Hello Bearshare Users

Im just doing a survey
Here goes

Are you aware that your copy of Bearshare contains SpyWare ?


SpyWare is anonymous surveillance for profit.
SpyWare is any program running in the background tracking your web browsing habits which get recorded & sent out to a server on the web.

If you were aware of the SpyWare program(s) hidden inside BearShare would you still have downloaded it ? or searched for a spywareless gnutella client ?

for more info, search for spyware on the net

please reply with your answers & any comments
Thanks in advance for participating in this survey

Man, you have been under a rock for a while haven't you!

Why don't you go download a current version of BearShare, so you at least have some idea of what you are talking about.

If you are going to try to tear someone else down, making a fool out of yourself is not the smartest way of going about it.

You should rephrase your questions as follows:<ol>
<li>Are you aware that your copy of Bearshare contains SpyWare [if you choose to install them]?</li>
<li>SpyWare is anonymous surveillance for profit [, and that revenue is needed because banner ad revenue by itself doesn't cover the cost of developing, distributing, and supporting BearShare].</li>
<li>SpyWare is any program running in the background tracking your web browsing habits which get recorded & sent out to a server on the web [, and that information is not associated with what you share or download through BearShare].</li>
<li>If you were aware of the [optional] SpyWare program(s) [which are described while installing BearShare] would you still have downloaded it?</li>
</ol>

You are a good man, CycloCide. You try to help and educate everyone, even people like that.

I try, but sometimes I just can't do it. But then I just sink down to their level.

hmmm, ok Cyclocide

Fair enough....
.... truth is i havent downloaded Bearshare to check out which spyware programs it contains or what the "opt out of spyware" options are like.
I have been reading alot about spyware recently & was very disapointed to find out that bearshare contained some.
Since i did not know what spyware was until recently, i was curious as to how many bearshare users know about it.... hence the survey.
You say the spyware is decribed during the install process... is it described in the 19th paragraph of the 23 paragraph user license agreement written in that tiny text that no-one ever bothers to read ?
I doubt bearshare goes out of its way to inform users about it. Of course I havent even checked for myself so,
bearshare users,
please feel free to enlighten me on this subject...

Does it explain _clearly_ so that someone who doesnt know about spyware will be educated enough about it that they can make an informed decision?
From what i can gather on the subject, most instances of spyware are on the shady side and they bank on the fact that you wont notice it or trust you the program enough to click "OK" on all the options .
Im not against Bearshare making some money for all their effort & time.
I am against software makers abusing consumer trust.
and ZeroShadow, dont worry about falling to my level cause I have been elevated to a higher level by Cyclo's helpful & educational attitude.
we're on the same team here, what am i? an RIAA employee? : )
-----------------------------------------------
Under S. 3180, of the proposed "Spyware Control and Privacy Protection Act," manufacturers that build spyware into their products must give consumers clear and conspicuous notice - at the time of installation -
that the software contains spyware. Such a notice would describe what information would be collected and to whom it would be sent. The spyware would then be forced to lie dormant unless the consumer chooses to enable it.

Onflow screenshot:

New.net screenshot:

SaveNow screenshot:

Select Components screenshot:

License Agreement:

Contents
--------

1. Introduction

2. Bundled Software

3. BearShare License Agreement

4. SaveNow License Agreement

---------------
1. Introduction
---------------

BearShare allows you to share, search, and download any type of file over the Internet or local area networks, as well as publishing your own content using its built-in web server.

Installation includes the Onflow Rich Media player, New.net Domain Names, and SaveNow from WhenU.com, Inc.

-------------------
2. Bundled Software
-------------------

This software is provided free of charge, requiring no payment from you whatsoever; In exchange, installed with BearShare are some small programs from other companies. Some bundled software allows you to view high quality advertisements, and some helps you save money when shopping on the web. We hope that this exchange is agreeable to you, it helps us produce free software! If not, we apologize for any inconvenience - you may uninstall the bundled software and use BearShare for free, as our guest, or you may uninstall BearShare entirely.

BearShare and the bundled software components are completely separate, and have their own uninstallers (through Add/Remove Programs). BearShare does not report information about you except as required to support the Gnutella protocol. Thank you for downloading and trying BearShare!

