As you may have read, kazaa have bundled cydoor with its popular internet file sharing client ; well heres the low down on what it really is. Thanks oqwarrior for sending it in.
Q: Is Cydoor spyware or adware?
A: Cydoor is adware, NOT spyware:
Grokster must earn enough to pay for its development, licensing, servering, bandwidth, support, management and last, but not least, the RIAA and MPAA lawsuits. This adds up to quite a substantial sum each and every month.
We have tried many solutions up to now to develop revenue from the advertising window. Most did not result in even enough revenue to pay for a server monthly, while another resulted in a massive amount of unapproved popups (everyone remember the "bouncing monkeys"). The only solution that was left was Cydoor, as they have figured out how to effectively sell that advertising slot for P2P programs like Grokster.
You agreed to the Cydoor being there when you agreed to the terms and conditions in the current download. It was right at the top, where it could be seen without scrolling down into the other terms and conditions. We put it there to be as visible as possible. To quote:
"The software program you are about to install is an "adware" program, meaning that we have partnered with Cydoor Technologies to deliver small ads to the lower left corner of the main window of the application, in order for Grokster to bring targeted advertising to you. These ads will display web content such as banner ads, e-commerce offers, news headlines and other value-added content. Cydoor Technologies created this technology, and provides it to software developers to implement in software programs. In turn, software developers choose to display ads so that you can enjoy their products for FREE, and they can still earn revenue from advertising.
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