EFF's senior staff attorney Fred von Lohmann is on your side. Really.
Gator has been sued by a number of website operators, including
the WashingtonPost.com and United Parcel Service. According to them,
when you open a new window that overlaps their website, you're
violating copyright and trademark law. "If Gator loses, website owners
would have far more control over your computer than is appropriate."
Fred's stance on Gator is consistent with EFF's aggressive digital rights policy: "Just because you may be browsing their web page in your web browser, doesn't mean that a website owner gets to control the rest of your PC. What windows are open on your computer, and what software you install, is your business, not theirs."
Gator distributes software that causes "popup" ads to be displayed on your computer screen when you visit certain websites. The Gator software does not alter the website or change anything about the browser window in which it appears. It just opens a new window that overlaps the web page.
We, like most of you, find popup ads to be annoying. We are not endorsing Gator's software, or its business practices. If you'd like to remove Gator from your computer, click on the link below for instructions. Be aware that in order to completely remove the Gator software, you may have to uninstall the "free" software that it pays for.
But we do respect your right to choose what you install and view on your computer, and that may mean that you choose to receive Gator's ads in order to use the popular software programs that often come bundled with it.
The companies that are suing Gator, in contrast, do not have your interests at heart. Instead, they are trying to create legal precedents that will be used to give them unprecedented control over your PC. It's bad enough that Hollywood executives think they can force you to watch commercials when you're watching TV. Now website owners think they, too, own your eyeballs just because you may have one of their web pages open in your web browser.
(Q & A with excerpts from the video interview we'll be doing soon)
Isn't Gator spy ware and shouldn't EFF be against Gator?
The legal attacks being brought against Gator by website owners have nothing to do with how Gator's software got onto your PC. The website owners are not bringing these lawsuits on behalf of end-users. Instead, they are trying to create a legal precedent that will give them control over your PC.
What's at stake in these cases, then?
Imagine that tomorrow a company develops a perfect price comparator. For example, when you're surfing on the Extended Stay America web site (a hotel chain that has threatened Gator), this price comparator automatically opens a new window that displays prices for all competing hotels. Would you want the freedom to install that tool? Should Extended Stay America be able to prevent you from seeing what their competitors have to offer?
To take another example, you may have instant messenger software installed on your computer that automatically opens a new window every time you get a new message from a buddy. If that window opens on top of a web browser window that contains the UPS website, are you guilty of violating the copyrights and trademarks of UPS? We don't think so, but those who are threatening Gator appear to feel differently.
A loss for Gator could establish a legal precedent that would threaten these and other useful services.
Doesn't a web site owner have the right to stop people from changing his or her web pages?
Yes. But Gator's software does not alter any web pages. Instead, the Gator software simply opens a new window that overlaps your web browser. Known colloquially as a "pop up", these new windows do not change any of the HTML code that makes up the web pages displayed in your other browser windows, any more than a new email or chat window does.
Legal documents:
Press coverage:
Gator website:
