Fergie's Tech Blog

Microsoft Defends Claria Adware Changes

Gregg Keizer writes in TechWeb News:

Microsoft late Friday responded to criticism that it's gone soft on spyware by issuing an open letter to customers explaining why it changed how its anti-spyware software handles adware from Claria, a pervasive brand of adware.

A Microsoft spokesperson also said that talk of a link between the Claria changes and rumors of ongoing acquisition talks between Microsoft and the Redwood City, Calif.-based Internet marketing company were "a misconception that needed to be cleared up."

"This week we received some questions around Microsoft's classification of Claria software in our Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware (Beta). We wanted to take this opportunity to explain our current policies and practices," begins Microsoft's response to the criticism.

"Absolutely no exceptions were made for Claria," the letter said.

It also outlined Microsoft's rationale for changing the default recommendation of four Claria applications -- Dashbar, Gator, PrecisionTime, and Weatherscope -- saying that published criteria for defining spyware and adware required it to review how AntiSpyware treated the quartet.

posted by Fergie @ 7/09/2005 08:02:00 AM