Thursday, October 28, 2010

Software License Agreements... sigh

I'll have to see whether someone has been collecting odd things about Software License Agreements. I'm sure there must be sites for us to grumble about them. My grumble today relates to Adobe's for Flash Player 10.1. Is there another Flash player out there, that is safe and reliable? Not that I've not found Adobe's Flash player to be either unsafe or unreliable yet, but when the SLA reads as follows I have to wonder:
7.1 Use of PDF Files. When you Use the Software to open a PDF file that has been enabled to display ads, your Computer may connect to a website operated by Adobe, an advertiser, or other third party. Your Internet Protocol address (“IP Address”) is sent when this happens. The party hosting the site may use technology to send (or “serve”) advertising or other electronic content that appears in or near the opened PDF file. The website operator may also use JavaScript, web beacons (also known as action tags or single-pixel gifs), and other technologies to increase and measure the effectiveness of advertisements and to personalize advertising content. Your communication with Adobe websites is governed by the Adobe Online Privacy Policy found at http://www.adobe.com/go/privacy (“Adobe Online Privacy Policy”). Adobe may not have access to or control over features that a third party may use, and the information practices of third party websites are not covered by the Adobe Online Privacy Policy.
For a start: Why would I use Flash Player to open PDF Files? I hate pdfs. Oh, is this something that whoever coded some Flash movie I've clicked to view might have included in its instructions? BTW - Please don't. Is there really no way to configure Flash Player so that it simply will not open pdfs, or not without an option to cancel the play before it opens?

I guess I'm glad Adobe are so open about how security can (I'm guessing) be breached with Flash. See more:
7.3 Local Storage. Flash Player and Adobe AIR may allow third parties to store certain information on your Computer in a local data file known as a local shared object. The type and amount of information that the third party application requests to be stored in a local shared object can vary by application and such requests are solely controlled by the third party. You can find more information on local shared objects at http://www.adobe.com/go/flashplayer_security. For more information on how to limit or control the storage of local shared objects on your Computer, please visit http://www.adobe.com/go/settmgr_storage_en.

Now, what is with the incredibly long document with no language menu so one has to scroll through searching for your own language?

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