Sandi's Site
I was forced to remove Google Ads from this page because far too many 'betrayware' (fake antispyware) products were being advertised and it was becoming well nigh impossible to keep the bad guys out of the ads. Therefore, there is only a donation link in the menu above. If you see any pages where such malware is being advertised by Google Ads on other pages, please send me screenshots so I can do what I can to exclude them.
All graphics are thumbnails that when clicked will open full size versions of the pictures.
DO NOT install the 'Sponsor Program' before
reading the information at this link (information updated 1 November 2004)
The ties that bind -
Messenger Plus, Secure Software Inc and C2Media
The implications of installing the
Sponsor Program (updated 1 November 2004)
My first installation experience
Malware being
advertised at the Msgplus forums
Is Messenger Plus Spyware?
Adware installed with Messenger Plus!
Messenger Plus!, if installed to include the 'sponsor program', will install adware on your computer that generates pop up windows. The Sponsor Program will also change your home page, your search engine settings, place numerous links in IE favorites (including online casino and gambling links) and place more links on your desktop. The search toolbar that is installed cannot be turned off. The pop up advertising windows will appear even if you are running IE's pop-up blocker. This is because the Sponsor Program adds its advertisement URLs to the pop-up blocker exclusion list. Also, (copied from EULA):
"Upon Installation of the Software and the Accessory Toolbar, any other toolbars currently visible will be deactivated, but may be manually reactivated, such as through the view menu of your web browser." (According to the EULA this Feature is currently removed - see DO NOT install the 'Sponsor Program' before reading the information at this link)
In addition, if you change your IE settings back to your original preferences this is what will happen (copied from EULA):
"If you change your home page, search page or default error page after installation of the Software, a Pass-Through Toolbar will be installed at the bottom of your web browser and shall remain active as long as the Software is installed and information related to such change, including but not limited to the web address (URL), for the new home page, search page and default error page will be sent to C2's servers or third party servers." (According to the EULA the Underlined Feature is currently removed - see DO NOT install the 'Sponsor Program' before reading the information at this link)
Frankly, my preferred home page, search page and default error pages are nobody's damned business!!! To add insult to injury at http://www.msgplus.net/features.php I see the following comment "Of course, it [Messenger Plus!] does not contain any type of spyware or trojan." It is true that Messenger Plus! itself does not contain any spyware or trojan, but I will leave it to you to decide whether the transmission of information by the Sponsor Program installed by Messenger Plus! about your home page, search page and default error page can be classed as spyware (see point two at 'INFORMATION C2 COLLECTS INCLUDES:' in the C2Media Privacy Policy)
As is pointed out on the MP forums over and over, the licence agreement spells out exactly what the Sponsor Program will install, but how many people actually read the entire EULA? (note that the EULA text I link to and have quoted is from the version of MP that I installed on 28 September)
It has been suggested that the MP installation programme should do more to alert users as to what will be installed by the 'sponsor program', and what settings will be changed, but as the creator of MP, 'Patchou', said in the MP support forums:
"(yes, it could be redesigned to warn you better but then, nobody would install it, let’s be honest)"
Patchou has since softened his stance regarding a redesign, and is trying out some changes. See page 1.
Well, at least you've been honest about your install (income) concerns, though I must wonder why you continue to offer something that 'nobody would install' if they were fully informed?
It really bugs me that at no time is the 'sponsor program' specifically identified or named, except (as at version 3.21.104) as C2Media. This name does not match with the standard naming convention that has been adopted all over the internet for the adware-known-as-lop. Far too much confusion is being caused by this difference. Even during uninstall, the sponsor program being removed is not identified.
According to the EULA the adware included with the default install of
MP will not appear on a user's system until 36 hours after accepting the MP
Licence Agreement. As was noted in the 'Updates'
section on 11 October, the 36 hour delay has been removed - hooray for that
because the delay was causing a lot of confusion and misunderstanding.
Messenger Plus has an 'optional' 'Sponsor Program'. This Sponsor Program will change your browser's home page and search engine, will add links to your favorites and desktop, and generate pop-up advertisements. Unfortunately many people do not read the full Licence Agreement before agreeing to install the Sponsor Program; perhaps because 'Sponsor Program' is such an innocuous description, perhaps because they are new to computers and innocent of the implications of adware and malware, perhaps they're just trusting souls who have never experienced a browser hijacking, perhaps they were in a hurry.
