Possible Spam/Virus Site Using Your Name...

Want to help the VideoLAN project? Designers, testers, translators, please come...
This is NOT about GETTING some help.
Forum rules
Please read the forum's rules carefully before posting. This forum should not be used to post VLC usage related questions.
pandaking
New Cone
New Cone
Posts: 4
Joined: 04 Dec 2009 02:50

Possible Spam/Virus Site Using Your Name...

Postby pandaking » 04 Dec 2009 03:00

Hi,

Not sure if I've picked the best forum for this but I came across a bit of advertising which had me a little puzzled today.
Firstly, it got me puzzled, because I had never seen VLC advertised before - especially through an advirtisment site such as adbrite, but low and behold this is what I saw: http://b1.adbrite.com/iads/389099.jpg
Image

This is being advertised through the company adbrite. What got me even more confused was the website the banner linked to:
http://vlcdownload.net

I knew this wasn't the same site as we're on now, and I had used in the past. What was the final straw for me was the download link offered:
http://preview.licenseacquisition.org/4 ... -win32.exe

Now I've always seen your download links going from your own servers, I guess so you can track downloads etc.

I don't know, perhaps I've got the wrong end of the stick - but it looks to me like somebody is using your good name to trick people into downloading a virus or something and thought I would give you a heads up. You can normally email in to places like adbrite and ask them to take down a certain bit of advertising, and you have the image url above of which needs taking down. :)

Hope I haven't got this all wrong...

3breadt
Big Cone-huna
Big Cone-huna
Posts: 827
Joined: 19 Mar 2006 11:37
Operating System: Win7 Pro / OS X 10.7
Location: Paderborn, Germany
Contact:

Re: Possible Spam/Virus Site Using Your Name...

Postby 3breadt » 10 Dec 2009 14:12

Very strange, usually these sites link to an installer bundled with adware or viruses. But I downloaded the file and compared it to the official one, they are the same. So no virus there.

But they use images whose copyright they do not own and in other forums I read that that site licenseacquistion.org actually belongs to the Zango company who is known for spreading adware and stuff.
-- 3breadt (aka altglass)

pandaking
New Cone
New Cone
Posts: 4
Joined: 04 Dec 2009 02:50

Re: Possible Spam/Virus Site Using Your Name...

Postby pandaking » 10 Dec 2009 14:41

Very strange, usually these sites link to an installer bundled with adware or viruses. But I downloaded the file and compared it to the official one, they are the same. So no virus there.

But they use images whose copyright they do not own and in other forums I read that that site licenseacquistion.org actually belongs to the Zango company who is known for spreading adware and stuff.
Hrm that is strange, I did hear that some virri sites like this change the links if you weren't directed to the page from an advert so it seems the link is valid unless you get directed there by the advert in which case it gives you infected link.

There is an odd .js file being loaded on that page, but it's been compressed so I'm struggling to work out what it does exactly...
http://static.pinballpublishernetwork.c ... /gpl_lp.js
Looks to me as advertising more than anything though, perhaps they are just using the VLC name to get money through adverts...

EDIT:
Well http://pinballpublishernetwork.com/faq/general says it's for installing a toolbar on peoples computers.

robnich
New Cone
New Cone
Posts: 1
Joined: 13 Dec 2009 22:28

Re: Possible Spam/Virus Site Using Your Name...

Postby robnich » 13 Dec 2009 22:41

My wife was just fooled into downloading the package on this site, because it has placed a Google Ad for the keyword "vlc". She downloaded it and found it installing "Hotbar". The only reason she noticed was that the installer froze while installing Hotbar.

It seems that this site fooled you by not including Hotbar in the beginning, or using a method to selectively include it. I've reported this to Google AdWords, but I'm not sure that they are actually violating Google's TOS or AdWords policies. I've also reported it to Google as a malware site.

Jean-Baptiste Kempf
Site Administrator
Site Administrator
Posts: 37523
Joined: 22 Jul 2005 15:29
VLC version: 4.0.0-git
Operating System: Linux, Windows, Mac
Location: Cone, France
Contact:

Re: Possible Spam/Virus Site Using Your Name...

Postby Jean-Baptiste Kempf » 14 Dec 2009 00:16

My wife was just fooled into downloading the package on this site, because it has placed a Google Ad for the keyword "vlc". She downloaded it and found it installing "Hotbar". The only reason she noticed was that the installer froze while installing Hotbar.

It seems that this site fooled you by not including Hotbar in the beginning, or using a method to selectively include it. I've reported this to Google AdWords, but I'm not sure that they are actually violating Google's TOS or AdWords policies. I've also reported it to Google as a malware site.
Google doesn't care, since it makes them some money! :D
Jean-Baptiste Kempf
http://www.jbkempf.com/ - http://www.jbkempf.com/blog/category/Videolan
VLC media player developer, VideoLAN President and Sites administrator
If you want an answer to your question, just be specific and precise. Don't use Private Messages.

Dano2k3
New Cone
New Cone
Posts: 1
Joined: 07 Feb 2010 19:46

Re: Possible Spam/Virus Site Using Your Name...

Postby Dano2k3 » 07 Feb 2010 19:57

Hope i can save others trouble about Hotbar. I came across this page:

http://www.fbmsoftware.com/spyware-net/ ... on/HotBar/

Sure seems Hotbar is crap, and we should all avoid it.

On a related by separate issue, in spirit doesn't this go against the GNU software license? Ok, sure they didn't "alter" VLC, but they are using it to attract people to install their spyware on there machine with the intention of altering a normal VLC installation...? So a person is not getting VLC, but VLC + spyware... So in "spirit" they have altered the normal installation of VLC?

Best regards,

dan d:)


Return to “Contribute and help the VideoLAN project”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 34 guests