Guardian interviews Patchou and other programmers about adware
on Fri 30 Jan 2009 (18:48 GMT) (1599 views)
Patchou created controversy some years ago when he was awarded a Microsoft Most Valued Professional (MVP) award for his contribution to MSN Messenger. However, it was soon revoked when Microsoft community members continuously highlighted the optional adware program included in his add-on. The capitalist approach to creating software has raised debate, and the article looks deep into the issue. The author then gets the opinions of similar programmers, including the creators of Stuffplug and MessengerDiscovery Live.
But this is a man who has also outraged millions. His sin? A Faustian pact with dark forces responsible for distributing adware, those pop-up windows that torture PC users the world over. Messenger Plus! Live comes bundled with a "sponsor's program", which the unwary install unwittingly on their machines. They are then subjected to messages urging them to buy insurance, take out credit cards, play poker or download ringtones. To his opponents this breaks a sacred code of geek ethics and the two sides engage in furious online debates. Supporters say Patchou has provided a brilliant piece of software free to millions of people and the adware is harmless; critics call him "a scam artist making money off gullible young Live Messenger users".
Read the full article at the Guardian website (highly recommended)
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Just such a shame that people always forget that if one would read what they choose, they'd never have to blame the software developer for "install unwittingly [a sponsor program] on their machines." The install sponsor option isn't checked by default, the user has to choose "I agree" or "I disagree" to continue. If people would read further than the first 2 words, they'd never install the sponsor without knowing it.
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