Corrine posted this today and points to this. For obvious reasons I cannot and will not comment on it.
Update #1: Out of curiosity I searched for more related info. Guess what, something came up. As an exercise for my readers, to see what I saw enter cache:billpstudios.blogspot.com/2008/01/would-you-like-toolbar-with-your.html in any Google search box.
Update #2: Corrine posted another article about the topic.
Update #3: LS responded officially through their PR person, Michael Helander. Also see this article at Sunbelt’s blog.
// Oliver
PS: Won’t work anymore. The Google cache has swallowed the original. A screenshot exists on my and several other machines, as far as I know (note added 2008-01-27).
… although LS is not quite in the AV-business (yet? 
), they promise - i.e. their CEO, Jason King, promises - that LS will show up at the Virus Bulletin Conference in Vienna in September. What a lucky occasion. So I can probably expect them to bring the money they owe me. Really to nice of them. Looking forward to it.
Oh, and FRISK will be there as well, with 7 people (including me) and the original and only Frisk (i.e. Friðrik Skúlason) among us.
// Oliver
… although LS managed to lure another professional into working for them … let me guess, 6 months notice period and a fairly good wage? … there is hope for deliverance. One of my former colleagues and friends, Faik, has joined free humankind again.
Congratulations, Faik and good luck in your future job!!! 
// Oliver
PS: As you see, there is hope for the souls trapped in “Arachn(n)e’s web”.
Corrine knows it, LS - of course - knows it and I’ve been told by a mail through my webinterface a few days ago. Ann-Christine Åkerlund, CEO of LS, is leaving the company and retiring in the beautiful homeland of Swiss cheese where no representative from Skatteverket is going to do any harm to “her” money … not that I am still angry that LS didn’t pay their debts (my salary during the termination period, that is) under “her reign”. No really, it’s “fine” if you don’t know your status and try to contact them - at last by the help of lawyers - and no one reacts, even after the termination period as set in the employment agreement. Also no problem whatsoever that the uncertainty about my status during that time kept me from assuming other job perspectives, but in that case I should be rather happy that I found a company that can be considered perfect for “LS-wars veterans” and I am very happy here!
By the way, the press release says:
Ms. Åkerlund will be passing on the torch to a member of the company’s senior management team.
… “senior” meaning less than one year (actually more like less than six months) in the company, in case some of you haven’t followed the exciting and frequent changes on the LS management page. But for LS this is of course a long time - believe me, I know! - so “senior” is the right choice of words. However, it makes me wondering what some of the other employees, such as the developers, who work there for 1.5 years (a little longer, that is) already can call themselves. Their job-title must be something like “über-senior long-time developer” or similar, oh wait, no … rather “soon-ex-über-senior long-time developer”, as I heard from a friend who finally managed to free himself from the tentacles of “the firm” by resigning 
At least this long-term experience in the company makes it likely that this handover will go on “without a hitch” and that the quality of service and products will continue in the same direction it developed in recent months and years.
// Oliver
PS: Should I have used some nautic metaphor such as “the … leaving the … ship”?
As reported earlier, LS claimed here that the “free AAW” was just a “preview”. Nice PR gag, only a few questions left, such as why the users had to find out about this easter-egg (no announcements until after it was found) and why it needed “fixing” if it was a “preview”? And why was the “preview” period so short? Only few users had the chance to find out about it! I was one of them and since the chance for a “preview” is gone now for others, I can only help you by publishing the videos I captured when trying the “preview” myself.
Feel free to download the footage: http://ljossalfheimr.assarbad.net
Also feel free to spread the videos. I claim no copyright, this is released into the PUBLIC DOMAIN!
// Oliver
PS: Both videos show essentially the same, but the second is a bit more professional and contains explicit proof to show this is not a fake!
Removed the download link.
Laughing is a healthy thing to do, right? But thanks to LS I can’t stop laughing anymore now. This whole story with the “preview” which was never actually announced, but then got “updated” (or “fixed”) is so sad that you are left with no other choice but to laugh.
Their blog now states the same as LS Tobias did in the forum, although I personally can’t tell which one was the first. Isn’t it sad to see a company which apparently once was the leader of the pack to use such stupid PR maneuvers? I honestly think it is very sad. The company had a lot potential, but apparently the success swallows its offspring in case of LS?
// Oliver
Corrine, over at her Security Garden has posted a nice blog entry called “Fiascos Continue in LavaLand” concerning the current crisis. I like the last part best:
However, based on the number and type of job openings now appearing on the Lavasoft “Careers” page it is beginning to appear that it may indeed be time to turn off the lights.
“The GUN has left the building … will the last one left standing please turn off the lights, and bring home the flag.”
Now go and read the original!
Turning off the lights …
// Oliver
Alright, a buggy “preview”, but it was “a preview” of Ad-Watch as LS Tobias tells us in this reply. So that’s what it was all about, just an ordinary preview. The preview has now been fixed … if you need a longer preview, just don’t apply the fix, ehh?
