if you discover
>      that you like your freeware more than you fear the Aureate
>      "spyware")."

Just thought that some people might want to know:
1.  Among the very common spyware programs is Go!zilla.  In fact,
Aureate is very proud of the work they do with Go!zilla, as they make
clear on their site.  In addition to informing Aureate of your shoe
size, the Go!zilla/Aureate advertising system keeps adding lines to
the registry, relating to individual ads.  I wrote a polite letter to
the author of Go!zilla (through his email address on the Aureate
website) asking if these were self-expiring, or whether they
accumulate until we remove them ourselves, and never got an answer.
Before his connection with Aureate, he used to answer his email.
2.  Since downloading ZoneAlarm (free), I've discovered many
interesting things about my unknown relationships with the outside
world.  Among them:  I had downloaded a bannerware PIM and then
uninstalled it through the control panel.  The uninstall didn't
uninstall the spy system, however, which was still transmitting weeks
later!  Different spy-system, not Aureate.  I think that anyone who
has EVER used bannerware should check his system, and I highly
recommend ZoneAlarm.
I also keep getting attempts by popular music sites and porn sites to
access my system, which ZoneAlarm stops.  I assume this is because
some of the previous users of the same dynamic IP address assigned by
my ISP have different tastes in music from mine, and are less
prudish.  Makes you wonder, though.

Does anyone know of a real freeware (not bannerware) substitute for
Go!zilla?

Thank you.
David Jonathan Justman

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