Jason of C2Media contacted me by email on 23 October 2004 to advise that, regarding some lop.com features I have highlighted below as being in the EULA, 'In reality these features have been long removed {Editor: my emphasis} from our sponsor software package but the terms in the EULA were never removed'. No explanation has been given for the advised long delay in updating the EULA.
When we consider the emphasis that has been placed on the EULA in the Messenger Plus! forums over time, it is surprising and disturbing that the document was, for a long time, an inaccurate reflection of the reality of the C2Media software behaviour. In consequence, I cannot be confident that the current EULA would be promptly updated if the currently removed features were reactivated.
On 29 October 2004 I was again contacted by Jason and advised that Patchou had changed the EULA included with the MP! installation, and that the changes were live for my inspection.
The changes are minor, simply the addition of the words "(FEATURE REMOVED)" three times in paragraph 2 of the EULA and some strikethroughs, the deletion of text about the (removed) 36 hour Sponsor Program installation delay, and the removal of some text in the introduction. The text that was removed from the introduction has been replaced with a different text, addressing the same topic, as of the second installation window. A PDF that shows the changes made to the EULA is available here.
Notes:
- The amended EULA is not part of the Messenger Plus 3.40 beta install.
- I do not know what period of time 'long removed' refers to, 'long' being a subjective term.
- I cannot find any publicity about the changed
EULA on the MsgPlus web site. I can only hope that the updated EULA is
being pushed out to all existing MP users via an automatic update. If
anybody experiences such an update, please email me at:
- The currently removed Features were not deleted completely from the EULA in the same way as the reference to a 36 hour delay before installation was deleted. Why not?
- Under 'INFORMATION C2 COLLECTS INCLUDES' it still says that 'Information about your current web browser home page and search page settings -- this information includes the URL of your home page, default auto search page, and error pages, and how and when you selected a particular website as your home page, search page, or error page' will be collected.
I strongly advise all users of the Messenger Plus! programme NOT to install the 'Sponsor Program' unless and until they read the entire EULA, and are willing to accept all the consequences of installation including:
...You represent and warrant that you are at least 18 years of age and that you are the owner or are authorized by the owner of this computer to download and install software on [the] computer....
...your web browser home page and search page will be changed....
...various toolbars and other enhancements such as an Accessory Toolbar, a Desktop Toolbar (Editor: According to the EULA the Desktop Toolbar is currently removed) and a Pass-Through Toolbar may be added to your computer, including your desktop and web browser...
...The Accessory Toolbar will be added to your web browser and will remain visible as long as the Software is installed and the search page for your web browsers auto search option and default error page are set to a web page determined by the Software...
...any other toolbars currently visible will be deactivated, but may be manually reactivated, such as through the view menu of your web browser...(Editor: According to the EULA this Feature is currently removed)
...If you change your home page, search page or default error page after installation of the Software, a Pass-Through Toolbar will be installed at the bottom of your web browser and shall remain active as long as the Software is installed and information related to such change, including but not limited to the web address (URL), for the new home page, search page and default error page will be sent to C2's servers or third party servers....(Editor: According to the EULA the underlined Feature is currently removed)
...A Desktop Toolbar will be installed on your computer as a stand-alone module....(Editor: According to the EULA the Feature is currently removed)
...Installation of the Software may also add bookmarks to your computer and web browser, and shortcuts to the desktop and various menus. The added bookmarks and shortcuts may be removed manually or via un-installation of the Software..If incorrect host-file entries are detected for this Software's related domain names, those entries will be removed in order for this software to function properly....
...You hereby grant your explicit approval for this software to communicate from this computer system through your software firewall or hardware routing system (if present) with C2s' host network. For users of Windows XP Sp2 this softwares host domain names will be added to your web browsers allowed list for popups. Because this software will incorporate as part of your Internet Explorer web browser package and will run as part of that process when active on your system, your firewall or router may not prompt you for communication access once this software is installed....
...INFORMATION C2 COLLECTS INCLUDES:
• Standard web log information and computer settings such as your Internet
Protocol (IP) addresses, operating system, CPU speed, browser type and version,
screen resolution, time zone selected and the version numbers of some of the
software installed on your computer.
• Information about your current web browser home page and search page settings
-- this information includes the URL of your home page, default auto search
page, and error pages, and how and when you selected a particular website as
your home page, search page, or error page. Your web browser's home page URL,
search page URL, and error page URL are the only URLs collected by the Software
and the Software does not collect URLs or click stream data of the other
websites you visit.
