What about that privacy thing

shotgun

I noticed that practically every software that i install, be it a text editor or a (single player) game or what not, the application almost always attempts to connect to a remote system. if it werent for my firewall, i'd have never known.
now since i always block it - the connection isnt required to run the application, there is something behind it. am i paranoid?

i just think its disrespectful.

did anyone else ever notice this?

JKMakowka

Become free from hassels like that and install only free software (like Linux), because that is part of the freedom that free Software (in the 'free as in freedom' sense) gives you

And I absolutly agree, it is disrespectful.

rooster

I think a lot of them are probably just checking for updates though. Just because a program is trying to access the net doesnt mean it's sending someone everything you do, although I reckon you ought to be notified by any program that wants to try. So I agree with your sentiment man, shouldn't need a firewall to tell a program to mind it's own damn buisness.

jzero

Partially as a result of massive outsourcing overseas, the main growth industry in the service sector in the US now is Counter-Privacy Monitoring Services. This sector will soon employ millions of people in full-time jobs, monitoring what other people do on their private computers, digital cable, TiVo, satellite TV, networked game consoles and other 'connected media'. The information-gathering field is a burgeoning growth industry as private companies speculate on what future government legislation will require the use of massive databases of formerly private information. They are busy collecting data now, instead of waiting for future laws which may, for example, outlaw pornography or videogames. As soon as the US Government decides to arrest and imprison pretty much everybody, the CPMS industry plans to get stinking rich selling them the information about who's guilty.

In the next twenty years, it's likely that almost fifty percent of the US population will be incarcerated indefinitely, with another thirty percent employed to contain them in the vast US Prison Network. The other twenty percent will be employed by the US Government.

/jzero

Sett

I have zone alarm on mine and I catch all types of apps. that try to access the net. Apps that no reason at all trying to use my bandwith.

Some that tried:
3dmax
Zbrush
WOT Greal (uscript editor)
Every popcap game hmmm...
Most games now try
Windows explorer (not the browser the file app)

sledgy

They'll never outlaw porn. There are too many legislators that either jerk off to it, or make money off it.

moose

zbrush's serial info is stored on a server, similar to how Right Hemisphere handles their licencing.

so if you want to install it on another machine, or have to reinstall it after a HD loss/reformat, you have to call them up (not pixelogic, but another outsourced company), request them to release your key, and reactivate. fun.

KDR_11k

Shit, Zone Alarm itself phones home!

jzero: And we've always been at war with Oceania.

Michael Knubben

kdr: ahahaha. lovely.

i agree though, you should have to tell these programs to upgrade, they shouldn't do it silently in the background.

rooster

max needs access for mental ray to work, never understood why really. It seems legit though..

KDR_11k

It seems legit though

Why? There's no reason for that unless it renders everything on a remote system. Same as there is no reason for HL2 to phone home. At least none I care about.

shotgun

yup, some of the more suspicious app ive caught in action was
open office, which is reputably free open source. its a text editor for god sake..

the thing is, none of us ever really read the license agreement, innit?

JKMakowka

[ QUOTE ]
yup, some of the more suspicious app ive caught in action was
open office, which is reputably free open source. its a text editor for god sake..

the thing is, none of us ever really read the license agreement, innit?

[/ QUOTE ]

Of course you are right, simply beeing open-source doesn't prevent such things (exspecially when it comes from a company like SUN, which isn't exactly true to the 'open-source spirit').

But you (or at least someone on the internet with coding experience, you trust more than those big companies) can look up the corresponding code, figure out what it does exactly and remove it