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A pope screensaver in exchange for your soul
By Gearhead, NetworkWorld.com, 04/18/05
We were intrigued when we came across a site offering a "Free Pope Tribute Screensaver." Out of the 1.1 billion Catholics in the world there must be a significant number who would like such a thing on their computers as a way of celebrating the late pontiff's life. Seems like a nice thing to offer them.
But wait! Even though the screensaver is billed as "free" you can guess that there is a cost ...
When you get to the site you'll find that the site's owner, Freeze.com, asks you to complete "a short survey" also called on the same page "Quick Registration." At this point those in the know will be suspicious.
Check out Freeze's Privacy Policy, all 3,931 words of it! (the underlining is ours):
... Freeze delivers advertisements, promotions and offers by e-mail and through its screensavers to its members and subscribers who have opted-in to receive such messages, either directly through Freeze, or through one of our partners or affiliates (the “Service”) ... Some personal information is gathered when you register. During registration, Freeze will require your e-mail address in order to use the Service. Freeze will also require your name, date of birth, zip code, country and gender in order to provide the Service, although this information may not necessarily be collected by Freeze upon completion of the registration process. Additionally, Freeze may request, but does not require, your credit card number and/or social security number, as well as personal interests in order to better provide the Service ... Freeze may disclose your personal information to trusted business partners or sponsors.
Wow. They declare that "every e-mail that Freeze sends to its members and subscribers contains a working unsubscribe link prominently displayed at the bottom of each e-mail" but we wonder how many messages you're going to get and when you unsubscribe, how long will it take?
And check out their Software License and Content Policy. It contains such gems as the following (again, the underlining is ours):
Installation of Bundled Third Party Software. End User may have the option to install certain third party software at the time End User installs the Freeze Software. Installation of certain other third party software may be required at the time End User installs the Freeze Software. All third party software (collectively, "Third Party Software") is subject to third party license agreements. By installing and/or using any optional or required Third Party Software, you agree to accept the Third Party Software and to comply with the applicable license agreements. Freeze is not responsible for, makes no warranties with respect to, and shall not be liable for any damage in connection with, the Third Party Software.
Again, wow! How many average users are going read the license agreements of the required third party software?
But who is Freeze.com? They appear to have had more than a passing role in spyware distribution as they are known to distribute along with their Living Waterfalls screensaver the likes of WeatherBug, NewDotNet, and SaveNow.
There's no doubt that Freeze's offer is quite transparently and unashamedly going after a population who are true consumers (i.e. naive), who will most likely not read the fine print, and who will find the subsequent flood of spam and "additional software" at best annoying and at worst upsetting. They'll think they are getting a screensaver when in fact they will be losing their souls.
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Comments
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Posted by: sanjay on July 11, 2005 12:44 AM