• Your Software ID is a numeric identifier that is generated by the Software and
the Time and Date that you accepted this Agreement and Privacy Policy. This
Software ID does not include any personally identifiable information, such as
name, age, address, telephone number or e-mail address.
• A historical record of content and advertisements delivered by the Software,
and the response rate associated with the content and advertisements that was
delivered to you through the Software application....
Messenger Plus! is a registered trademark of 'Patchou' [Messenger Plus!™ ©2001-2004 by Patchou]
My first installation experience
After ensuring that my system was clear of adware, malware and spyware...
...I downloaded and installed Messenger Plus! on 28 September 2004. I selected the option to install the sponsor programme.
I rebooted after installation, and then scanned with Adaware. As expected (because of the 36 hour installation delay) my system was clean:
36 hours later, when I turned on my computer there was an extended flurry of hard drive activity
Shortcuts appeared on my desktop, favorites were added to IE, my home page was changed and my search engines were changed. At no time is the hapless user alerted to the fact that what was happening to their system was as a result of the installation of Messenger Plus! programme 36 hours earlier. There was no way to make a connection between the sudden appearance of Adware and browser hijackings and Messenger Plus!.
Popup windows started appearing, overriding IE's inbuilt pop-up blocker (I run XP SP2):
The pop ups appear because the Sponsor Program adds various domains to the pop-up blocker's exception list, being lop.com, mysearchnow.com, www.lop.com and www.mysearchnow.com.
A scan using Adaware after the 'sponsor program' self-installed revealed....
You will see the adware is identified as 'Lop'.
I personally started dealing with lop.com problems back in February 2002.
More information about the software can be found at:
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/data/lop.htm (last edited on19 June 2004 but
originally published back in 2002 - woefully out of date)
http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/lop/ ('one of the most hated names on
the internet' may be a bit extreme) ;o)
http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/lop.html
http://www.pestpatrol.com/pestinfo/l/lop_com.asp
I did *not* remove the detected adware using AdAware or any other anti-spyware programme, because the advisors/supporters in the Messenger Plus! support forums place the blame for incomplete or failed removal of the 'sponsor program' squarely on the shoulders of AdAware and other antispyware programs. I used the Messenger Plus! uninstall option instead.
I then rebooted, ran another AdAware test. To give due credit to Messenger Plus!, only the cookies placed by the adware remained:
Update 10 October 2004
A new version of MsgPlus (3.21) with several new versions of the Sponsor Window is due out on October 10th (today). I don't know when the version with the 'winner' Sponsor Window will be released with MP version 3.25. Because the various installers are distributed randomly, its going to be very hard, if not impossible, to check out the various ones. I'm not inclined to download and install over and over and over again to try and spot an unknown number of different Sponsor Windows, but we'll see how things develop.
Update 7 October 2004
Information about Patchou's alleged income that was posted to the newsgroups has been removed from this page. My first thinking was that the message is in the public domain anyway, cross posted to 4 different groups on the one server, and available via Google, which gets far more hits than this page, and that therefore there was no reason why it couldn't be reproduced here, but with hindsight, and after considering feedback from various sources that pointed out it may not be appropriate to this article, I have removed it. When it comes to Patchou's software's association with the adware known as lop.com and its owners, C2Media, the situation is complicated. I can understand how Patchou would be concerned that his income (whatever that may be, large or small) may be affected, but even more importantly, I understand from one of Patchou's posts that C2Media hosts his very popular site, so he would have more to lose than just click income if his relationship with them went sour - supporting such a popular site must be very expensive. That is a very hard line for Patchou to walk, so I shall do my best to focus on the Sponsor Program, who it is, its associations, what it is and what it does, have a look at comparisons that are made between the Sponsor Program and other software, and whether or not MP users receive sufficient warning about it (and whether MP users receive sufficient warning about the other statistic collection that occurs), and leave it to others to discuss financial considerations. I do apologise for reproducing the post in the first place, but frustration leads to reaction. And, I *STILL* haven't received a response from Raceprouk regarding the alleged 'technical inaccuracy' on this page.
Patchou said on 30 September 2004:
"As for the sponsor making money, may I remind you that duringthe first 6 months of 2004, Google made 1.6 BILLION in advertisement revenues? Of course, that's easy for them, everybody is happy to install their search bar, despite the fact that it's basic principles are exactly the same as the one from my sponsor: return sponsored results on top of the search page. I don't see Adaware trying to remove it by screwing up its files though."
