Our elected officials don’t know how to surf the web for the most part, let alone actually understand what the definition of a virus is and how to legislate against spyware and malware. Software companies who write legitimate programs lobby them to make sure they do not pass any laws that regulate the sale of software.

{mosgoogle}Example: Name any other product or service where you must pay up front for it before you even see the contract you must sign and agree to before you can use it?

Not only that, but large corporations support the use of malware, adware, spyware, badware, and viruses that gather information from users without their knowledge. They in turn buy that information to build their own consumer databases and use that information to sell you products. They pay to know what your habits are. As long as they are willing to pay for that information, companies like GAIN will continue to steal it from user’s and sell it to these companies.

If you want to know how many programs on your computer are gathering information about you, you will need to get some type of spyware detection software. There are several available, however, be careful, some of those advertising the removal of spyware are actually installing it on your computer themselves. Make sure you do a search in your favorite search engine to find out about the brand of software you are thinking of downloading.

If your computer is infected with Gator or GAIN, you may have to use anti-virus software to remove it. Many of the anti-virus companies have removal instructions on their website. If GAIN were a legitimate company and legitimate software, it’s highly doubtful it would have to be removed by an anti-virus program.

I hope this article has been helpful to you. GAIN, WinFixer, and other programs that act in this unethical manner should be considered viruses and held accountable for the harm they do to your computer and liable for the time it takes to remove them. That’s my opinion.

D. David Dugan is the president of DD&C.