AOL 9.0 Labelled as Badware

Privacy watchdog - StopBadware.org is an academic project supported by Sun and Google among others that aims to establish a neighbourhood watch-style scheme to put pressure on purveyors of unsavoury programs. It has classified AOL’s software as potentially damaging badware.

AOL’s inclusion of bundled software apps and lack of transparency over additional installed components earned it the negative label.

“No company has done more to fight malware than AOL,” AOL spokesman Andrew Weinstein told News.com. “We’re reviewing the suggestions made in the report, and we are taking steps to address them, as they mostly involve minor UI issues. Link

I have always felt AOL softwares, including those that used to be bundled with Netscape, is too intrusive and installs without much control from end-users. They should amend their ways and soon.