The Interocitor

Spam is not enough

Apparently, the folks that killed Usenet, and are trying their damndest to kill email, have a new method of attack -- the trojan program. See XRLQ for one example.

Unlike a virus, which can be detected fairly easily, a trojan is packaged with some other useful program that one might well want to install. One example is popupswatter which purports to kill popups, and possibly does. But if you read the End User License Agreement, you find the following:

ALL OF OUR APPLICATIONS COME WITH THE MYWEBSEARCH™ BROWSER PLUGIN -- A CUSTOMIZABLE BROWSER TOOLBAR WHICH PROVIDES END USERS WITH EASY ACCESS TO SEARCH RESULTS FROM THE BEST SEARCH ENGINES ON THE INTERNET IN JUST ONE CLICK AND ENHANCES YOUR BROWSER EXPERIENCE BY PROVIDING RELEVANT LINKS AND RESULTS IN RESPONSE TO MISSPELLED OR INCORRECTLY FORMATTED BROWSER ADDRESS REQUESTS.

THE APPLICATION ALLOWS YOU TO EASILY ACCESS ALL OF ITS FEATURES AND FUNCTIONALITY DIRECTLY FROM YOUR BROWSER. IT IS ALSO HIGHLY CUSTOMIZABLE AND ALLOWS YOU TO CREATE YOUR OWN BUTTONS AND LINKS.....

You further understand, acknowledge and agree that in consideration of the Applications, services and information provided to you by FWP, and in order to make our services functional and robust, the Application will communicate with our servers. Such communication may occur, for example, in connection with product updates and fixes, verifying and updating your settings, processing search queries or requests made by you through use of the Application and as otherwise required to maintain and operate the Application. The Application does not report back to FWP with information about the sites you visit on the Internet or collect any information that you provide you to any such web sites. If you wish to withdraw your consent to the communication and data usage as described herein, uninstall any and all Applications from your computer.

What this means in plain English is that in order to use FunWebProducts' "popupswatter", you agree to have your Windows search function, and possibly other web functions, hijacked, and that they may "update" this functionality and/or install further "applications" on your computer, without notice at any time. And you have agreed to it by clicking OK on that EULA you didn't read.

Other portions of the EULA state they are not liable for any problems you may experience from their software. If you choose to sue, you must do so in Westchester County, NY, although you have also agreed to binding arbitration, and waived any and all class action rights you may have. They may also change the EULA, without notice, and your continued use of any of these programs (inlcuding those you aren't aware of) constitutes acceptance of this new EULA once 14 days have passed.

(more)

A more famous name that does things of this sort is KaZaa (and other file-sharing networks are similar). Here is a choice portion of the KaZaa EULA:

9.1 During the process of installing Kazaa Media Desktop, you must install software from third party software vendors pursuant to licences or other arrangements between such vendors and yourself ("Third Party Software"), including without limitation those software components noted in Section 9.4 below. Please note that the Third Party Software may be subject to different licences or other arrangements, which you should read carefully. By installing and using this Third Party Software you accept these Third Party Software licences or other arrangements and acknowledge that you have read them and understand them. Sharman does not sell, resell, or license any of this Third Party Software, and Sharman disclaims to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, any responsibility for or liability related to the Third Party Software. Any questions, complaints or claims related to the Third Party Software should be directed to the appropriate vendor.

9.2 Sharman makes no representations or warranties of any kind concerning the quality, safety or suitability of this software, either express or implied, including without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event will Sharman be liable for any indirect, punitive, special, incidental or consequential damages however they may arise and even if Sharman has been previously advised of the possibility of such damages.

9.3 There are inherent dangers in the use of any software available for downloading on the Internet, and Sharman cautions you to make sure that you completely understand the potential risks before agreeing to install any of the Third Party Software. You are solely responsible for adequate protection and backup of the data and equipment used in connection with any of the Third Party Software, and Sharman will not be liable for any damages that you may suffer in connection with using, modifying or distributing any of the Third Party Software.

9.4 Embedded Third Party Software

9.4.1 Cydoor. The Software includes a Cydoor Technologies advertising delivery program, which may display web content such as banner ads, e-commerce offers, news headlines and other value-added content. The Cydoor component uses your Internet connection to update its selection of available ads and stores them on your hard drive. For information on Cydoor Technologies and their software, go to http://www.cydoor.com. For information on their privacy policy, go to http://www.cydoor.com/Cydoor/Company/CompanyPrivacy.htm.

9.4.2 Topsearch. The Software includes the Topseach software provided by Altnet. The Topsearch component regularly downloads an index of available Altnet content through your Internet connection. This index contains a list of available rights managed files which can be displayed in your search results. For information on Altnet and their software, go to http://www.altnet.com. For information on their privacy policy, go to http://www.altnet.com/privacy/.

9.4.3 Bullguard P2P. The Software comes with a virus protection feature provided by Bullguard Technology, which is designed to guard your computer from virus attacks by quarantining and deleting files downloaded via P2P that may have a virus. The BullGuard P2P component will update its virus definition file through your Internet connection. . For information on Bullguard and their software, go to http://www.bullguard.com. For information on their privacy policy, go to http://www.bullguard.com/privacypolicy.aspx

9.4.4 GAIN AdServer. Kazaa Media Desktop incorporates a software component called the GAIN AdServer, which is provided by GAIN Publishing. The GAIN AdServer software identifies your interests based on some of your computer usage and uses that information to deliver advertising messages to you. This software helps keep Kazaa Media Desktop free. The GAIN AdServer is provided pursuant to the GAIN Publishing End User License Agreement and Privacy Statement (located at http://www.gainpublishing.com/help/psdocs/kmd/privacy-help51.html), which you acknowledge that you have read and accept. If you would like to stop receiving advertisements through the GAIN AdServer, you will need to remove all GAIN supported software from your computer, including Kazaa Media Desktop, using the Add/Remove Programs Control Panel. For further information on GAIN Publishing and the GAIN AdServer, go to http://www.gainpublishing.com/.

9.4.5 PerfectNav. Kazaa Media Desktop comes with a software program called PerfectNav, which is provided by eUniverse, Inc. PerfectNav is designed to redirect your URL typing errors to PerfectNav's web page. This software helps keep Kazaa Media Desktop free. The PerfectNav software is provided pursuant to the PerfectNav End User License Agreement (located below as Exhibit A), which you acknowledge that you have read and accept. For further information on eUniverse, go to http://www.euniverse.com/.

10. Applicable Law

10.1 This Licence as well as all disputes arising out of or in connection with this Licence shall be governed by the laws of the New South Wales, Australia, without regard to or application of choice of law rules or principles.

Note that several of these programs have, themselves, further EULA's that you accept by accepting the KaZaa EULA.

Given enough of these trojans, nearly any Windows system will die. And guess who takes the blame for all this? KaZaa? FunWebProducts? Congress which has passed no law preventing this EULA abuse? No. Mr. Bill takes the blame, just as he does for most of my typos.

Posted by Kevin Murphy at November 30, 2003 12:20 AM | TrackBack