Messenger Plus!, the add on for MSN Messenger was updated on the 23rd of May. The official word from Patchou (the programs author) was that the updated program contained a sponsorship program. The reason, to generate revenue for the team to cover the vast costs of such a project. However this simple enough add-on which is optional has met the wrath of many of its users.
The Official Messenger Plus! forums has grown into a mass debate over whether or not the program contains "spyware" or "adware". SpywareInfo (a site dedicated to support for spyware applications) has also announced that Messenger Plus! has been bundled with software known as lop.com (Live Online Portal). Lop.com is owned by C2Media who created this software as a simple pay-per-click search portal. The installer turns a user's default web browser into a browser with endless supplies to links to lop.com. For more information on lop.com's software see here. Although this software is optional, the average user installing Messenger Plus! because their friend "said so" will miss the sponsor program as by default it's ticked to install. According to Patchou un-installing Messenger Plus! will remove the adverts but SpwareInfo offer extra help if required.
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Screenshot: New Messenger Plus! installer
View: Spywareinfo.com
The Official Messenger Plus! forums has grown into a mass debate over whether or not the program contains "spyware" or "adware". SpywareInfo (a site dedicated to support for spyware applications) has also announced that Messenger Plus! has been bundled with software known as lop.com (Live Online Portal). Lop.com is owned by C2Media who created this software as a simple pay-per-click search portal. The installer turns a user's default web browser into a browser with endless supplies to links to lop.com. For more information on lop.com's software see here. Although this software is optional, the average user installing Messenger Plus! because their friend "said so" will miss the sponsor program as by default it's ticked to install. According to Patchou un-installing Messenger Plus! will remove the adverts but SpwareInfo offer extra help if required.
Read more...
Screenshot: New Messenger Plus! installer View: Spywareinfo.com
The official word from Patchou is as follows:
"I don't want to be rude but if you boycot version 2.10.36, you're an idiot."
SpywareInfo recommends that users boycott the software and stay as far away from Patchou's Messenger Plus! as possible. I feel that advice is a little over the top considering the sponsor program is optional. Only users of Windows 98/2000 or those with Windows Messenger 5/MSN Messenger 5 are currently installing the latest plus!. For those seeking to use MSN Messenger 6 on Windows XP, the software is incompatible at the moment. Maybe once Patchou and his team have updated this we'll hear even more complaints about the sponsorship program. Who knows.
I trust PATCHOU and I know he'll never give me SPYWAREz, it can be a mistake (on PATCHOU's side and if it is he will fix it :p)
Also, Messenger Helper, is a better addon than Messenger Plus ever was.
Facing reality and realising stuff costs money is one thing, but scamming your target audience is different and IMO something Patchou hasn't done. If people install this app without first checking what they are installing (just by reading and using your eyes) then they deserve to have crap loaded on their systems.
very good
Anyway, my calling him a punk was some pent up rage about him whining about MSN Messenger 6. Rather than understand the new API, he just went off on Microsoft. A little later after he wised up, he had to recant his words. I just think he's a whiny programmer. He made a cool little app, but it isn't all that and certainly isn't worth the godlike status that his forum members give him.
I wonder if people realise most popular stuff (like Neowin) also cost "vast amounts" to keep online. Patchou may have gotten greedy I don't know, but I do know that the cost to be able to download MSN Plus! is something even Neowin could not afford. and thats without the time he dedicates to programming it, answering everyones questions and maintaining a site.
Don't be harsh on him ffs these things aren't free, people forget that. It is still freeware and it remains a grand piece of software. People can also stick with 2.10.35 so whats the deal?
If he cant pay for it and it was down they wouldn't like it...so, either way people will dislike it... :/
Urh...
Messenger Plus is being tested with MSN6, compatibility is already done (private testing phase currently). patchou is now working on adding new features to plus for the upcoming 2.5 release.
howver i'm sure patchou could just cut costs, most of the tech type irc networks will prolly have people who will host it and i'm sure alot of people would give up some bandwith for allowing it to be downlaoded.
I however took down my mirror, because I will not support spyware, no matter what the excuses are. I even tested the spyware for myself.
The spyware in question kept prompting me to install other software, it had a toolbar, redirected all my home/search pages and google.com to lop.com, not to mention all the porn links everywhere. I followed a few links, and I can assure you that EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM was a SCAM. There was a thing called "Kazaa Gold" which is a pay rip-off of kazaa lite. One of the "fast diplomas" things attempted to hijack outlook express to get my email address (it is possible) and one of those work from home sites had this logo on the left that said "safe business approved organisation" or something, that quite obviously i have never heard of because it doesn't exist, and it even listed a bunch of scams, eg. the nigerian colonial scam, to try and get you on thier side. A few other sites contained the VeriSign logo, that only linked to www.verisign.com, instead of the "click to verify" thing. And a few others prompted to run unsigned activex components.
