Deceptive Software ISLAND

Last week, the Google Blog started soliciting comments on Google’s “Proposal to help fight deceptive Internet software.” The proposal is directed against spyware, adware and other annoying and/or dangerous practices often found in “free” programs. Google’s recommendations consist of basic standards of notification and behavior that vendors ought to implement when distributing software over the internet. I wholeheartedly agree.

I’d like to propose a rating system to help users identify dirty software.  It works like this:

Each program is given a score of “0” to “5” in six categories of annoying or deceptive practices.  A score of “0” in any category means that the program does not engage in the practice at all, a score of “1” indicates fairly benign activity, while “5” connotes significant perfidy.  To help you remember the six categories, I consulted the Internet Anagram Server and realized that they spell ISLAND.  Here are the six categories along with what installers would say in an honest world:

In the Walls
This software installs uninvited guests which will scurry around your system's innards to be only occasionally glimpsed when a program crashes or you move a window suddenly out of the way.
(1 = Installs a discreet shortcut for a helpful utility or company catalog in the main software's program menu.  5 = Installs multiple, unrelated programs that hook into the registry, run in the background, and are difficult to uninstall.)

Spy
This program watches your actions and sends them back to the mother ship.  It's just our way of looking out for you.
(1 = Actions directly related to software operations are anonymized, kept in aggregate form only and never shared with third parties.  5 = Wide ranging data, including personal information, is collected, linked to your identity and sold to third parties.)

Limited
We've removed some features from this free version of the software, so you won't get to where you want to go without buying the full version.  Don't think about this until you've already put in half the driving time.
(1 = Some advanced features, which only power-users would need have been eliminated.  5 = Fundamental features, such as the ability to save your work, are missing.)

Advertising
This software will display advertisements on your screen.  It may be "free", but you'll pay with your eyeballs and your attention span.
(1 = Displays a single, small, not-animated ad as part of the program UI.
5 = Pops up ads disguised to look like error messages in new windows all over the place with no indication of what's causing them.)

Nag
This free software will periodically nag you to spend money on the full commercial version.  If you were a good person, you'd send us money.
(1 = Discreet button in the UI that accepts a voluntary donation.  5 = Modal dialog box with an increasing delay that demands payment before you can continue with the program, eventually totally disabling  all use.)

All Your Default Are Belong To Us
We know that you've been too busy to get around to changing your homepage,  media player and download manager settings.  We'll take care of that for you.  You're welcome!
(1 = Program makes itself the default viewer for only the type of file its primarily meant to handle.  5 = Any settings that can be changed to make you see more of the vendor's products, will be changed.)

After scoring each category, the total points are added up, multiplied by three and subtracted from 100.  So the best possible score is 100 and a program that commits egregious acts in all ISLAND categories will score a 10.

For example, SpoofStick, which doesn’t have any ISLAND misfeatures, scores 100.

I’d guess that a fairly clean piece of shareware would come in at 94, and scores below 82 are pretty lousy.  Now all we need is for somebody to rate every single piece of Internet software and establish a trusted registry. 

Who's got free time next weekend?

[My friend Igor Rivilis recently wrote about his experience with software annoyances here.  I think there’s plenty of great free software out there, but the bad stuff seems to be getting out of hand.]