Windows + Adware + Spyware = ?

[George Yves]

Yesterday I ran across a stunning article "Microsoft Patents May Hint At The Future Of Windows" (here it is: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201001485 ). The most interesting part of it says:

In two patent applications filed this month, Microsoft may be foreshadowing future Windows features, including updates to the taskbar and ad-supported versions.

The first patent application, filed on July 5, details advertising software that uses applications and data on a computer, rather than the Web, to provide context for and trigger advertising. "Web-based advertising is limited to targeting based on a user's interaction with a webpage or search application in communication with a portal or search engine," the patent application notes.

Overall, the software is like adware that figures out what ads to display based on files on the hard drive and what's being displayed on the screen at a given moment. The advertising software, which could be part of the operating system, a standalone app, or an application feature, would use information gleaned from documents, music, computer status messages, and e-mails as context for ads. However, the software could conceivably gather information on every file on a user's hard drive and send it to advertisers, and the application does little to assuage security and privacy concerns.

Then my friends found United States Patent Application #20070157227 for "Advertising services architecture" (see: http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220070157227%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20070157227&RS=DN/20070157227 ).
The USPA gives the background and the summary for the new Windows framework. Note: the underlining is mine - GY

BACKGROUND

[0002] Targeting advertisements is highly valued by advertisers because it allows placement of advertisements that are theoretically of greater interest to a particular audience member than blanket advertising. For example, just within the sports category, the advertisements seen on a television broadcast of an American football game are likely to be much different than those seen on an ice skating broadcast.

[0003] Targeting advertising to a user viewing content on the Internet or web-browsing on computers creates an opportunity for an "audience of one." By analyzing what a user is performing web searches on or by watching clicks on a web portal, advertisements may be targeted to a particular user. For example, if a user is searching for hotels in the Caribbean, the search results may be accompanied by sponsored advertisements for hotels at Caribbean destinations as well as advertisements for airlines or cruises for those destinations. To target web-based advertisements, server-side search engines and web portals may assign a computer an identifier using a cookie for building a database of search requests and "click through" results to other web destinations. Similarly, a portal may use an email login identifier to catalog individual users and build a database of profile information. Advertisers will pay for an ad impression, and often pay more when an ad recipient clicks an ad link and pay even more when the action results in a purchase. However, web-based advertising is limited to targeting based on a user's interaction with a webpage or search application in communication with a portal or search engine.

SUMMARY

[0004] An advertising framework may reside on a user computer, whether it's a part of the OS, an application or integrated within applications. Applications, tools, or utilities may use an application program interface to report context data tags such as key words or other information that may be used to target advertisements. The advertising framework may host several components for receiving and processing the context data, refining the data, requesting advertisements from an advertising supplier, for receiving and forwarding advertisements to a display client for presentation, and for providing data back to the advertising supplier. Various display clients may also use an application program interface for receiving advertisements from the advertising framework. An application, such as a word processor or email client, may serve as both a source of context data and as a display client. Stipulations may be made by the application hosting the display client with respect to the nature of acceptable advertising, restrictions on use of alternate display clients, as well as, specifying supported media.

I waste resources of my computer to provide a better anti-malware defence, and Microsoft is planning to officially install "good" trojans and worms on my hard drive!
So, I have some questions.
1) What will anti-malware applications be necessary for?
2) Does MS want to become the monopolist in Internet advertising market?
3) If the new framework will have components "for providing data back to the advertising supplier", will it provide the data to FBI or CIA? (Don't forget that a) MS is an American company, and b) there is such legislation in this country as the Patriotic Act?)

[bob3160]

3) If the new framework will have components "for providing data back to the advertising supplier", will it provide the data to FBI or CIA? (Don't forget that a) MS is an American company, and b) there is such legislation in this country like the Patriotic Act?)

It's called the Patriot Act. 
The simple solution to your apparent complaint about M$ is to simply stop using their product.

No company can survive unless it constantly strives to increase it's source of revenue. 

[news]

George Yves says...

1) What will anti-malware applications be need for?

To get better at what they are already doing.
Agree with bob3160...all about the almighty dollar.

Thanks very much for posting this great piece. I must say it should be interesting to see how all of this goes. It will just make the security applications..anti-spyware...anti-malware and all of the other applications necessary to have on your computer work a bit harder to keep your information secure and safe.

