We aren't surprised when we hear of shell companies, small independent firms, unscrupulous “businessmen” or other types engaging in the peddling of spyware. Often the companies are fly-by-night operations that disappear just as quickly as they popped up.

It's a bit more distasteful and somewhat surprising to find out that large and old companies are doing the same thing, pushing spyware to glean information about their customers. While the company does, loosely, disclose that they do intend to spy on everything you do online, the admission comes 10 pages deep into a gigantic disclaimer that rivals a short book. According to the article, it violates the standards set down by the FTC that got companes like Zango (formerly 180 Solutions).

The article also brought out clever (or perhaps less than) tactics used to disguise the third-party software. That is pretty shameless behavior, and it is a sad state of affairs when even companies with so much capital resort to pushing invasive software.