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Replying To:
It's not your computer anymore (none / 0) (#3)
by Reziac on Tue Jan 18, 2005 at 12:26:21 PM PDT

Hey, I need some of those readin' glasses ... :)

Akin to the NetZero terms, I believe it was Juno whose TOS for all practical purposes gave them ownership of your computer. You were required to run their distributed computing app whenever you weren't using your computer for something else, rather akin to applying your unused CPU cycles to SETI-at-home or distributed cancer research.

There are several problems with that, above and beyond "just whose computer IS this anyway??" What if the distributed computing is for something that you have an ethical gripe with? What if it is for something that is illegal in your locale and could get you into serious hot water?

As to NetZero's "can download whatever we wish to your computer" -- judging from the rest of their TOS, this probably means various species of adware and/or spyware, tho it could refer to a distributed computing app.

~REZ~



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