The Onflow Rich Media player allows web sites to display high quality animations if they want. This plug-in allows Onflow, our business partner, to calculate what sort of advertising contents you personally would be most interested in seeing on the sites that support it. This is of benefit to Onflow's advertising customers. Please support our free product by supporting Onflow! For more information about the plug-in and Rich Media, please visit http://www.onflow.com

The New.net plug-in allows you to see sites with all the new top level domains, such as .shop, .sport, .chat, .free, .mp3 and 15 more. New.net provides top level domain name resolution, as well as domain name registration services. Use of the New.net plug-in is governed by the Terms of Use, available at http://www.new.net/policies_terms.tp . For information about information collected by the New.net plug-in and its possible uses please visit these locations: http://www.new.net/policies_privacy.tp and http://www.new.net/policies_software.tp

------------------------------
3. BearShare License Agreement
------------------------------

By installing or running the program, you agree to be bound by the terms of this software license agreement. If you do not agree to the terms, do not install or use the software.

The BearShare installer, executables, documentation, and logo images ("Software") are provided to the End User for use only under the following terms. Free Peers, Inc. reserves any right not expressly granted to the End User. The End User owns the media on which their copy of the Software is stored, but Free Peers, Inc. retains ownership of all copies of the Software itself. The End User assumes sole resonsibility for the installation, use and results obtained from use of the Software.

1. License.
End User is granted a limited, non-exlcusive license to do only the following:

A. Install and maintain the software on one computer at any time.

B. Make one copy in machine-readable form solely for backup or archival purposes for the computer on which the Software is installed. The Software is protected by copyright law. As an express condition of this License, the End User must reproduce on the copy Free Peers, Inc. copyright notice and any other proprietary legends on the original copy supplied by Free Peers, Inc.

C. Transfer the Software and all rights under this License to another party together with a copy of this License and all written materials accompanying the Software, provided the other party reads and agrees to accept the terms and conditions of this License.

2. Restrictions.
The End User may NOT sublicense, assign, or distribute copies of the Software to others. The Software contains trade secrets. The End User may NOT decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, or otherwise reduce the Software to a human readable form. THE END USER MAY NOT MODIFY, ADAPT, TRANSLATE, RENT, LEASE, LOAN, RESELL FOR PROFIT, DISTRIBUTE, OR OTHERWISE ASSIGN OR TRANSFER THE SOFTWARE, OR CREATE DERIVATIVE WORKS BASED UPON THE SOFTWARE OR ANY PART THEREOF, EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY PROVIDED IN SECTION 1.C ABOVE

3. Protection and Security.
The End User agrees to use its best efforts and to take all reasonable steps to safeguard the Software to ensure that no unauthorized person shall have access thereto and that no unauthorized copy, publication, disclosure or distribution in whole or in part, in any form, shall be made. The End User acknowledges that the Software contains valuable confidential information and trade secrets and that unauthorized use and/or copying are harmful to Free Peers, Inc.

4. Termination.
This License is effective until terminated. This License will terminate immediately without notice from Free Peers, Inc. if the End User fails to comply with any of its provisions. Upon termination the End User must destroy the Software and all copies thereof, and the End User may terminate this License at any time by doing so.

5. Disclaimer of Warranties.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY FREE PEERS, INC. AND CONTRIBUTORS 'AS IS' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL FREE PEERS, INC. OR ITS CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

FREE PEERS, INC. HAS NO CONTROL OVER ANY INFORMATION OR DATA SENT OR RECEIVED ON ANY GNUTELLA NETWORK. FREE PEERS, INC. MAKES NO GUARANTEES AS TO SUCH DATA. END USER ACKNOWLEDGES THAT CONTENT OBTAINED THROUGH THE GNUTELLA FILE SHARING NETWORK IN NO WAY IMPLIES ENDORSEMENT OR LIABILITY BY FREE PEERS, INC. FREE PEERS, INC., ITS OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND AFFILIATIES SHALL NOT, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, BE LIABLE, IN ANY WAY, TO YOU OR ANY OTHER PERSON FOR THE DATA YOU RECEIVE USING THE SOFTWARE. BY USING THE SOFTWARE, END USER ACKNOWLEDGES THAT THEY TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR ACTIONS, AND FREE PEERS, INC. AND ITS CONTRIBUTORS MAY NOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY OF THEIR ACTIVITIES.

