www.StopBadware.org
This morning, the Berkman Center, the Oxford Internet Institute, Consumer Reports WebWatch, and a wide range of corporate sponsors announced the StopBadware.org initiative, a
project aimed at stopping the creation of badware - aka spyware,
malware, or deceptive adware.
In the short term, the goals of the project are ambitious but straightforward- create a community of anti-badware volunteers and researchers who will collaborate to create a clearinghouse of data and research on badware, and share that data with the world. You can find out how to help out by going to our project website: www.StopBadware.org.
In the longer term, our goals are even more ambitious. We're inspired by Jonathan Zittrain's paper on internet generativity (as published in Legal Affairs), and believe the internet's future relies on our solutions to the problems of badware and other security problems. To this end, we'll be investigating the possibilities of creating a kind of 'software stethoscope', which when installed by millions of users would give a global peak into the health of the internet and the PCs connected to it.
The problems caused by badware have very serious implications, both for every day use of computers, and for the long-term viability of the open internet we know and love. That's why StopBadware.org is important, and why the Berkman Center is focused on the issue.
Berkman principals leading the StopBadware initiative are Profs. John Palfrey and Jonathan Zittrain.
To see our press release, please click here.
Here are links to some of today's news coverage: USA Today, the New York Times, CNet, the SunBelt Blog, the Christian Science Monitor, Tales from the Techside, Goldenone, Technology Review, and the Washington Post.
project aimed at stopping the creation of badware - aka spyware,
malware, or deceptive adware.
In the short term, the goals of the project are ambitious but straightforward- create a community of anti-badware volunteers and researchers who will collaborate to create a clearinghouse of data and research on badware, and share that data with the world. You can find out how to help out by going to our project website: www.StopBadware.org.
In the longer term, our goals are even more ambitious. We're inspired by Jonathan Zittrain's paper on internet generativity (as published in Legal Affairs), and believe the internet's future relies on our solutions to the problems of badware and other security problems. To this end, we'll be investigating the possibilities of creating a kind of 'software stethoscope', which when installed by millions of users would give a global peak into the health of the internet and the PCs connected to it.
The problems caused by badware have very serious implications, both for every day use of computers, and for the long-term viability of the open internet we know and love. That's why StopBadware.org is important, and why the Berkman Center is focused on the issue.
Berkman principals leading the StopBadware initiative are Profs. John Palfrey and Jonathan Zittrain.
To see our press release, please click here.
Here are links to some of today's news coverage: USA Today, the New York Times, CNet, the SunBelt Blog, the Christian Science Monitor, Tales from the Techside, Goldenone, Technology Review, and the Washington Post.