Rather alarming PCWorld article on Adware. Sample:
How do VCs explain giving money to companies who monitor users’ Web browsing habits? “Adware is here to stay,” says Venetia Kontogouris, a managing director at Trident Capital. “Privacy for the [Internet] consumer is a lost war.”
Outfits like SiteAdvisor are trying to fight back, but it’s an uphill battle: prevention requires effort, and people won’t even expend any effort to prevent tooth decay or type II diabetes . I’m not sure it’s a lost battle, but it’s not one I’m particularly confident about.
One more thing I learned from the article: If I want to start an ethically dubious software company (and the privacy statement at WhenU doesn’t reassure me any more than the logo-and-nothing-more at “next-generation online advertising network” Turn does), I know where to look for funding.
Secretly Ironic 