Kazaa and Pagejacking

[Dark Prince]

Hi all, I'm not sure how many of you know about this but I think it's a very serious development that will affect us all. Ove a million people have downloaded and installed the file sharing plugin known as Kazaa. It allows people to share files in a Napsterlike way. The problem is that when surfers who have this plugin installed visit a webpage, Kazaa hijacks the page and redirects the links to it's own keyword advertisers. That means if the word sex on your page is linked to your sponsor, for example, and a surfer with the Kazaa plugin comes to your page, when he clicks on that link he won't go to your sponsor, instead he will be sent to whoever paid Kazaa for that keyword. So the surfer burns your bandwidth and someone else benefits! This is total bullshit, and the number of Kazaa users is growing exponentially!

Seeing how long it took to take Napster to court, this could be a big problem for a long time. We need to find a way of blocking this. There are a lot of brilliant programmers on this board. Do any of you know how to block this type of thing?

[pyro]

I am a kazza user. I noticed this also. When you go to a website that saids "ebay" for example: that word automatically becomes a link to ebay.com through a tracking system that (ofcourse) kazza benefits from, but it steals visitor keywords.. very wrong way of advertising.. kazza is the next napster, and we all know how big napster got...

-George

[Dark Prince]

After a little more digging I found out that Kazaa is using a product called ContextPro from ezula.com. Here are a few features of ContextPro from Ezula's media kit:

-The first real time contextual analysis engine that handles web pages of any type

-Full access to ALL browser properties

-Unique ability to place dynamic multi-type promotions on top of any web page

Guess what, that means your web page.

[Ludedude]

OK, so how do we kill it? Does this thing announce it's presence in any way that we can see?

[Pinhead]

Isn't this the smart tag technology resurfacing? You know, Microsoft's grandiose plan to let future versions of IE parse the page contents and insert hyperlinks at will. http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/frown.gif

Due to overwhelming criticism MS had to abandon this idea... I hope it was for good...

[Dark Prince]

I think Microsoft is offering it as a plugin or something like that for IE6. Apparently there is a way to block the Microsoft smart tags, but this Kazaa thing can't be blocked the same way.

[blind]

Dammit, isn't this illegal?
It's not like in television advertising you can just go in and redirect commercials to your own whenever someone flips to a porn channel...

[Jaiden]

Did anyone ever figure out what would be the best solution to block this?

[shane]

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Kazaa.*
RewriteRule ^.*$ http://www.abba.com [L]


can someone test this??

[bitz]

when i installed it it gave me a option to allow this from happening. i simply unchecked the box and it doesnt happen to me.

[kong]

Maybe the hun will get pissed and img src em, :-)

[turf]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by kong:

Maybe the hun will get pissed and img src em, :-)</font>

yea, should that happen lets have a show of hands on who will help him http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

i think quite a few will http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

[Ludedude]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^Kazaa.*
RewriteRule ^.*$ http://www.abba.com [L]</font>

If someone knows WHAT this Kazaa parasite reports as a user-agent, then this would work...until they changed it.

[Shovel]

Here's ana interesting little piece about Kazaa...
http://slashdot.org/features/01/07/31/2015216.shtml

Text below cut from article:

"Assaf Henkin of eZula told me the only way to keep TopText links from marring our sites was to email all domain names we wanted blocked to: support@ezula.com
Henkin said it would take "a couple of days" for removal requests to be honored."

Apparently this software ahs been downloaded 7 million times and is ranked #4 at CNet.

[battuss]

Fucking thiefs!!
I have 1 suggestion, we start image src-ing their site all together! Company's like them are participating in making the net a shithole and should be stopped! The pathetic morons! Lets burn them down.

[Dark Prince]

This is such fucking bullshit!!

[Dark Prince]

Well I just emailed them my list of domains. I'll soon see if they will honour my request and block them. Anoying crap... as if I didn't have enough tedious bullshit to do.

[Dawgy]

i casually mentioned this to my attorney today and he got very interested. we installed kazaa on his computer and i let him see what it does first hand. according to him, its just flat out illegal. its like going around town and putting signs for your business on top of your competitor's signs... you are stealing advertising.

i think after a few lawsuits get filed that people will wize up and take this technology out of their software or provide for a better and easier way to block it.

[Dark Prince]

Ok, this is getting ridiculous. I got the following in a newsletter I subscribe to. There apparently is another plugin called Gator which has had 24 million downloads so far. Read for yourselves:

"A new term in Internet jargon describes -- depending on your view -- a great marketing opportunity or an underhanded, possibly illegal, use of company trademarks.

Gator, from www.gator.com, (http://www.gator.com,) means to display an online ad on a specific site, usually a competitor's, by purchasing placement.

