When Roger Olney used the KaZaA file-sharing service to download a utility for his home computer, he got a rude introduction to the slippery world of spyware.
First, he mistakenly downloaded and installed a file called eblaster.exe.
“I am aware now after some research that eblaster is a program that monitors keystrokes (gulp) in super stealth mode (shiver, double gulp),” Olney told members of the discussion group alt.privacy.spyware, where he turned for emergency help.
But, as group members would later inform him, the KaZaA Media Desktop program itself was already monitoring much of Olney’s activity.
Unbeknownst to most users, Sharman Networks Ltd.’s KaZaA – the world’s most popular post-Napster file-sharing program – has built-in software that spies on its users.
KaZaA is partnered with Brilliant Digital, which makes software that is downloaded and invisibly installed with KaZaA Media Desktop.
Also, Brilliant’s software automatically hooks users into yet another network, Altnet, which can track behavior as well as store and retrieve targeted banner ads and pop-ups.
It even seeks to profit from siphoning off processing power from its customers’ computers.
Last year, the revelation that Brilliant’s software had been piggybacking on KaZaA led to some consumer backlash. Technically, the Altnet program could be called adware, tracking software that users agree to download as part of the End User License Agreements. But EULAs are so filled with legal jargon that they’re largely unread.
Many KaZaA users protested that Brilliant’s tactics qualify it as spyware, software that monitors users without asking permission. The EULA language is 5,000 words long and almost incoherent, they argue. One programmer even developed KaZaA Lite (www.kazaalite.com), which is KaZaA without Altnet.
KaZaA is partnered with Brilliant Digital, which makes software that is downloaded and invisibly installed with KaZaA Media Desktop.
Also, Brilliant’s software automatically hooks users into yet another network, Altnet, which can track behavior as well as store and retrieve targeted banner ads and pop-ups.