Hasta La Gadget!

Feb 25

AOL 9 Is Finally Labeled As Badware

This article was written on August 28, 2006 by CyberNet.

AOL Processes Still Running After Uninstall I think everyone knew this time would come but I am surprised it took so long. StopBadware.org is the one that is putting up the fight against AOL and they have a long list of reasons why AOL 9.0 (free version) shouldn’t be installed.

Here is their reasoning:

In our preliminary findings, we find that AOL 9.0 (free version) is currently badware because it installs additional software without telling the user, it forces the user to take certain actions, it adds various components to Internet Explorer and the taskbar without disclosure, it may automatically update without the user’s consent, and it fails to uninstall completely.
…
Installs additional software without disclosure (Deceptive installation)
Forces users to take an action (Interferes with computer use)
Adds AOL toolbar in Internet Explorer (Makes changes to other software without disclosure)
Adds additional icons to default Internet Explorer toolbar (Makes changes to other software without disclosure)
Adds to “Favorites” in Internet Explorer (Modifies other software without disclosure)
Adds AOL Deskbar to the user’s taskbar (Modifies other software without disclosure)
Updates software automatically (Deceptive installation)
Fails to uninstall software completely (Unacceptable unistallation)

Pretty soon AOL will have to bribe PC manufacturers to permanently install their software by integrating a chip into the computer. Supposedly AOL has acknowledged that there is a “design flaw” in the uninstaller…obviously if it doesn’t uninstall! They make it sound like they didn’t know it did that.

Do you feel lucky? Then download AOL 9 and maybe you won’t have any problems.
News Source: PC World