Gator.com offers a small, software plug-in billed by the company as a digital wallet and an automatic price comparison tool. Similar products are available from other companies, but Gator has taken the lead in customers and public awareness. The company claims more than 24 million downloads.

The legality of the service may be affected by several upcoming court cases -- notably one involving Playboy -- that address the propriety of Web sites using trademarks belonging to others in meta tags and for keyword advertising.

The controversy springs from Gator's sale of keywords that allow an advertiser to offer a coupon or a special deal when a visitor views a competitor's Web site. Thus, United Airlines could offer a special fare when a visitor goes to the American Airlines site. Or Chrysler could entice shoppers at Ford with a special rebate. Or your competitor could offer special coupons to visitors on your site as you read this.

Gator's position on what some call hijacking is that users who have downloaded and used the Gator application are aware that special offers will be displayed when they visit other Web sites. Gator contends the feature, which it calls OfferCompanion, is a valuable service that consumers want.

OfferCompanion can be a two-edged sword. While you might display ads on your competitors' sites, they could just as well buy ads through Gator on your site. In a sort of Internet protection racket, you can protect yourself by buying ads on your own Web site.

Many of the advertisers using Gator are large companies with huge marketing budgets. They include well-known companies, such as Barnes & Noble, Dell, ESPN, FTD, Mazda and Sears. Pricing starts at $25,000, which puts it out of reach of many smaller sites.

Using Gator to poach visitors from your competitor's Web site might be too pricey for most small businesses. But watch for prices to fall if this segment of the online marketing industry continues to grow.

And just to be sure your Web site is not being gatored, download a copy and check for yourself. I did, and as of right now, we've avoided the bite."

[bitz]

why is it such a big deal? because you guys didnt think of it first? if you would of read the shit when you installed it you wouldnt have that problem. Your acting like the people who complain about dialers. If you dont read the warnings dont use it!

[basschick]

bitz, it's a big deal because surfers DO download this shit, and they don't really care whose ads they see. so these browsers cover up YOUR ADS and MINE, and if the surfers click, it is on someone else's sponsor.

a dialer on my site won't steal your advertising while using your web real estate as content. these browsers do.

we don't have a chance to make money here unless they really do allow us to block them...

[tmknight]

I consider this a big deal. I have already emailed Kazaa as well. Gator I'm not too sure about, because I've seen that program and it sucks.

Kazaa on the other hand offers peer-to-peer file sharing - napster like - which is a big draw to consumers (or is that non-comsumers???).

The issue really is tainted because there are three parties inherently involved. 1) The user whom has rights to install whatever the hell he wants on his computer, 2) The software company providing the plugin and selling advertising space over websites, and 3) The websites that own their material and offer public consumption of it.

Kazaa or Gator, or any other company that infringes on copyrights in such a mass way will be sued - most likely in class action lawsuits. I am thinking of filing one myself.

The intrinsic thought here is:

Website proprietors offer their copyrighted material (web page, content, et cetera) for public consumption. The visitors to that page are granted permission to view that page and use it as the owners allow. Any third party that overrides said permissions are in violation of federal and international copyright laws. And not only could they be sued in civil court, they could go to jail.

It's that simple.

I have a few analogies - not necessary 100% relative - but they put this into perspective.

If I own a piece of art - painting, sculpture, anything - and allow it to be displayed with expressed rights to the public, anyone that alters, destroys or otherwise defaces that property is liable. that could be a museum, a public citizen or any other entity.

I won't post any other analogies, but the point simply is this:

A website - the domain, html code, images, et cetera - is inherently copyrighted regardless if it is trademarked. It is allowed for public consumption unless otherwise stated and protected. Anyone that alters the content without consent of the owner(s) is in violation of copyright laws.

It's the same reason password trading or cracking is illegal. It doesn't matter if you can do it. It matters if you are violating the rights granted by the website owner(s).

Even though we allow public access to our websites, it doesn't mean someone can hack our ftp and change code or settings. Anything besides viewing the page as we deem is illegal.

Out of breath,

Tommy

[ProgGod]

Gator rocks, and its a great idea http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/smile.gif It just pops up a little ad at the bottom of the screen. I have to admin its the best idea i have seen yet http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/smile.gif

As for the other thing, well thats just fucked up
heh

[Dark Prince]

Bitz, you don't know what you're talking about. Do you want thousands of surfers accessing your site, sucking up your bandwidth, and clicking on someone elses sponsor? That's what these guys are doing to you. Would you like it if you were trading traffic with someone and they popped up a timed console over your site after they sent you a surfer so that the surfer didn't see any of your adds but still burned your bandwidth? This is the same thing. Every webmaster on the internet should be pissed off about this and like tmknight said we should all be filing class action lawsuits against these pirates.

