May 26, 2004 9:00 PM PDT
Yahoo embraces anti-spyware
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For now, the Web portal will be testing the technology, which has been supplied by anti-spyware company PestPatrol. It will offer the toolbar upgrade only to a select number of people at beta.toolbar.yahoo.com, Yahoo spokeswoman Stephanie Iwamasa said.
The software can perform a high-level scan of files on a PC to detect viruses or other applications that were installed surreptitiously and are used to spy on computer behavior.
"The toolbar is the best place to present this application because of its accessibility--you can log on and use your toolbar from any machine--and because it's a persistent application in the browser window," Iwamasa said.
Yahoo joins other companies in the fight against the growth of spyware. EarthLink recently introduced anti-spyware technology for its subscribers. And last week, Google urged software makers to follow common-sense guidelines when writing programs that embed themselves on Internet users' PCs. It stated that the programs should be clearly labeled, permit consumers to disable them, and not perform actions such leaking personal information.
Interest is also growing at the state and federal government levels in regulating and perhaps even banning adware and spyware. Utah has already enacted such a law, and the U.S. House of Representatives and the Federal Trade Commission have convened hearings on the issue in the past few weeks.
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Yahoo! Inc.





Even CNET had this article:
Having used its desktop operating system monopoly to help trounce its primary rival Netscape, Microsoft has effectively abandoned significant browser development efforts. That's left companies with negligible market share such as Opera and Netscape's Mozilla open-source project to lead innovation in the field.
For example, IE 6, the latest version of Microsoft's Web browser, released in August 2001, does not yet offer a tool that automatically blocks Web pop-up advertising. Microsoft has promised pop-up blocking as part of a Windows XP upgrade due out later this summer known as SP2. That puts it well behind Opera and others that have offered pop-up blocking for months in response to overwhelming consumer demand.
http://news.com.com/Microsoft+behind+%2412+million+payment+to+Opera/2100-1032_3-5218163.html?tag=nefd.lede
Even CNET had this article:
Having used its desktop operating system monopoly to help trounce its primary rival Netscape, Microsoft has effectively abandoned significant browser development efforts. That's left companies with negligible market share such as Opera and Netscape's Mozilla open-source project to lead innovation in the field.
For example, IE 6, the latest version of Microsoft's Web browser, released in August 2001, does not yet offer a tool that automatically blocks Web pop-up advertising. Microsoft has promised pop-up blocking as part of a Windows XP upgrade due out later this summer known as SP2. That puts it well behind Opera and others that have offered pop-up blocking for months in response to overwhelming consumer demand.
http://news.com.com/Microsoft+behind+%2412+million+payment+to+Opera/2100-1032_3-5218163.html?tag=nefd.lede
This product has been listed as malicous software in many anti-spyware orgonizations. Yahoo does provide a so called uninstall program but in fact does not work at all. I regard myself as hardcore C/C++ programmer and it takes me more than a day to remove it from my system.
Yahoo, I wish you can regulate yourself before taking on the others.
This product has been listed as malicous software in many anti-spyware orgonizations. Yahoo does provide a so called uninstall program but in fact does not work at all. I regard myself as hardcore C/C++ programmer and it takes me more than a day to remove it from my system.
Yahoo, I wish you can regulate yourself before taking on the others.