Coastal Capital Acquisition Corp (CCAJ)

[monkeybiz]

Somewhat relevant DD, what the heck there's not much to post about lately:

June 18, 2005
Spyware slime bag uses Flash to silently restore your deleted cookies.
I have no objection to the responsible and ethical use of Cookies. I also have no objection with those users who wish to delete Cookies from their system. Unfortunately, the latest slime bag to crawl out from under a rock thinks it's permissible to silently restore your deleted cookies. Some Networks and Publishers are already using this technique. Fortunately, Macromedia has provided a means to secure your Flash installation and prevent this.

Meet the latest abuser

"The New York company on Thursday unveiled what it calls PIE, or persistent identification element, a technology that's uploaded to a browser and restores deleted cookies. In addition, PIE, which can't be easily removed, can also act as a cookie backup, since it contains the same information."

Source

"According to United Virtualities, a persistent identification element is a Flash object that a bit of JavaScript can tag to the browser of a visitor to a PIE-enabled website in order to restore deleted cookies and act as a cookie backup."

"Mookie Tanembaum, founder and CEO of United Virtualities, justifies his company's technology by suggesting that he's simply trying to help out consumers who are too stupid to know what they want to control: "The user is not proficient enough in technology to know if the cookie is good or bad, or how it works," he is reported to have said. He also said, apparently with a straight-face, that he discourages the abuse of PIE technology to thwart the end-user: "We believe people should use this technology responsibly. If people don't want cookies in place, then (their browsers) shouldn't be tagged." Uh-huh...I'm not sure who he thinks his market is. The company charges marketers $.03 per 1000 impressions (CPM) for use of its "platform".


Source - Copy and paste this link into a new Browser window:

http://www.webpronews.com/it/security/wpn-23-20050603CookiesandPIEAnIntroductiontoFlashSecurity.html

Dear Mookie,

Exactly who are your kidding! Nothing on planet Earth or Mars justifies changing anything on a users system without their explicit permission which is easy to read, short, full of details and displays before any action is taken and requires a check box selection. In this respect your technology is Spyware and since you are located in New York, I've saved you some grief and notified AG Elliot Spitzer.

Mookie, do you know who AG Elliot Spitzer is? Ask Intermix Media who recently agreed to pay 7.5 MILLION to the state of New York for "silent" Spyware installs just like your silent technology. Unfortunately Mookie, I haven't found out which Networks and Publishers are using your new Spyware technology but I promise to find out and then file complaints with AG Elliot Spitzer.

Mookie, welcome to the Spyware club! I'm sure it will enhance your firms image. Don't forget to write me and tell me what other kinds of subversion and data manipulation you plan to do without the users knowledge, let alone their permission.

The FIX for Flash

This data is nearly impossible to find on the Macromedia site. I wonder why? How about a more prominent location so you aren't dragged through the mud as an enabler. Click here and use the Macromedia Settings Manager to secure your Flash install. I set my options to "Ask First" and deleted every site which has already used some aspect of the Flash player for any purpose. I suggest you also Bookmark the Macromedia Settings Manager page and tell all your friends to immediately secure their Flash installation.