The Google toolbar does not change your home page, prompts for permission to change your search engine settings, does not add favorites to your links, or to your desktop, and does not phone home if you change back to your original settings!! In addition, the Google Toolbar install protocol is more transparent during installation, and is more open in asking for permission to transmit data.
Let's do a quick comparison. Screenshot 1:
Google's screens are far more revealing than the Messenger Plus! install protocol. Note the specific request for permission to enable or disable advanced features (and information about what this will do). At the time of writing Patchou's Messenger Plus! did not advise people that his programme would 'phone home' and provide information about what buttons or options the hapless user has touched. Screenshot 2:
Note the that the search engine changes are optional, unlike the 'Sponsor Program' installed with Messenger Plus! The Google toolbar also does not phone home and report your preferred settings if you dare change them from those chosen for you, unlike the 'Sponsor Program'.
Again, my contact address for this column is:
Update - very late on 6 October 2004
Wow, nearly 400 hits in a few days; pretty impressive for a page that Google hasn't picked up yet. I wonder how many hits come from people visiting Patchou's Messenger Plus! forums?
When Patchou advised his supporters *not* to contact me via email (for the
publicly declared nice reason of 'lets show her that the forum members are good
guys' [paraphrased]) I was very impressed at his declared integrity. But later,
he specifically asked his supporters to approach me in the newsgroups without
retracting his 'no email' request - that put me offside in a BIG WAY.
Although I provided the URL of my article to the Aumha.Org forums AFTER
Patchpou's 'please use the newsgroups' request, I have not publicised the URL
for my article in any other forum, including newsgroups. Nor I have taken part
in any thread that discusses my article, except for two posts, one in which I
asked for more information about an alleged 'technical inaccuracy', and a later
one telling 'Patchou' that I was available for discussions via email when he
tried to hassle me for not discussing the article in the newsgroups. I have not
contributed to the 'Messenger Plus! installs adware even when you tell it not
to' misinformation - in fact I have specifically REFUTED that allegation. I have
not received any response to my request for more information about the
'technical inaccuracy', nor have I received any feedback, positive or negative,
via my feedback email address (perhaps because Patchou asked his supporters to
avoid email?). [Side note, single quotes mean 'paraphrasing', double quotes mean
"this is exactly what he said"].
In short, if Patchou wants to muster his troops (in the same way that he asked
his supporters to post positive feedback at download.com about Messenger Plus! -
some people would call that 'cooking the books' or 'stacking the odds'), and if
he is going to ask his supporters to approach me via a particular forum, and if
he asks his supporters to avoid my feedback facilities, I am NOT going to join in
on such games. Apart from the fact that I have provided a dedicated
feedback email address, I am not inclined to undergo discussions via
unauthenticated newsgroups or via forums where I cannot authenticate IP
addresses, nor am I inclined to carry on discussions with pseudonyms.
Regarding the allegation of 'technical inaccuracy' which was made by a Patchou supporter who visited some Microsoft newsgroups at Patchou's request/under Patchou's guidance:
My request made to 'Raceprouk' for more information about the alleged 'technical inaccuracy' has not been answered, despite several days having passed (at the time of writing) Update 16 October 2004 - Raceprouk still has not responded to my request for more information about the 'technical inaccuracy' of which he spoke <sigh>. Another update May 2005 - Raceprouk failed to respond - enough said, methinks. Update 26 August 2005: Raceprouk and I have exchanged a few emails. He says that internet connectivity issues have been keeping him offline - I've promised I'll see what I can do to help him get those issues sorted out.
In an email received late last night Raceprouk acknowledged that my pages do not contain technical inaccuracies. He also said that overall my pages are informative and fair.
In an email received this morning, Raceprouk said that "all I would like is a little note or something on your page that says that I can't find anything wrong with the page, and that anything I said before was borne more out of frustration than anything else. Maybe also an apology from me over any confusion I may have caused." So there you go Raceprouk - here's your little note or something as requested - if you'd rather it be placed at the top of page 1, let me know - otherwise I'll leave it here.
Raceprouk would like to see my pages updated, which is fair enough - there
have been some changes to MPs installer protocol that should be highlighted.
I am planning to get that done as soon as I can, time permitting.
I have not received any emails to my provided 'feedback' email address.
Ok, I've received some now :o)
I'm going to bed, g'nite. If y'all want to contact me, you know where I am...
Update 6 October 2004
Patchou advised in a message posted to several microsoft.public newsgroups regarding the new 'sponsor agreement window':
"Thechanges will be tested this weekend and the final new look for the agreement window will be part of version 3.25 (released soon after 3.21)."
