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New Adware Spams Instant Messenger Buddies
from the fun-for-the-whole-family dept
The ongoing saga of adware companies sneaking in annoying terms of service clauses where you (because you, like everyone else, didn't read the terms of service) agree to let them spam everyone you know, has now expanded to instant messaging technologies. Last night, I received an IM from an acquaintance who is on my AIM buddy list, apologizing if I had received an IM from him with a link to some game (I hadn't). I didn't think much of it, but today reports are appearing that it's the latest adware trick. Some company is offering a silly downloadable game, but hidden in the terms of service is the fact that they're going to IM everyone in your buddy list with a link to the game as well, and continue on the annoying process. AOL is apparently unhappy that someone other than themselves is using AIM for annoying advertisements, and are saying they may take legal action against the company.
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We spent all day at work basically cleaning this off of people's computers - except it game from a site different than the one referenced in the article (ours was buddylinks.net --**Don't download stuff from here**)
What a pain in the ass
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aol viruses
that happened to a bunch of people in my area. except instead of installing adware, it completely crashed their computers instead. i don't know if it's the same thing but it really sounds like it.
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