Simvation Spyware??

[Reap]

So how come Spybot is now blocking the download of 'Avenue A, Inc' every time I enter Simvation?

I have no idea what Avenue A, Inc is and maybe nothing sinister but if it is spyware then I dont like it or want it.

[RollerBall]

Reap, set Spybot to block in silent mode.

It isn't SimV who's top blame per se - it's the advertising banners. These banners are everywhere now - I've said many many times that personally I think they should be totally banned and any company responsible for downloading ANYTHING on anyone's PC without their express permission should be very heavily fined. Regrettably it just shows the ineptitude of our politicians. These banners are going way beyond simple 'passive' cookies.

[GWSimulations]

Reap, set Spybot to block in silent mode.

It isn't SimV who's top blame per se - it's the advertising banners. These banners are everywhere now - I've said many many times that personally I think they should be totally banned and any company responsible for downloading ANYTHING on anyone's PC without their express permission should be very heavily fined. Regrettably it just shows the ineptitude of our politicians. These banners are going way beyond simple 'passive' cookies.

I agree, also I think that it should be illegal to post things that do not relate to the product that they want to sell. They should be banned from posting ads such as "You have won a competition", "Congratulations, you are the 1,000,000th visitor to this website" (I'm sure that SimV's had more hits than that anyway!), or "You have xxx messages waiting for you".
They should also be banned from making ads look like error messages.

[Scottler]

Ugh, I agree with both Roller and Graham....its ridiculous isn't it?  (Although I'll admit, they seem to have gotten better about putting the word "advertisement" in the ads that look like error messages.  lol)

The problem is, as soon as any government steps in and tells these businesses what they can or can't do, it's opening a can of worms that can really get messy.

It's a tough situation on both sides....sad, really.  They shouldn't HAVE to have that type of intervention....

[Reap]

Thanks
Spybot only just started flagging this up today, never had it before even though Spybot is not in silent mode. I think it maybe because I disabled Norton for a short while and forgot to re-enable it. At least thats the only reason I can think of.

Cheers
Reap

[Tom_M]

I'm using Firefox with Adblock and a custom HOSTS file (search NoAd HOSTS in Google) and I see no ads here, lucky me :p

[ozzy72]

There shouldn't be any trouble with Spyware here, however once in a while one of the service providers ads contains a nasty but is quickly resolved. And frankly if your defensive software is running okay...

[GunnerMan]

Hmm wierd I see no ads on Simv, where they are supposed to be I just see the regular site color. No popup blockers, spyware utills off, nothing going, SP2 must be doing it I like service pack 2 because it askes to install active X and dl things. And all the IT guys hate SP2 guess it just makes their job that much easyer