🚀 go-pugleaf

To All,

I sent an email to Brad, stating what I think of this practice, in short
Stardock Systems has lost my business on this issue.  What others do is
purely up to them, I'm letting my wallet do the talking.
They can call it what they want it won't be tolerated not by me any
way.  Just as well he's in the US in Australia I would be contacting the
dept of Fair Trading and Consumer Affairs if Stardock was an Australian
Company.

Buyer Beware.


Subject: 
            Did you know Stardock PERIODICALLY snoopes disk, reports
back to stardock
            via internet (was: Re: WinBLIND TROJAN)
        Date: 
            31 Jul 1999 10:47:27 GMT
       From: 
            uno@40th.com (uno@40th.com)
    Reply-To: 
            reply@only.n.news.40th.com
 Organization: 
            Yanaguana
  Newsgroups: 
            comp.os.os2.apps, comp.os.os2.misc, comp.os.os2.advocacy
 Followup-To: 
            comp.os.os2.advocacy




Brad Wardell? (bwardell@stardock.com?) wrote (Fri, 23 Jul 1999
09:43:42):
>Specifically, WindowBlinds sends:
>
>The skin you are using - so that we can determine the most popular skin
>Your registration code - so monitor software piracy (it is OUR code
>remember)
>What OS you are running - websites take your OS info too
>
>I think that's about it.  Nothing "secret".  We primarily want to know what
>skin you are running.
>
>Eventually, our skins page will use this information to determine the 25
>most popular skins based on the skins people are running.  I think that
>blows away any sort of "rating" system since the ultimate recommendation a
>skin can get is by how many people are using it.
>
>Brad


TomG wrote:
> 
> It is 18:27 EST and I can't reach the Stardock site to verify - apparently their site
> is down (to update their disclaimers perhaps?).  There has NOT been anything up
> front.  I am too sensitive to this particular issue to simply have not noticed it.  I
> attach to their servers several times each week to download updates and I am all over
> the WindowBlinds configuration control panel - no mention of snooping at all.  Go to
> the "About" tab, page down between 40+ times through all the text and guess what - NO
> mention of this feature.
> 
> Privacy statement at the web site?  Well, I must apologize;  I do not have it
> memorized but I will go back and analyze it.  However, claiming that this practice is
> "No different from other products that send similar information back at the
> acquiecence of the user" is no defense.  Moreover, I was not "asked" - before
> download, purchase, or at the point of installing the program or any update, whether
> or not I would like to turn this feature off.
> 
> It just smells funny, even if this was not some *intentional* attempt at hiding the
> snoop feature.
> 
> Kris Kwilas wrote:
> 
> > In article <37A33ADB.40CB0EB2@erols.com>, TomG <nospam.pendrake@erols.com> wrote:
> > >seriously, no matter who is doing it or for what purpose.  I was not made aware
> > >of the fact that Stardock was snooping and I DO NOT believe that it should be
> > >my responsibility to discover it - it should be out in the open and up-front from
> > >the vendor.
> >
> > WindowBlinds 0.97, the product in question (released yesterday I might add),
> > is quite up front about it. It includes the option to disable sending the
> > information right from the get go. No different from other products that send
> > similar information back at the acquiecence of the user. See the privacy
> > statement on www.windowblinds.net if you are interested in more details.
> >
> > No "snooping" is going on.
> >
> > Kris