AOL fixing Microsoft default settings

Fri Oct 24 04:47:28 UTC 2003

>How many other ISPs intend to follow AOL's practice and use their
>connection support software to fix the defaults on their customer's
>Windows computers?

Thankfully our focus is hosting & Colo, not access, so our pool is 
smaller and (theoretically) smarter. However this hasn't stopped us 
from doing similar things (such as disable/remove proxy server 
software) on client computers. Too many times I have called a client 
and asked "Why are you running a proxy server?" only to hear the 
reply "What's a proxy server?" (sigh)

I suppose I don't bother our clients with a clue, as their servers 
are already configured properly, and I am just protecting our 
clueless clients from themselves (or more accurately protecting my 
network from my clueless clients.)

Where it gets weird is when you take advantage of one privilege (like 
a software installer) to make other changes (disabling services) 
without permission. (I won't even touch the thick legal-ese of most 
EULA's which usually force the user to grant this permission 
beforehand)

Where does it stop being "helpful" and start being "harmful"?... As 
in Microsoft infamous disabling of competitor's products with their 
installers? Then the question becomes "who is being harmed?" I 
guess... the end-user or the competitor(s)?

Where I draw the line is the security of my own network, which 
granted is a pretty self-contained little world, unlike so may others 
here on NANOG.

On the other hand, I also have a .sig which is a quote from one of my 
staff, which illustrates another slippery factor of this particular 
slope...

--chuck goolsbee

-- 

______________________________________________________
There's only so much stupidity you can compensate for;
there comes a point where you compensate for so much
stupidity that it starts to cause problems for the
people who actually think in a normal way.

-Bill, digital.forest tech support