ABC == doubleclick

[|3lack|ce]

Being the avid fans of 'Extreme Makeover Home Edition' on ABC that we are, Mrs |ce and I decided to try out ABC's 'Enhanced TV' during the show tonight. On bringing up the site www.abc.com, we were instantly bombarded by cookie attempts, and spybot caught and halted the attempt to install doubleclick spyware onto my machine. I'm amazed that such a large corporation would willingly put their viewers at such risk.

Now I'm curious. Time to start surfing other big TV network sites...

[edit] removed the comma from the URL parse [/edit]

[zencoder]

Hmmm. Have you contacted them about this? I'd think a decent letter protesting the behavior, pointing out how unpopular spyware is and the proliferation of softwar to counter it would put them off enough to maybe stop. HAHAHAHahahahaha!

LMAO!!!! Oh, that was funny of me. Anyway.

[|3lack|ce]

I'm not foolish enough to believe that one hotly written email would put them off of hurting their viewership. I think posting about it in a very widely read IT Security forum would.

I mean really....I got YOU to read it didn't I?

[Spyrus]

And here i was thinking a large conglomerate of money makers would actually give a crap about security for their users, let alone their own network. We all know posting it here wont make a difference on the spyware problem you encountered. I seriously doubt if AO even could put together an organization of ppl to all send letters to corporations that they still wouldnt do anything.

[noahsarc]

Why not send emails to ABC's competitors....

FOX or UPN would make a whole reality series out of it.

CBS would find documents proving it was a plot.

and NBC would probably both say it's irresponsible and add it to their own enhanced viewing webpages.

But seriously, notifying competitors is an option.

[zencoder]

Originally posted here by |3lack|ce
I'm not foolish enough to believe that one hotly written email would put them off of hurting their viewership. I think posting about it in a very widely read IT Security forum would.

I mean really....I got YOU to read it didn't I?

:BIG GRIN:, Touche, and Well Played!

Ok, so you are right...one email will almost certainly do nothing. I guess I meant the idea that, if enough folks made the point (and don't look to me to form a grassroots movement) that this is considered bad form and could reflect negatively on them, they might just get a clue...

Ok, back to reality. Here's the real solution (if there is one.) Stop using ABC. Stop watching, stop buying items from related companies, etc. Tell people you know why...I'm not saying become the next messiah for The WB or anything, just tell folks "sorry, I don't (do/watch/listen to/use) that" and then explain why. How realistic is this? Not very. But it's an attitude I've taken for a long time with these types of issues. Does it work? Who knows. Maybe. Maybe not. Probably more than I think, but less than I would hope. But it allows me a minor mental victory in my cynical view towards the world.

I stopped going to 7-11 for a few years because of some problems I had with a point-of-sale and the ineptness of an employee. When I brought it to the manager, I found he was the missing link anthropologists have been searching for these last decades, and was about as helpful as the ass who caused the whole problem. Did it impact 7-11? Probably not. But it's a personal thing. I do everything I can to avoid business with a large multinational bank whose name I won't mention, just because of their practices with offering first time lendee's lines of credit at department stores, and the difficulty it caused me for a few years.

ABC likes spyware? Too bad for them. I don't watch that much ABC anyway, and there's always syndication...

[ams2d]

Nah I would think CBS would make it into a CSI show ... CSI:AO.

Then NBC would make it into a Law and Order show ... Law and Order:SIU (Spyware Internet Unit)

[Iron-Kurton]

This actually brings up some other interesting points. From the way I understand it (and believe me, my understanding is very limited), cable companies themselves have "spyware" in your cable box -- that is, they're able to tell what show you're watching, for how long, and now in the digital cable era, which channels you attempt to change to (that you might not have). It seems only a natural extension that they start doing the same on the web.

Sometimes, it's amazing to me how people will give up their privacy for some convenience... But, evidently and fortunately, computer users are getting a bit more educated about spyware/adware/etc, and are a bit more reluctant to give up privacy on the computer medium...

[|3lack|ce]

Agreed. Word of mouth does much good...

By the way I spent some of my remaining time last night up surfing other broadcast networks...

NBC.com had no spyware, but a lot of cookies from specificclick.

CBS.com had no cookies and no spyware at all!

Fox.com had a couple cookies from fox.com and no spyware.

Foxnews.com had cookies from nexttag and specificclick but no spyware.

MSNBC.com had cookies from atdmt and tried to install Avenue A, Inc. spyware.

ESPN.com had cookies from amdmt and no spyware. Amazing thing this, Disney owns both them and ABC.

Disney.go.com had no cookies and no spyware! What a mind-boggling thing!

CNN.com had atdmt cookies and tried to install Avenue A, Inc. spyware.

ComedyCentral.com had a lot of cookies from itself, and from ifc.mtvi.com.

So let's see, in retrospect -

new shows airing this spring:

NBC - Law and Order, Special Cookie Unit

CBS - CSI AO, and the one I'll watch and surf, plus a special news report on the great cookie scandal of 2005, accompanied by an edition of 60 minutes containing a one hour apology.

ABC - Extreme Makeover, website edition.

Fox - Who's your programmer?

Foxnews - will lie to you about everyone else's site, but won't about it's own.

ESPN - LIVE! Coverage of the great spyware hunt of 2005!

Comedy Central - a special Southpark episode making fun of everyone in general. No wait, they already do that, which is why I watch it!

Salut!