Another thing to mention to is that Patchou chose such bad timing for this, because at the same time he's going "oh i need moral support to make an msn6 compatable version". But as far as I'm concerned, he doesn't need moral support since I'm not going to use his msn6 version anyway because of the spyware (besides, msn6 has chat logging)
Oh, and I can also say that it was the cost of living that made him go spyware (he gave up his job to develop plus 24/7), but noneoftheless, spyware is the lowest form to make money.
Or are these numbers made up?
Actually, I have converted a lot of my friends that were using MSN to switch to Trillian as their IM client. Yeah, it dosen't have all the bells and whistles of the others, but it does allow you to connect to all the chat clients with ONE program. A feature that everyone seems to like. Keeping track of ONE client on the desktop instead of several
You only have yourselves to blame.
It's not as though he was hiding it..It's on the news on the frontpage..
ffs...give the guy a break.
or he releases a version wich is free of adds but cost u something
--configure
Last edited by 52 on 10 Jun 2003 - 11:25
mess.be
There are only so many words I can draw out of my vocabulary to say how awful it is.
Patchou should take the effort to clearly re-enforce what is being installed... loop.com
The dialogue should follow the standard format users expect when information of importance is displayed. The question mark or yellow caution box icon are one way of denoting important information. Another would be halting the install process until user action is taken, An agree button for instance.
A small check box which installs spy-ware by 'default' is not sufficient.
If Patchou is worried Messenger Plus! users wont make the effort to specifically install the junker add ons then he should contemplate other advertising streams.
Further more, Patchou doesn't have to keep coding Messenger Plus. There is no gun pointed at his head. He made the choice to expose Messenger Plus to a wide range of users. If he finds Messenger Plus that stressful and financially un-fulfilling, he should drop it and get a job at Macy's.
Likewise You don't have to accept the installation of the Sponsor software. There aint no gun pointed to your head either.
Who do you work for? KaZaA?
It's not, its 100% clean if you uncheck the box
I like them a lot better than Messenger Plus. Since I didn't find any of their features (Helper or Plus) useful other than logging, though, MSN Messenger 6 does everything I need. On the MSN 6 subject, check out http://www.lparky.com/beta/MSNMessenger6/Default.aspx There's a link to modify v6's log to display links and emoticons.
Do you have something in there? Think. It's O P T I O N A L.
READ before you sign... it will save you lot of trouble during your offline life...
P.S. I didnt install it deliberately I seam to remember it was only a few weeks before I moved to Mozilla.
Last edited by 24235 on 09 Jun 2003 - 18:22
Go to http://lop.com/new_uninstall.exe
Sort of
Nah, really. He serves lots of bandwidth per month, he receives thousands of visits per day to his site (135,000 uniques approx.), he is unemployed and he has to eat. Any other question?
Would you like to be working for free? Go then, learn C++ and make me a program.
IT'S OPTIONAL!... uncheck the box and install!....
I think this is the danger with freeware projects, when they become overly successful, and expensive to maintain, it's easy to include adware/spyware or go shareware.
I'm just glad there is OpenSource as well.
Allot of users who don't pay attention to the install, because they are used to installing prior versions Messenger Plus, click through the dialogues.
Patchou has a certain level of trust from Messenger Plus users. They don't expect to have to monitor the install for a vicious trojan. Patchou picked the wrong sponsor.
If you did install the Messenger Plus sponsor, it takes a system restore or system reinstall in order to get rid of the spy-ware.
If people had to specifically check the box to install the sponsor then there wouldn't be an issue because nobody would be willingly choosing to install LOP spyware.
Everyone who's telling people not to check the box is retarded. People should be UNCHECKING the box.
It's only an issue if you didn't uncheck it.
Duh!
Is Patchou to blame? Hell no. He deserves to pay his bills as much as the next guy... maybe more!
But the interface IS a poor design because it comes disguised as the usual "just-click-yes-or-don't-bother-installing" dialogue that we usually see with every other application out there. It's designed to prey upon our innate inattentiveness.
Yes, technically, we should always read the fine print. But seriously, do you? Everytime?
Also, when I installed MP!2 I did briefly read the message, and thought "hell, why not accept the sponsor? He deserves some coin for his efforts." Little did I know I'd get crap like images getting blocked and other nasty side effects. This LOP crap really sucks. It's not just a "sponsor" in an innocent sense of the word. It's like introducing your grandma to Larry Flynt. Leaves a very bad after taste.
I trust Patchou, and don't think for a moment that he tried to pull one over on anyone. I doubt he even really realized what he was getting into when he jumped in bed with C2Media. But now it's damage control time.
Patchou, more power to ya man, but please... PLEASE drop C2Media and get a legitimate, reputable sponsor!?
Yes, technically, we don't always read the fine print. But seriously, is it Patchou's fault?
If you won't even bother on reading the 2 lines of text that the dialog has on top, at least read the "YES, I AGREE, INSTALL THE SPONSOR" bit.