The evils of AOL
AOL's first move on the internet was to create their own internet software, and
become the largest ISP. Not to bad. But that is only the beginning. Later,
they purchased the cable company, Time Warner, as well as the now defunct Net-
scape corporation. With the advent of the dot-com bubble, AOL fell radically.
The AOL branch known as Time Warner soon became the larger of the two, and over-
took the faltering ISP.
Time Warner has long held a monopoly on the New York City cable, at least in
Manhattan. It is responsible for the rising cable rates (almost $100 monthly)
and binding contracts that prohibit internet viewing of shows such as The Screen
Savers. It's government granted monopoly gives it a choke hold on the cashflow
of NY.
Time Warner's first endevor into the internet came in the form of the ISP known
as Road Runner. Road Runner was at first outdated, poorly staffed, and gener-
ally a poor form of cable. They later tried to clean up their act, redisigning
pratically everything.
This is where the evil starts. As Time Warner redesigned Road Runner, so did
they change AOL. In both Road Runner Itself, and in AOL, they placed a program
known as Wild Tangent. This is a nasty form of spyware, as it is mentioned no-
where in the EULA, and has an uninstaller which cannot uninstall it. This means
that every AIM user is now infected with spyware.
However, the AOL HEll does not end there. In their privacy policy, Road Runner
admits to sharing the email addresses of their customers, and uses the Cable Act
as an excuse to do so. No wonder my dad gets so much spam!
And if you think this is bad, check out AIMSNIFF
Did you know that AIM broadcasts unencrypted IM traffic?
Want help, read my page about AIM and Fire
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