Morpheus Preview using a new kind of spyware
 

Sounds like a good way to make a little money I must admit.


Morpheus Using New Address Intercept Tool




By Brian McWilliams, Newsbytes
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NEW YORK, U.S.A.,
19 Mar 2002, 11:52 AM CST



Some users of the popular Morpheus music sharing program are angry over a browser extension program distributed with the latest preview version of the software.
The program, developed by Wurld Media and included with the Morpheus Preview Edition, silently intercepts certain addresses typed by Morpheus users into Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) browser before redirecting them to their final destination, Newsbytes has confirmed.



http://www.technews.com/news/02/175305.html

Hmmmm.... I couldn't find the nice 'No Spyware' logo anymore from their flashy new webpages... there goes that commitment that they advertised just a while ago... not good. :N:

- tg ;)

That sounds like an illegal way to make money. Getting referral credit just because someone has morpheus PE on their system and decides to go to amazon.com on their own?...If that is what is happening.

script
 

Could somebody please post exactly how to cause this to happen in a way that can be documented?

I read about this a bit ago but could not figure out how to make it happen.

Re: script
 

See this MSDN article for a detailed explanation of IE Browser Helper Objects and how to use them.

If you want to disable all third-party 'helpers' from messing with your IE (not a bad idea), go to Tools | Internet Options | Advanced and uncheck the 'Enable third-party browser extensions' option.

- tg ;)

Interesting?
 

Tg quoted the info....


If you want to disable all third-party 'helpers' from messing with your IE (not a bad idea), go to Tools | Internet Options | Advanced and uncheck the 'Enable third-party browser extensions' option.

Funny that, I cannot find that option in either IE 5.5 or IE 6.0?

However there is a ticked box with NO legend on it? wonder if something has "removed" the evidence?

Its just a hi-tech game really, keeping on top is going to require boards like this, to disseminate the information..

Snark..

Snark, the option in my IE6.0 is in the mentioned place, under the Browsing group. Now if one of the 'helpers' has even hidden this option that is sneaky indeed! :no:

Note that you have to restart your computer for the new setting to take effect.

- tg ;)

Just get BHO Cop. Then you can keep using any browser helpers you actually want and identify the others for deletion.

http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/stori...,77432,00.html

Re: script
 

Well, first check if the extension is installed (zdnet's BHO Cop will do this). I guess the only way for sure would be with a packet sniffer running on your own machine. This will show the URLs being fetched. I'm sure the plugin is smart enough not to change the URL shown in the browser, that would be a sure tip off, as you'd see the referer string right away. Amazon unfortunatelly, does not provide any info on the refered page as to who it is, or even that it is refered. Maybe other allegedly intercepted sites do?

Actually, the "No Spyware" logo is still there, on the Morpheus page. It's at the bottom of the left frame. I guess collecting browsing habits of your users isn't considered spying anymore? Or only when MusicCity does it?

Hmmm just out of curiousity... which Morpheus page? Can you give the URL (I would love to save that logo for further reference.... :BL: )?

- tg ;)

Sheesh - thanks for the heads-up. Guess I won't be installing the preview edition any time soon!!

:NS:

Also http://www.morpheus-os.com/ which seems to be the official Morpheus home.

Thanks Pod! :tu: Those pages don't seem to be connected to their new webpages anymore but I am glad that they still existed to grab this picture... :CG: :BL:

- tg ;)

Indeed, MusicCity seems to be a company in transition, or at least very disorganized. They currently have 3 separate web sites:

http://www.streamcastnetworks.com/
http://www.musiccity.com/
http://www.morpheus-os.com/

The MusicCity.com one actually has a link to the MorpheusOS site on the front page, that's how I found it.