Collects References to Adware Installers for Documentation Purposes
The SavingThrows organization hosts the AdwareDefinitions repo to make definitions of adware and other unwanted software publicly available for admins to scrutinize. This transparency is a core value of many open source projects. We believe, in this case, that this transparency facilitates the ability for users to determine the validity and safety of implementing file removals based on these definitions. Otherwise, users must trust the supplier of the definitions.
We propose that you trust no one.
This repository serves to supplement the AdwareDefinitions repo with examples of adware found in the wild.
Hosting adware installers is a tricky proposition. Most of these adware products promote themselves as legitimate services, yet the reality is that they try to take over a user's machine, browser, or components thereof such that they behave in unexpected ways, that are difficult to undo (or actively prevented from being undone), that generate ad-click revenue for the provider of the product at the expense of the user, and do things that the naive user, directed by questionable websites or the lure of "free" access to videos or services, does not reasonably expect. Perhaps they even spell out the complete list of activities that their products will engage in a terms-of-use document, included with the installer or on a website.
So arguably, there may be copyright issues for hosting installers directly here. The maintainers of this organization are not lawyers, nor do they wish to be sued. The information contained here is just that: information. Freely available software exposes itself to the ability by the public to scrutinize and report on that software, except where prohibited by the laws regarding reverse-engineering in the user's country. The adware definitions here have been generated entirely by examining the plain-text files included with them, as well as tracking changes to the filesystem on an installed machine. These actions are well-within the rights of computer users, and do not constitute "reverse-engineering".
Please submit URL's and contextual information like screenshots or descriptions of how user's found and installed adware products. At this time, no packages or installers are hosted, but the SavingThrows organizaiton will investigate the risks of that and update this document based on the results of that inquiry.