6. General.
This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof, and all prior proposals, agreements, representations, statements and undertakings are hereby expressly cancelled and superseded. This Agreement may not be changed or amended except by a written instrument executed by a duly authorized officer of Free Peers, Inc.

7. Acknowledgement.
BY INSTALLING THIS SOFTWARE OR USING IT, THE END-USER ACKNOWLEDGES THAT THEY HAVE READ THIS LICENSE, UNDERSTAND IT, AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY ITS TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

8. Copyright.
The trademarks BearShare, The Power To Share, Defender, FreePeers, and FreePeers Agent are Copyright(C) 2001 by Free Peers, Inc. all rights reserved worldwide, and may not be used without permission.

© 2000, 2001 Free Peers, Inc.

----------------------------
4. SAVENOW LICENSE AGREEMENT
----------------------------

LICENSE AGREEMENT

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS BEFORE DOWNLOADING, INSTALLING AND USING SAVENOW (THE "SOFTWARE") PROVIDED BY WHENU.COM, INC. ("WHENU.COM"). USE OF THE SOFTWARE IS SUBJECT TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SET FORTH IN THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT (THE "LICENSE AGREEMENT"). BY INSTALLING THE SOFTWARE YOU INDICATE YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SET FORTH HEREIN. WHENU.COM RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REVISE THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT AT ANY TIME.

Functionality

SaveNow shows users relevant contextual information and offers as they surf the Web. There are a vast number of great offers and services available throughout the Internet. In addition, we negotiate a number of exclusive offers to maximize value for our users. SaveNow's goal is to show users information about these offers and services - right at the moment when they need it. SaveNow's offers and information are provided to users by showing a limited number of relevant interstitials or "pop-up ads" when users visit various sites across the Internet. SaveNow's offers are delivered independently from the site the user happens to be visiting when he/she sees a SaveNow interstitial.

The License

The software is licensed to you for your personal, non-commercial use only. Other than the rights expressly granted to you hereunder, no other right is granted to you. Without limitation, you may not: (a) modify or create any derivative works of the software or documentation; (b) decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, or otherwise attempt to derive the source code for the software; or, without limitation, redistribute, sublicense, or otherwise transfer rights to the software.

Age Limitation

WhenU.com products and services are not available to individuals below the age of 13. By accepting this installation, you are representing that you are not a minor below the age of 13.

Disclaimer of Warranty

You expressly agree that the use of this software is at your own risk. The software is provided on an "As Is" basis, without warranty of any kind, including without limitation the warranties that it is free of defects and errors, fit for a particular purpose, or non-infringing. WhenU.com reserves the right to periodically update and/or upgrade the software at the company's discretion. Your installation of the software indicates your acceptance of potential future updates and/or upgrades to the software.

The information and services provided by the software and/or WhenU.com are similarly provided on an "As Is" basis, without warranty of any kind. The accuracy and reliability of any information content or services provided by the software and or WhenU.com should be independently verified by you as the user prior to making purchase decisions and or any other decisions based on such information content and services.

Privacy

By downloading SaveNow you give permission to SaveNow to display relevant contextual information and offers. In order to provide SaveNow users with such information, SaveNow delivers content based on the URL visited by the user and/or search terms entered by the user into a search engine. SaveNow protects users' privacy by determining on the client side whether or not to retrieve information from WhenU.com servers. Client-server communication takes place only on an as-needed basis, and SaveNow does NOT transmit a full history of URLS visited by the user to the WhenU.com servers. WhenU.com does NOT assemble personally-identifiable profiles of SaveNow users and personally identifiable information is not required in order to use the SaveNow software. WhenU.com may update it's privacy policy and license agreement for SaveNow at any time at the discretion of the company.

Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, in no event will WhenU.com or its agents be liable for any damages arising from the use of or inability to use the software, including, without limitation, damages to users' systems and/or software and/or data, computer failure or malfunction, computer virus transmission, performance delays or communication failures, security breaches or any and all other damages or losses.