[bitz]

im not saying i agree with their marketing practices. I am simply saying they give you the option to install it or not when you run the setup. but i did not realize all these copyright issues etc.. so nevermind.

[Shovel]

Mate, we're not talking about us using the plugin, we're talking about 7 million potential customers using the plugin and being kidnapped from our sites after burning our bandwith.

[Pinhead]

I've just read an excellent article on the subject by Danny Sullivan. It's called Forget Smart Tags; TopText Is Doing What You Feared and can be found at http://searchenginewatch.com/sereport/01/08-toptext.html
(TopText is the scumware that comes bundled with Kazaa)

There is also an online petition against eZula/Kazaa at http://www.petitiononline.com/toptext/petition.html

[Dark Prince]

Thanks for the link. I signed the petition for whatever it's worth. Everybody should be signing it. Every little bit helps.

[RaiDeN]

pfffff what a bunch of digheads. never knew that. Everyone I know uses kazaa......

if anyone starts doing something against them, count me in.

[donger]

I just downloaded kazaa to see what my pages looked like with the scumware. Apparently, this stink has been going around the internet and kazaa wised up and made the toptext install disabled by default. still not great, but better, imho

donger

[playa]

send them some hate mail
http://www.ezula.com/partners/MoreInformation.asp

[playa]

http://www.ezula.com/news/media_coverage1.asp

they sell to advertisers 15 cents per click,,
no wonder dot coms always fail,,,

They said they have over 1 million users,,LOL
how many of them knew they were users?

EZula's Vitos said people who don't want TOPtext can easily delete it by using their Windows "Add/Remove" program. Also, she said the company tries to limit the number of TOPtext words that appear to two or three per page.

"We do not bring anything in front of the user without them wanting it," she said. "We're not forcing anybody to have it. The choice is the consumer's. Our ultimate goal is users will be happy."


LOL,,,they know as much as most of us,,,these are the same surfers that do not know how to change their start page..

they won't last,,,FTC is gonna have a field day when the complaints come int

[Pinhead]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by playa:
[URL,,,FTC is gonna have a field day when the complaints come int
</font>

The issue is moste likely to end up in court, beacause it's 100% illegal tactics. It's plain copyright infringement.

The Ezula/TopText system works as a plug-in in IE. When you type in an URL or click a link, the plug-in grabs the requested page but it does NOT get sent directly to you. Instead it is sent to an Ezula/TopText server, where the page is parsed and new code--sponsor links--is inserted into the page. First then does your browser get the page in its modified form, filled with yellow links paid by TopText advertisers.

This is 100% copyright infringement, beacuse TopText grabs YOUR page, ALTERS it, and then REDISTRIBUTES it with its own advertisment.

It's like issuing a newspaper, but when you open it it has someone else's ads...

http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/mad.gif http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/frown.gif

[Pinhead]

Btw, the official site for the fight against Ezula/TopText, Gator, Surf+ and their likes is at www.scumware.com (http://www.scumware.com)

[Shovel]

Good news is that they don't accept adult sites for advertising so our sites are safe (but you're fucked if you sell insurance hahahahaha)

[Pinhead]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Shovel:
...they don't accept adult sites for advertising so our sites are safe</font>

No, but they make words like "credit", "credit card" etc, which occurs on some adult pages (like sign-up pages), into yellowish sponsor links, therby creating undesirable traffic leaks...

I'm not happy with a situation where a potential sale is annihilated by the surfer being taken away by stupid TopText links on the sign-up page.

[Pinhead]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Jaiden:
Did anyone ever figure out what would be the best solution to block this?</font>

WhirlyWiryWeb.com has published a snippet that detects if the surfer has eZula installed:

&lt;object CLASSID="clsid:3D7247E8-5DB8-11D4-8A72-0050DA2EE1BE" width="1" height="1"&gt;
&lt;img id="imgEzulaNA" src="" width="1" height="1" /&gt;
&lt;/object&gt;

&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;
if (!document.getElementById("imgEzulaNA"))
document.write("You have eZula installed");
&lt;/script&gt;

Use the if-clause to suit your needs (redirection or whatever)

[Dark Prince]

Ok this is unreal. I just got a response from Ezula on my request to block all my domains from their Toptext scumware. Here is the email they sent to me:

Hello,

Thank you for your interest in eZula's new TopText technology. TopText is an optional Web browser plug-in, affirmatively chosen by users
to augment their browsers' display of Web pages. TopText is a client-side application that resides on the user's personal computer and operates
on pages from anywhere on the Web, just like any other client-side application, including for example ISPs' proxies and the like. It overlays a
web page with an extra set of contextually-relevant links, clearly differentiated in thick yellow from the browser's standard hyperlinks.

