In an e-mail interview, Gator CEO Jeff McFadden said his company is operating within its rights.

"We have the right to display this form of advertising. Web site publishers offer consumers free content that comes with advertising, and we do something very similar. We're a software publisher that offers consumers free software applications that come with advertising," McFadden wrote.

What? If I took a broadcast television or radio signal, spliced in my own commercials, and rebroadcasted it so it reached only a segment of it's intended population, people would notice right away, the real advertisors would be pissed, and the FCC would be breathing down my neck.

How is this ad-hijacking even remotely legal?

Gator's one of the worst programs you can run across -- even upon a forced uninstall, the bastard will leave a small snippet of code on the computer that will trickle-download the remainder of the code, and install it behind the user's back. In a few hours or days, depending on the user's connection, Gator will just show up again.

What's that mandate that's being used against the person in the Atlanta school system for his installing Distributed.net on all the school's computers? While I hate that case, if the school district wins, it could effectively make these stealth and forced (without clear and explicit permission from the owner of the machine) installs illegal under US law.

Once that happens, watch these viral marketing companies fold

I completely agree with you Blue. Esp in our county.
DSL is in a world of shit if the Baby Bells take over.

They're not capable of hooking up phones, let alone installing, maintaining and SUPPORTING dsl!

I've been saying it for quite a while w/ my friends.
Cable's simplicity and fair to good support will win the general consumer over....

What? If I took a broadcast television or radio signal, spliced in my own commercials, and rebroadcasted it so it reached only a segment of it's intended population, people would notice right away, the real advertisors would be pissed, and the FCC would be breathing down my neck.

I crave TV, a Canadian site did almost exactly this sometime last year IIRC. Can't recall how the lawsuit ended, or if they just went bust.

DSL is in a world of shit if the Baby Bells take over.

They're not capable of hooking up phones, let alone installing, maintaining and SUPPORTING dsl!

up here in Eastern Canada, my home ADSL connection works great, and it's through my phone provider (MTT - not sold through them by some other company)...

Gator popped up on my computer after I installed a GameSpy product (patly named, apparently). This was AFTER I had physically declined the install.

It took me forever to get the crap off my system. Doing the auto unintsall wasn't enough: I eventually had to go in and remove the files by hand and hand=prune the registry.

This kind of "business" is why people's view of internet companies is so fuxored- it's foundationless and just plain stupid.

Gator is what you get when you cross a used-car salesman and a recent computer science grad...(Actually, the "technology" is much simpler than needing any kind of degree to put together, but you get the point).

The nice thing is: Gator's business model was barely sustainable when ad revenues were at their highest, I doubt that they can maintain it.

... AFTER I had physically declined the install.

You mean you kicked your computer?

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Download Whisset Media Player - the coolest player in town!
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Theres only one proggy worse than Gator and thats Comet Cursor (Curse-or). These companies work just inside the line of legality. I swear if I had the money Id hire a full-time hacker group to do D.O.S. attacks and whatever else they can think up on a daily basis to both of them.

Are there step-by-step instructions anywhere on the net on uninstalling Gator? I had no idea I even had this piece of poo installed until now, and add/remove programs won't allow me to delete it.

Try the freeware program AdAware, this can be found here http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ . It removes spyware and certain cookies (like the ones certain media companies use to track your browsing habits).

Be careful though, sometimes removing Gator stops the program that installed it from working
Mirsky

I'm having dinner tonight with a neighbor of mine who is a Sales Manager for Gator in the Midwest. Invariably when we get together the issue of Gator comes up and I get to hear all of the wonderful rationalizations for why Gator doesn't suck. But I am particularly looking forward to tonight so that I can pass along Blue's questions to him.

Blue, do you know if you're getting ads on your page wallpapered by Gator?

Blue, do you know if you're getting ads on your page wallpapered by Gator?

I have no idea, actually, I can only hope not... but please, if you do pass along my comments to him, don't inform me if he actually jumps off the nearest bridge... I might feel a pang of guilt (for a moment at least).

Stephen "Blue" Heaslip
Blue's News Publisher, Editor-in-Chief, Il Presidente for Life

Clever Dicks Try to End a Spot of Embarrassment

There's something bothering me about the first impression we get from reading that title... Or maybe it's just me

Oh, and Blue, those kinds of people don't jump off the nearest bridge, they're just like weeds, you stamp them, kick them hit them and want them to die so bad, but they always come back

The only thing better than some good ol' spotted dick is firing up a fag afterwards!