I'll be keeping my eyes on this.

[George Yves]

It's called the Patriot Act. 

Thanks for the correction. 

The simple solution to your apparent complaint about M$ is to simply stop using their product.

And what can you suggest as an alternative? Linux? It's too complex for me (and for the majority of ordinary users). Macintosh? It's a very rare animal here (9 out of 10 computers in the world works under Windows). And the most difficult thing is to find a reliable tutor for Linux or Macintosh.

[polonus]

Hi folks,

Interesting is to see what will happen between the surviving monopolists. There will be a clash between Google and MS. When will be the point where they going to forbid open source computers, because it is conflicting with their views of in what kind of MultiMediaWorld we should be, or rather in what we should not be.
The only thing that is frightening is the tempo in which this Brave New MultiMediaWorld is imposed upon us.

polonus

P.S. Click on the LadyBug to see it crawl...

[rdmaloyjr]

The simple solution to your apparent complaint about M$ is to simply stop using their product.

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=29361.msg242450#msg242450

It is best to use non-M$ software on Windows as it will "force" M$ to improve.

[polonus]

Hi rdmaloyjr,

Yes, this is the way to go for the end-user: http://www.fravia.com/bangla.htm

So what does Polonus use on his Windhoze eXPerience: Miro Participatory Culture Foundation to watch my free video and TV, Open Office The Novell free version (because it is more secure than the original), Mozilla Firefox and Flock as standard browser, for IE the Japanese sleipnir browser, the last free version of Mailwasher, a monitor  program that went through my Australian Resource Hacker, some proggies were enhanced with special weak cgi dictonaries like Intellitamper, a website explorer program. Programs enriched with free code and extra security filters etc. Player free vlc, audio streams can be saved with free opensource streamers, free anti-virus programs (avast, ClamWin), COMODO and the COMODO BoClean, free anti-spyware removal suite (Hitman Pro), etc. etc. Cost of it all: zero, nic, nada, 0 dollar, 0 Euro, not a pfennig. Learn a programming language, read a lot, fully participate in a forum like this one, and join us. Full windows with cream topping with no additional cost.

polonus

[rdmaloyjr]

Polonus,
I can go along with all you said except for Comodo.  I don't trust Comodo.

[bob3160]

Polonus,
I can go along with all you said except for Comodo.  I don't trust Comodo.

I guess you must know something about Comodo that all the experts who rate
Comodo as one of the best Firewalls don't know.

[rdmaloyjr]

bob3160's new firewall

[neal62]

We certainly are beginning to see the whole big picture aren't we?  A very good article George Yves, thanks. 

[drhayden1]

http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/Emperors-New-Clothes.htm

bob3160's new firewall

what does this have to do with bob's new firewall-where the link above goes too- and why don't you trust comodo-just curious that's all
most of their products are FREE-great rated and do a great job same as some for pctools also-i have used their full version of spyware doctor for a long time as well as used to use the full version of registry mechanic-but not anymore-stopped fooling around with the registry after a bad experience of late-and used to use their FREE pctools firewall plus until i saw that rating list tech posted a-while back and it was rated very poor so i switched over to comodo pro....and probably will try pctools firewall again sometime with the i hear new improved version that's supposed to come out soon-if it does a better job and the ratings are better

[Hard_ROCKER]

@rdmaloyjr:

You don't trust Comodo but you trust in Spyware Terminator even with the companies adware related past ?
Can you please explain your logic to us ?

[bob3160]

sorry posted in error. 

[polonus]

Hi Darth_Mikey,

Agree with you I like to see proof of this before I like to point a finger at COMODO's. With ZA I have seen proof lately, it blocks Torpark very effectively by crashing and not offering further protection, it has got overbloated and does not perform.  ZA had a problematic past once for protection of the ground layers of the protocols, something to do with McAfee there, well some skeletons in the closet, but never read anything in that sense about COMODO.
The general tenure of rdmaloyjr's analysis where he links back to mindfully.org I can support, where if we do not pay any further attention your computer will be turned into a full content machine for BigMedia and only on their terms, and all your data are being phoned home to biz buffoons and gov porkies, but this alas is a general tendency, and for as far as I know cannot be blamed on COMODO.

polonus