Update 4 October 2004
IMPORTANT NOTE - 26 August 2005 - In an email received this morning, Raceprouk said that "all I would like is a little note or something on your page that says that I can't find anything wrong with the page, and that anything I said before was borne more out of frustration than anything else. Maybe also an apology from me over any confusion I may have caused." So there you go Raceprouk - here's your little note or something as requested - if you'd rather it be placed at the top of page 1, let me know - otherwise I'll leave it here.
One of the MP forum supporters posted in a newsgroup that I visit in response to my statement that I am not being impressed by some of the attitudes of forum supporter attitudes as follows: "As for the forum members themselves, of which I am one (about a year as of this post, and nearly 1000 posts on the forum), those who post regularly are some of the most helpful and patient people around. We are all voluntarily here to help. If that's not appreciated, then we can just disappear. But you don't want that, do you? ;) At the end of the day, you can't turn around and slag someone and their product off just because of an optional sponsor. Nor can you slag off the forum members for getting a little fed up with the 10 gazillionth "msn plus iz spywarez" thread from someone who clearly did not read the installer."
Putting aside the obvious '10th gazillionth' exaggeration, 'Raceprouk' illustrates very well how widespread the problem of lack of awareness of the 'sponsor program', and what it will do - a widespread misunderstanding that was instrumental in my decision to check out the software, and instrumental in my decision to create this page.
As you will see from my recap at the end of this article, the 'slagging off' (an overexaggeration which is denied) was not 'just because of an optional sponsor' - many programs have sponsor programs, but some are more up front about them than others. Everything in my article comes back to a lack of up-front disclosure on the part of the Messenger Plus!
As for the claim of frustration after 'about a year' and 'nearly 1000 posts', whilst I DO understand the frustration of which Raceprouk speaks, if anybody else can claim the defence of frustration in this particular debate, it is me. I am not an innocent newbie who is upset and striking out at the closest convenient target. I have been working in the newsgroups since 1999, and as Jim Eshelmen said at http://www.aumha.org/a/parasite.htm, I am one of the 'earliest people battling parasites'. The anti-spyware section of my site has had over 533,000 UNIQUE visitors, a large slab of which are searching for assistance with 'lop.com' infestation. Far too many of those searching for help getting rid of the adware commonly known as lop.com, both at my site and in the newsgroups, have installed Messenger Plus! and far too many did not realise that the adware of which they complain came from that programme. Whilst I acknowledge that lop.com infestations do not occur *only* because of Messenger Plus! (I first came across the adware commonly known as lop.com back in February 2002), the problem is more than large enough to justify a page such as this one which sets out what the sponsor program is, and what it will do.
If Patchou decides to be more open about what the 'sponsor program' is, and what is does and will do, on a PERMANENT basis (as distinct to a percentage of installs for testing purposes) then I will report the change on this site and give him all the credit that is his due. I give as much publicity to those that I have highlighted, and who turn their back on the income derived from adware and malware in an article about their wares, as I do to the problems caused by same. All credit is given where credit is due.
Second Update 4 October 2004
Of course, the user needs to understand what the 'sponsor program' is, and what it will do, before he or she can make an informed decision. If a user trusts Messenger Plus to not do anything that the user considers to be harmful, and the user therefore installs the innocuous 'sponsor programme' based on that trust without examining the EULA, only to be upset 36 hours later by the effects of the sponsor programme (home page hijacking, search engine hijacking, pop up advertisements, new favorites and shortcuts on the desktop), and if said user has tried (and failed) to remove the adware using highly trusted, reputable third party anti-adware software because he or she did not realise it came from Messenger Plus, should he or she to be told its all their own fault for acting on that trust as some have alleged? Should he or she read messages in the Messenger Plus forums criticising the fact that they did not read the EULA, and sometimes criticising their intelligence? Should they read messages referring to 'stupidity' or 'idiots' or 'n00bs' or worse? (I acknowledge that such flaming does not happen all the time in the MP forums, but it does happen).
