opposed to
+ files generated as part of manuals) on the GNU web server should
+ be under CC BY-ND 4.0. Please do NOT change or remove this
+ without talking with the webmasters or licensing team first.
+ Please make sure the copyright date is consistent with the
+ document. For web pages, it is ok to list just the latest year the
+ document was modified, or published.
+
+ If you wish to list earlier years, that is ok too.
+ Either "2001, 2002, 2003" or "2001-2003" are ok for specifying
+ years, as long as each year in the range is in fact a copyrightable
+ year, i.e., a year in which the document was published (including
+ being publicly visible on the web or in a revision control system).
+
+ There is more detail about copyright years in the GNU Maintainers
+ Information document, www.gnu.org/prep/maintain. -->
+
+<p>Copyright © 2019 Free Software Foundation, Inc.</p>
+
+<p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license"
+href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/";>Creative
+Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>.</p>
+
+<!--#include virtual="/server/bottom-notes.html" -->
+
+<p class="unprintable">Updated:
+<!-- timestamp start -->
+$Date: 2019/11/13 11:39:44 $
+<!-- timestamp end -->
+</p>
+</div>
+</div><!-- for class="inner", starts in the banner include -->
+</body>
+</html>
- www/server/staging/proprietary proprietary-addi...,
Therese Godefroy <=
- www/server/staging/proprietary proprietary-addi..., Therese Godefroy, 2019/11/13
- www/server/staging/proprietary proprietary-addi..., Therese Godefroy, 2019/11/13
- www/server/staging/proprietary proprietary-addi..., Therese Godefroy, 2019/11/13
- www/server/staging/proprietary proprietary-addi..., Therese Godefroy, 2019/11/13
- www/server/staging/proprietary proprietary-addi..., Therese Godefroy, 2019/11/15
- www/server/staging/proprietary proprietary-addi..., Therese Godefroy, 2019/11/15
- www/server/staging/proprietary proprietary-addi..., Therese Godefroy, 2019/11/16
- www/server/staging/proprietary proprietary-addi..., Therese Godefroy, 2019/11/16
- www/server/staging/proprietary proprietary-addi..., Therese Godefroy, 2019/11/16