Still reeling from its customer search privacy scandal, internet service provider America Online (AOL) once again finds its reputation under attack, this time having its client software labelled badware by a non-profit group backed by prominent names in IT and education.

The AOL 9.0 free client software provided to AOL users has been labelled badware by StopBadware.org, an organization supported by Harvard and Oxford universities, as well as Google, Sun and Lenovo.

According to StopBadware.org, which describes itself as an internet neighborhood watch campaign, the free version of AOL 9.0 has earned the badware title because: it installs additional software without telling the user; it forces the user to take certain actions; it adds various components to Internet Explorer and the taskbar without disclosure; it may automatically update without the user's consent; and it fails to uninstall completely.

Read More -> AOHell

___________________________

Cheers from your intrepid webreporter

LOL @ the title Senuty.

I've known this for awhile and all is true :D