Kazaa jennifer You may want to check this out and consider if you still want to have this software on your computer(s). http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10738,2859775,00.html Brant Hmmmmmmmm! I found the BDE software still lurking on my computer, and am not satisfied with what I did to remove it. Registry entries seem like they may be masked. If you find a site giving instructions on how to REMOVE it, please e-mail me, Jennifer. Thanks for the heads up. I thought I had gottne rid of all the crap KAZAA had installed. I will re-post if I find a solution. I think perhaps a letter to the FCC Regulatory and Enforcement Div. may help. Brant Maybe this will do something? Brilliant Digital Entertainment is involved in predatory practices, involving; unauthorized use of individuals computer equipment without their knowledge, theft and distribution of private information, and masking their procedures to inhibit removal of the software they installed allowing them access. Brilliant Digital in cooperation with KAZAA (www.kazaa.com), decietfully installs their software when consumers download the KAZAA software. Their software not only is Spyware, but also creates access to individuals computers without their knowledge which is used for Brilliant Digital's personal gain. KAZAA cooperates with several other predatory businesses in the same manner. My son was the one to download the software, even though he had been told not to. I am quite computer literate, and was aware of their practices. When I found out he had downloaded the software, I immediately removed it along with 5 others which were passed unknowingly during the process. I thought I had removed them all, until someone mentioned this and I found that it was not eliminated by AdAware, a tool for spyware removal. In removing the Brillian Digital software, I found it difficult to locate registry entries, which leads me to believe they have intentionally masked or hidden them. Registry entries can configure access to a computer without the need for an actual executable program, so I am very concerned. I found nothing at their site to assist in its removal. I am no legal expert, but I would think consumer laws preventing predatory practices like this, would provide a way to quickly remove these sites. If this is not the appropriate place to address this, would you please refer me to the proper division of government? I was wondering if I should also ladge a complaint with the Department of Justice? This is a link to an article detailing what they are doing. http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10738,2859775,00.html Viking Brant, the only reference to BDE removal I turned up was via cexx.org and it was at doxdesk : http://and.doxdesk.com/parasite/BDE.html And according to that, it should be straight forward to get rid of the reg entries. Are you sure they've been masked ? Brant Thanks to the post from Jennifer, I found that I had NOT removed everything (spyware) that came from my son downloading KAZAA. Not only that, but the potential this software provides for invasion of our privacy, far exceeds what you expect from normal spyware. I had read an article some time back about intentions to use or share processing power via the internet and thought it was interesting, but had no idea that someone might use pradatory practices to achieve it. Read the complaint I sent to the FTC and then read the article it references and you might understand my concern. Maybe this will do something? Brilliant Digital Entertainment is involved in predatory practices, involving; unauthorized use of individuals computer equipment without their knowledge, theft and distribution of private information, and masking their procedures to inhibit removal of the software they installed allowing them access. Brilliant Digital in cooperation with KAZAA (www.kazaa.com), decietfully installs their software when consumers download the KAZAA software. Their software not only is Spyware, but also creates access to individuals computers without their knowledge which is used for Brilliant Digital's personal gain. KAZAA cooperates with several other predatory businesses in the same manner. My son was the one to download the software, even though he had been told not to. I am quite computer literate, and was aware of their practices. When I found out he had downloaded the software, I immediately removed it along with 5 others which were passed unknowingly during the process. I thought I had removed them all, until someone mentioned this and I found that it was not eliminated by AdAware, a tool for spyware removal. In removing the Brillian Digital software, I found it difficult to locate registry entries, which leads me to believe they have intentionally masked or hidden them. Registry entries can configure access to a computer without the need for an actual executable program, so I am very concerned. I found nothing at their site to assist in its removal. I am no legal expert, but I would think consumer laws preventing predatory practices like this, would provide a way to quickly remove these sites. If this is not the appropriate place to address this, would you please refer me to the proper division of government? I was wondering if I should also ladge a complaint with the Department of Justice? This is a link to an article detailing what they are doing. http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10738,2859775,00.html Brant Funny guys! As a Side note to all the hilarity, if anyone has any experience with this software, please let me know. As I stated in the Ladge, I found almost nothing in the Registry (one MRU file) and this leads me to believe they must have named the entries in a way to hide them. Suzi Great lettter, Brant. You might want to check out this article on Yahoo that I read today about DoubleClick: http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/business_technology/technology_news/software_news.html?s=articles/20020403/doubleclick_pay The article came from Computerworld. Sounds like we (being concerend computer users) need to get some money-hungry attorneys on Brilliant Digital's a**! This kind of stuff (spyware, etc.) makes me really angry. Thankfully I never downloaded Kazaa, thanks in large to reading this forum. Keep up the good work!!!! PrElude Phanatik kazaa that is free of adds and has no bitrate limit,, works great! http://www.refosearch.tk/ later! keep it real on the flip side!! Suzi It seems like Brant is not the only one who is complaining: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/cn/20020403/tc_cn/kazaa_exec_defends_sleeper_software&cid=70 Suzi help from ZDNet: Do a file search for bde*.* in your Windows system directory. Search and destroy the following: c:\Windows\BDE (the folder and everything in it) c:\Windows\Temp\Brilliant (the folder and everything in it) c:\Windows\SYSTEM\bdedata2.dll c:\Windows\SYSTEM\bdedownloader.dll c:\Windows\SYSTEM\bdefdi.dll c:\Windows\SYSTEM\bdeinsta2.dll c:\Windows\SYSTEM\bdeinstall.exe c:\Windows\SYSTEM\bdesecureinstall.cab c:\Windows\SYSTEM\bdesecureinstall.exe c:\Windows\SYSTEM\bdeverify.dll c:\Windows\SYSTEM\bdeverify.exe Now fire up Regedit and delete the following trails: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.b3ds HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\b3ds_auto_file HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\BDESmartInstaller.BDESmartInstaller HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\BDESmartInstaller.BDESmartInstaller.1 HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{67925165-C4B6-11D2-B9C6-0000E84F59A6} HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{82FC7881-AACC-11D2-B9C6-0000E842E40A} HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Brilliant Digital Entertainment HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Zupdate Additionally, the B3D Projector configures itself to update silently at system startup. To remove this (yes, not even this is removed at uninstall), delete the b3dUpdate value at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software \Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Quarters/5077/new/cleankazaa.html They have an interesting discussion going there! Spyware thunder what is this stuff ? an how do I find out if I have any on my pc an if so how do I get rid of it ?? Col Download ADAware.. Version 7 is out now. Col capt The most popular removal/detection program is ADAWARE from Lavasoft. You can get it from NONAGS, WEBATTACK and CNET.DOWNLOADS. Sometimes the Lavasoft Website can be so busy, it is better to try these other sites for a download. You get it from downloads like KAAZAA, AUDIOGAXLY, whatever by not selectively choosing the advanced install button. You also get them by visiting websites that pass them on to you. mickey I agree you can get it at www.downloads.com just type in spyware in the search and it will give you a list, download adware and run it twice after you have. I used it wirks great!!! EC www.spywareinfo.com Renaissance Man Current version is 5.7 AdAware JDR Where can ADAware be dwnloaded from? Its isn,t at www.lavasoft.com i checked. capt WEBATTACK, NONAGS or DOWNLOAD.CNET. godz Try here... http://www.lavasoftusa.com/downloads.html EC www.lavasoft.de