Extending upon the way typical Web browsers permit users to change the font, size and color or hide images on a displayed Web page,
TopText offers users a filter or lens to supplement their browsing experience. After users choose to use the TopText plug-in, the users are
notified that yellow links overlaid by TopText are not part of the Web pages they are viewing. Only users that chose to use TopText will be able
to see TopText's yellow links.

We believe that TopText enriches the surfing experience by offering a willing user additional options without interfering with any of the text of
your website. The additional links are keyed to keywords and phrases, and not to the web pages viewed.

As a general matter, eZula does not exclude websites from viewing through the TopText plug-in on a site-by-site basis. We apologize if
misquoted statements in a Slashdot story gave the mistaken impression that we would do so. However, TopText does not modify the text of
your pages or attribute any extra links to you - your authorship of the original page remains clear and distinct.

Use of the TopText technology is well supported by current law.

We hope this addresses your concerns. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can answer any further questions about the TopText
technology.


Thank You,
The eZula Team


Can you guys beleive they had the nerve to say "Use of the TopText technology is well supported by current law." These guys have a lot of balls! Fuck I'm pissed!

[Jon]

Who wants to make a plugin that takes over all websites and puts our porn sites? I think this will be a jolly legal idea! Who's with me?

I mean they agree to it? We will let them uninstall it...if they know how!

Jon

[Groovy]

we need a plugin that auto connects with the dialer!!!

that would be neat!

[Jon]

Ok we'll get started on it...we'll make it so if they say yes to having porn...then we'll let them install the plugin...because of course I think it would be a good addon for users!

Jon

[Shovel]

It's great that http://whirlywiryweb.com have dished out a free redirection script but at the end of the day these cunts at ezulu are out of order.
http://dmoz.org/Society/Issues/Business/Allegedly_Unethical_Firms/Ezula/ for links to sites dealing with the problems associated with these pagejackers.

[Dark Prince]

Just filed a complaint against these guys with the FTC. I have no doubt that what Ezula is doing is illegal, regardless what they say. I urge everyone on this board to file a complaint as well, as this affects all of us. The more complaints the FTC gets, the sooner it will act. To file a complaint go to this url:
https://rn.ftc.gov/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01

[Jon]

I have come up with a script to save everyones bw http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/smile.gif Why allow users using this to see your site? Lets stop it some how until the feds kick in http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/smile.gif

This code will detect ezula users and it will redirect to http://ezula.myxxxdomain.com which will tell users how to remove it and whats up...change it if ya like but its cool to leave it http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/smile.gif

&lt;object CLASSID="clsid:3D7247E8-5DB8-11D4-8A72-0050DA2EE1BE" width="1" height="1"&gt;&lt;img id="imgEzulaNA" src="http://www.ezula.com" width="1" height="1" /&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;if (!document.getElementById("imgEzulaNA"))window.location = "http://ezula.myxxxdomain.com/";&lt;/script&gt;

Oh yea its img scrs ezula too http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/smile.gif hehe

Jon

[Pinhead]

Good idea, qualitythumbs. Here's another nice redirection page for Ezula users -&gt; http://opt2.net/scumware.shtml

It gives a very succinct and clear explanation on what's up.

Also, don't forget to sign the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/toptext/petition.html

[Jon]

Nice addition pin...

I am prolly gonna add the code to my free host in the next couple days...

Basically remember if the user is using the ezula it img scrs ezulas site...if they aren't they don't get img scred....

I called ezula and got told there is no way to stop it and they DO NOT block domains as its client side...

So guess what guys...We gotta stop this on our own till ftc gets involved...

They wanna sue me for img scr them I will counter sue for their "plugin"

So I ain't too worried http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/smile.gif Img scr the hell out of them...Too bad the hun won't http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/frown.gif Or Will He?

Jon

[Jon]

Also pin...on your page I would suggest changing it to telling them how to remove it because scumware isn't that clear on it...

They need to go to c:/program files/ezula and run unwise.exe

Jon

[Pinhead]

Ah, you've had a conversation with them http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/smile.gif, and as expected they're full of lies.

Quote: Ezula "told there is no way to stop it and they DO NOT block domains as its client side..."

Not true. Every webpage requested by a Ezula-infested browser is first sent to an Ezula server, where the html is modified thru the insertion of yellow sponsor links. Only then is the page sent to the browser (client).

Of course they can implement a system, where pages from certain domains don't get their html modified. Actually, I think such a system exists... It would be unwise to sprinkle FTC pages and other governmental websites with yellow sponsor links, once FTC are beginning to investigate them...

[Tim]

How about an antivirus plugin that won't display any page with Kaaza or Ezula on it etc http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

That way the surfers page is protected from alteration and they see everything the way it was meant to be seen. http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

[Shovel]

Or use one of the redirection scripts above and have a page with all text in flash for kazaa users.