January 26, 2006
Putting A Stop To Spyware
There is a new initiative aimed at combating the growing problem of spyware and other deceptive software. It is called StopBadware.org. This project is led by Harvard’s Berkman Center and the Oxford Internet Institute to independently evaluate downloadable applications, publish objective information for consumers, and provide an easy web-based way for users to describe problems they've encountered. Consumer Reports WebWatch is serving as an unpaid advisor to the effort. Google, along with Sun Microsystems and Lenovo, are co-sponsors.
According to the description on the stopbadware.org site, StopBadware.org is a "Neighborhood Watch" campaign aimed at fighting badware. We will seek to provide reliable, objective information about downloadable applications in order to help consumers make better choices about what they download onto their computers. We aim to become a central clearinghouse for research on badware and the bad actors who spread it, and become a focal point for developing collaborative, community-minded approaches to stopping badware.
Posted by rsk at January 26, 2006 12:35 PM