Alot of posts about this subject in the last day or so. I thought a single place would be better for discussion. Heres the link to a resource post Renaissance Man compiled. It contains many links to previous threads about the subject of spyware. ** RESOURCE: Bonzi Buddy, NewDot, KaZaA

Guys, just out of curiosity, I checked my system for this bde. Know what? It was on there. The only thing I can think of is that it installed with Morpheus, as we've never installed Kazaa at home. It's gone now. :) Thanks, Brant, for all your valuable help. As always...

Is Kazaa bad spy wear. What kind of spying dose it do?

I liked the suggestion about the 'lite' version from kazaa!! If you remove all the spyware first (like explained on the site) and then install 'kazaa lite', you'll never have to worry about spyware and annoying adds again! It works great! You can find this version on http://www.refosearch.tk/

BDE also loads with ICQ peoples...So if you have ICQ then you loaded BDE software as well.

I am also very concerned with Kazzaa. My daughter downloaded the program a couple of weeks ago. Last night I noticed that explorer was communicating with some site (the globe was spinning) no one from my family had been previously at the machine for several hours. However I am confused about comments on the 'BDE'. If the reference is to the Borland Database Engine (BDE) then this may be a furphy. The borland database engine is a legitimate product that provides conection to database applications. Some of these may be installed on your computer to run other applications. BDE if insalled correctly can be accessed through the control panel and be uninstalled by using 'add/remove programs'. Borland have strict (legal) guidlines on the use and distribution of the BDE as incorrect installation can affect the running of other applications.