posted June 29, 2004 10:25 AM           

That's right, a spyware klooj. If you uninstall the software, it eliminates your internet connection.

My daughter wanted to hear Britney Spears and so she pressed "YES" when I wasn't home.

(Yes, I have Norton antivirus installed. Yes, I have Adaware. Yes, I keep myself behind a firewall and have the appropriate parental controls in place.)

That's how I caught this excellent example of rotten software design from ShopAtHomeSelect, a division of the Belcaro group.
Supposedly, it's a legitimate company, right here in Colorado which feels that installing a program which hijacks and/or destroys a person's internet connection is ok since (in the words of one Customer Service rep at the company) "show me a law that says we can't." (She said this just before hanging up on me.)

That's right, I called them. They offered to email me the instructions for eliminating their spyware. I asked them how exactly I was going to get an email since I didn't have an internet connection. Then they offered to send me a diskette. I explained to them that I wasn't really comfortable with the idea of giving out my personal information to a company that trashes people's computers because there's "no law that says we can't."

In the end, I had to do a clean install of the operating system to bring it back online.

This company has karma headed its way, of that there is no doubt. There ARE laws against putting destructive software on people's computers.

Here is the company information, just so you know who you're doing business with, in case you ever have occasion to do business with these people.

Belcaro Group Inc.
7100 East Belleview Avenue, #305
Greenwood Village, CO 80111

Phone: 303-843-0302 Fax: 303-843-0377

Email:
sales@BelcaroGroup.com (apparently these guys figure "anything for a prospect" describes ethical business practices)

privacy@BelcaroGroup.com (the "ignore you" address)

HR1@BelcaroGroup.com (Human Resources...who HIRED these people anyhow?)

URL: http://www.shopathomeselect.com/

posted June 29, 2004 01:17 PM         

The amount of protection software you have to run just to access the internet safely is sickening. I use Adaware, Alertwall (firewall), and AdsGone (for my laptop). I have CrazyBrowser on my PC, and it works well for pop-ups.

I hate having to reformat because of these pesky software companies. Good for you for calling them up. I don't think I would have been comfortable giving them my mailing information either. Can you imagine the amount of SPAM snail mail they could send?! LOL ... picturing my mailbox overflowing with junk mail... hehe Not to mention who else they may have sold it to. Good lookin' out, Daf!

posted June 29, 2004 06:36 PM         

LibraSparkle... that.. that... LIST?!??!

I shed a tear for your poor overburdened computers!

There are better ways, my friends. I run NO protection software. I get NO viruses. I can show you how to do this, too!