On Mon, Jan 20, 2014 at 3:59 PM, Max Merbald <max.merb...@gmx.de> wrote: > > Am 20.01.2014 20:27, schrieb Rob Weir: > >> On Mon, Jan 20, 2014 at 1:58 PM, Matt <mrsyt...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>> I was alarmed last week to find on your download page, a rather large >>> advertisement consisting of a big green button labeled "download now" >>> which led you too the installer of some malware from another site. I >>> came across this after my wife asked for help saying she installed >>> openoffice from your site but it wasn't to be found on her computer. >>> She had already fallen for the bait. I almost did too as it was very >>> hard to distinguish from actual site content the way it was displayed >>> with out close examination. >>> >>> It amazed me that an organizations like yours would allow such >>> unscrupulous advertisers to misuse your name like that. Your own site >>> warns of scams by repackagers and unaffiliated download sites but your >>> dealings with shady advertising networks on your own site puts the users >>> of open office in just as much danger. >>> >> Hi Matt, >> >> I'm sorry your wife ran into problems when trying to download OpenOffice. >> >> The "shady advertising network" you ran into was Google's, and the >> website was SourceForge's. Both are reputable companies, I can assure >> you. But occasionally bad ads do make it in. We have a way to >> request their removal on a case-by-case basis. >> >> You can read more here: >> https://sourceforge.net/blog/sourceforge-blockthis-initiative-update/ >> >> If you have a screenshot and a URL I'd be happy to send that in for >> you. But I tried right now on the website and I'm not seeing any ads >> which match your description. Is it possible that your wife >> downloaded from a different website? We've seen cases where 3rd >> parties have paid for advertisements in search results, and their ads >> appear before our website does. >> >> Regards, >> >> -Rob >> >>> -Matt S >>> >>> --------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@openoffice.apache.org >>> For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@openoffice.apache.org >>> >> --------------------------------------------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@openoffice.apache.org >> For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@openoffice.apache.org >> >> > > Rob, > > it doesn't sound like he got it from sourceforge via Google. He wouldn't > have got a virus if it had gone that way. You couldn't know the actual > source because Matt didn't name it. >
He said "malware ", not "virus". Some of the ads in the Google ad network are links to programs with bundled sponsored applications. Some call them bloatware, adware, badware, malware, etc. I don't think we all agree on the terms. But if it is something you didn't want, then it is bad. In any case, if the user is correct that the download happened from our website, then the issue was as I described. If he was wrong about what website he downloaded from, then something else happened. > Actually, these problems about shady sources for OpenOffice combined with > malware are brought forward to the list every day and I think we shouldn't > take it too easy. I believe it would be necessary to do some research about > those distributors so that they could be stopped exploiting users who just > want to use OpenOffice. After all, those malware things could make a bad > impression on prospective user who, in the end, decide not to use OpenOffice > because they believe it generally comes with malware or adware. > > Don't you agree? > When we get a clear report, including screen shots and URLs then we can often take action. Unfortunately in many cases we get reports like this days later, and the user is unable to give us the original download URL. Regards, -Rob > Max > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@openoffice.apache.org > For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@openoffice.apache.org > --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@openoffice.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@openoffice.apache.org