Update 2 October 2004
As a result of negative feedback about the sponsor programme as discussed and described below, Patchou has revealed on 1 October 2004 that:
"because of all the recent posts about the sponsor and because I don't want to look like a guy who doesn't care (because wether you believe ir or not, I do), I'm going to try something new in the sponsor agreement window in version 3.21. I will make the change available for maybe 1 out of ten downlaods first and I'll see what theresults are. Of course, if thigns are better for my users, itwon't be good for my own salary but if it's not so bad, I'll keep it that way (if no one installs the sponsor with the new agreement window, I'll change it back, sorry). At least, I'm trying (and I've already tried... I don't always talk about this kind oftest publicly)."
and later (2 October 2004):
"I'm trying my best to find a good balance between "sponsor installs" and "happy users" and in order to do that, I will test several variantsof the installer when version 3.21 will be released. If I manage to find something good, I'll publish another version soon after 3.21 with the new agreement available for everyone. Meanwhile, I'll just make my server send different versions of the setup randomly and I'll check the stats accordingly....Version 3.21 and its modified test-version installers will be released in a week or two, depending on how fast the translators do their job."
I don't know what the changes to the 'sponsor agreement window' will be, and I don't know when they will be released. My hopes are that the generic term 'sponsor program' will be dropped and replaced with 'adware' or 'lop.com software'. Why that name and not C2 Media? Because C2 Media describes the owner, not the product, because there is more than one C2 Media company out there, and because lop.com is how the software is commonly identified in various support forums, newsgroups, online support sites and how it is identified in anti-spyware programmes. A google search for 'lop.com' generates 6,420 hits, C2 Media only generates 319.
Ideally the 36 hour install delay should also be removed, or an advice window added to the lop.com install protocol so that users are aware that the changes are being made by lop.com and that the lop.com install comes from their download of Messenger Plus. It should also be made clear that trying to remove Messenger Plus' version of lop.com by using popular programmes such as AdAware or Spybot S&D may fail.
I have spent a lot of time reading the MP support forums, and am not impressed by some of the attitudes I see regarding those who complain about the changes being made to, and software being installed on, their computers without their knowledge.
Let's recap - and remember, I assess software from the perspective of what the average Mum and Dad, or Grandma and Grandad, or new computer user will see, how they interpret what they see, and the problems that they are having:
- MP failed to openly identify what the 'sponsor program' is during installation;
- MP failed to openly disclose during installation that the 'sponsor program' will not be installed for 36 hours;
- MP failed to openly disclose that IE's home page and search engine would be changed, that a toolbar would be installed, that shortcuts would be placed on my computer's desktop, and that favorites would be added to IE;
- MP failed to openly disclose that reversing some of the changes made by the 'sponsor program' would trigger the installation of even more software AND breach the user's privacy by reporting details of the preferred home page, search engine and error pages to the providers of the 'sponsor program';
- When the 'sponsor program' triggered after 36 hours it did not alert me to what was happening, what was being installed, or why. No installation windows appeared and I was not advised that the changes were being made by the sponsor program, or that the sponsor program is associated with MP.
It is clear that Patchou and the MP supporters KNOW that there is an ongoing problem with users not reading the MP EULA. They KNOW there is an ongoing problem with users not realising that adware will be installed on their machines.
Patchou, in a very revealing statement, said 'yes, it could be redesigned to warn you better but then, nobody would install it, let’s be honest'. Compare that statement with the overall opinion of the MP supporters that a user's problems or lack of understanding are their own fault.
Despite the fact that the average home user is not in a position to make a connection between the sudden appearance of adware and their browser being hijacked, and the installation of MP a day and a half earlier, some MP supporters have turned blame back on the hapless user of MP, saying that their use of anti-spyware programs is to blame for their unremovable adware problems and that they should have read the EULA.
Let's put blame aside for a minute. The ball is completely in Patchou's court. He is aware that many of his users do not read the EULA and he is aware of the misunderstandings that many of his users labour under. He knows that problems are occurring because his users, in their ignorance, are using third party, reputable, anti-spyware software to remove hijackings that they did not know originate from his 'sponsor program'.
So Patchou, what are you going to do? It is your choice to 'warn better' or not 'warn better'. I do acknowledge, though, that the situation is complicated by your concern that 'nobody would install it', and I can understand how you would be concerned that your income may be affected, and I can also understand how, because C2Media hosts your very popular site, you could have more to lose than just click income if your relationship with them went sour. It is a very hard line to walk.
On a site note, I regret that I did not investigate the products being
advertised by the sponsor program adware. For example, I sincerely hope
that the software advertised in this pop up window is not one of the antispyware
products listed at this URL:
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm
If anybody wants to write and let me know what type of advertisements are
being generated by MP's 'sponsor program', and what programs are being
advertised by the 'sponsor program', please write to the email address below,
including as much information as possible. MWSNAP is an excellent
programme for taking screenshots (and window shots)
http://www.mirwoj.opus.chelm.pl/winfreeware/
mwsnap.html