A Revolution is the Solution
As usual, it was technically shallow, but we expect that from TV, right? Otherwise it seemed to recommend parents go and and get one of these programs. In one case, the parents caught an adult trying to groom a 13-yr-old girl for trysting. The only relation it bears to spyware is from critics' mouths.
Thanks - so its calling stuff like netnanny etc "spyware"? That's what intrigued me, as it seemed to suggest this from the blurb. Looks like we're going to give this one something between a suck and a semi-suck at this rate!
You can tell straight away it was an american news coverage ^^.
They where really just throwing things from left and right into the coverage without real content other than that the childguard software can be helpfull and said your two mentioned Programs where just some to mention from the choices parents where given.
The spyware part really was just one sentence, saying that there are people out there using antispyware software to actually retrieve personal data! Now whats that got to do with the actual topic? There was no phrasing of them to actually make it fit into the report...Mhhm this just once again showed the great news coverage of american tv. Prefer BBC or German news 
rgds,
Hi, just realised that I could save the vid with QT Pro. So if you want it as a vid without need of plugins, its size is abot 6 MBs. Just let me know and I ll email it to you.
rgds,
that seems to be typical american news coverage, hi on panic factor
low on content all i can say really is that if netnanny and cybersitter are spyware what do that make IGEAR
ok just rewatched it and it confuses spyware with legal Monitorware yes i agree netnanny and cybersitter monitor keystrokes but do that make them spyware , me thinks someone is confused
It seems like a growing trend to mix malicious spyware with legitimate monitoring technologies. Which is particularly troublesome to companies that specialize in the latter. We blogged about it when a VC confused the terms in a particularly careless manner.
http://waterloosystems.net/news/?p=97
http://avc.blogs.com/a_vc/2006/
0...g_on_mysel.html
Yes, it most certainly is the typical brain-dead US style reporting. I get better coverage of US politics from Telegraph than anything locally produced by the majors. OTOH, I read an awful lot of indie coverage, too, from all sides. They couldn't be bothered in the little video to clarify the parallels were merely superficial between spyware and nannyware.
Actually, by the STRICTEST definition of spyware, Netnanny and Cybersitter qualify.
Why?
Because they keep logs of what goes on in the computer, WITHOUT the knowledge of the computer user. Whether the computer user is your 12 year old daughter, or yourself, it's still spyware if anyone using the computer doesn't know it's there.
Well, just wait 'til someone comes along and claims NetNanny is violating the child's civil rights. Don't laugh, it could happen. And some laywer in the US would take the case, too.
If you've seen the ads for a lot of these programs you know that many of them are hyped for their ability to spy on people. "See what your husband is doing online", "Find out who your girlfreind is REALLY talking to", etc.
It's no stretch to call them spyware, in fact I think I saw the term used on them before it got its current meaning.
Suzi, I've already seen that claim "on behalf of children's privacy" for some time. It hasn't caught on just yet, but it's much louder than it was five years ago. It parallels other claims for children's rights against their own parents, but this is not the place to discuss that.
Screw quicktime. Use Quicktime Alternative instead. Freeware and latches on to your ancient media player classic, and gives it a new lease of life by letting it decode and play QT files, all without bundling any bloat (QT bundles ITunes these days).
You can even hook it to firefox!
http://www.free-codecs.com/
downl...Alternative.htm
Also check out Real Alternative. Down with bundled phonehomeware.
One might call it spyware because its functionality is indeed to monitor one's child. I prefer the term "Child Protection Software". It really depends on your intent when using the software. When I was with Net Nanny (I'm the former Product Manager), we had a piece of software called Chat Monitor. Many people used it to check up on their kids - and it has the ability to operate in stealth mode. It's a great feeling when we’ve helped to put the cuffs on child predators. That said a percentage of sales went to users who wanted to check up on their cheating spouses – it is spyware. Should anti-spyware software detect and remove it? That’s a more interesting question. If /When it does, then Anti-Spyware sites will start to end up on Black Lists of child protection software so that kids won’t be able to circumvent the software. Hmm….
-K
so that kids won’t be able to circumvent the software
oh good luck i think they should start employing kids....
no matter how good the software some kid finds a way round it so good luck to all you child protection software makers you are going to need it
you work harder because the kids get smarter 
If it is installed without my knowledge and used to gather peronsal info then it is spyware.
LOL Netnanny. Aaahhh. I remember those days when i was young and my parents didn't want me looking at nudies on the net.
You know how long that stopped me? Bout five minutes....
But I guess it is spyware since it does spy on the user. That brings up the monitoring programs that companies use to see which employees are using th enet for work or which ones are using for porn. Thats spyware too then since it's peeking at me whilst i look at nudies at work. Yet no-one in my company complains.....
Child protection software...?
Sorry guys but if you can't take care of your children without the use of machines, you have no one but yourself to blame.
simple idea to solve the the problem
of kids viewing porn sites on the net ,disconnect the Computer open the nearest window throw Computer out of window problem solved
Or throw the kids out the window
Commenting by HaloScan