Some of you may have noticed that in the Ad-Aware 2007 update that was released before this past weekend, the Ad-Watch real-time module was activated in your freeware.
This has since been updated, but we hope that you enjoyed your free preview of Ad-Watch
Remember, if you want real-time scanning in your anti-spyware software, you will find that and many more advanced features in Ad-Aware 2007 Plus and Pro!
[Source: LS Tobias]
// Oliver
PS: Strange that the preview was announced only after it got “fixed”.
Yes, dear lee88. In fact this update might fix the problem that the freeware was fully functional. I have to take it on me, because my blog entry was likely one reason for them to publish this fix or even notice the “problem”. I’ll have to verify in the evening what the new fix does and if it fixes the fully functional freeware silently, I am going to publish my videos and make sure they get the necessary attention.
So as you may guess, dear reader, LS uses “stealth-PR” to fix what could have become a disaster, but what - if properly handled - could have become their biggest success as well.
// Oliver
Earlier today I posted some info about the new enhanced “free” Ad-Aware 2007. Since some claims surfaced that this doesn’t work after reboot, I have to set it straight.
I started Ad-Watch straight after installation from the desktop icon! Next thing was to configure Ad-Watch. After this I verified that it works, which it did. Finally I rebooted the machine and Ad-Watch started automatically during logon. So whatever you are told, this works and there is footage of it!
// Oliver
Some weeks ago I asked LS to make Ad-Aware OpenSource. Apparently it’s not the time for it yet, however, they made it fully functional freeware with version 7.0.1.5! Want a screenshot as proof? No problem. Just read on
Continue reading ‘Get Pro or Plus? Why bother?!’
It took me a while to understand the subtle humor in one of LS’ slogan after being pointed to it by a good friend. The slogan is very prominent on the main website and says:
You have enough to worry about, WE’LL RELIEVE THE WORKLOAD.
(Source: lavasoft.com)
Here’s a screenshot of the part with the slogan:
Let’s face it, with a mug of coffee and a non-working computer anyone is relieved of the workload for a while. A subtle but well-thought-out slogan!
// Oliver
In this blog entry I outlined that the new approach LS takes to keep malware from the customer’s machine was due to downtime. Suddenly people start complaining about it, although this strategy was clearly shown during the beta phase in each and every of the betas.
Join the club.
At least you caught yours before it destroyed the operating system.
The new 2007 took 45 miinutes to eradicate my registry.
And no-one has responded, either on these forums or via e-mail to a support request sent earlier in the week.
How does System Restore work for you?
If I can get this open once, I need to know if System Restore (XP Pro, SP2) will fix it.
(Source: LS support forum)
First asking for protection and then complaining about the implementation details, as if they weren’t clearly outlined in advance 
// Oliver
Have you ever looked at LS’s management website? The fact that the number of (management) people seems to be shrinking in the last few months is well-known and I will leave it to my reader to compare the photos and this interesting video.
Maybe it is about bragging rights again? … maybe it’s just cool to stand in front of the capitol in Washington D.C. and talk about spyware, who knows. I am convinced any other place would have done as well here, if it wasn’t for the US-centric view on a global problem. What I was amazed about, was the fact that most of the stuff they (especially one of them) said was not right away wrong, but this doesn’t keep me from nitpicking, does it? After all I am a German
Continue reading ‘Behind the words …’
On LS’ blog, the latest entry is bragging about the positive press AAW 2007 got. Well, not press in the traditional sense, because real journalists would have investigated thoroughly. Let’s nitpick a bit.
One of the first applications built to find and remove adware and spyware, Ad-Aware 2007’s excellent reputation is well-justified.
The first such utility was not written by Lavasoft, but by Steve Gibson under the name Optout, although LS officially claims: “We are not just any anti-spyware company, we are the original anti-spyware company”. While Steve Gibson is by far not an undisputed expert, the kudos is his, not LS’. Furthermore the whole statement was bullshit given that AAW 2007 was released in 2007, while other AS-companies (even LS themselves) have released products prior to that. So how could it be one of the first? Bad wording or negligence? As to the reputation, I ask my readers to visit the LS support forum to check by themselves (unless it’s being cleaned up). They even got a special rant thread - woohoo.
Continue reading ‘Let’s nitpick’
This seems to be the case in Lavasoft’s support forum. Now, while there are some people not satisfied with the products of my company as well, it is not solely Ad-Aware 2007 which is to blame as it seems:
This is a JOKE!! I HAVE WASTED 90 MINUTES SO FAR ON A SYSTEM THAT SUCKS!! UNDER ORDER # xyz ON 6-10-07 I PAID GOOD MONEY AND NEVER GOT AN E-MAIL WITH A SERIAL NUMBER EITHER! JUST LIKE YOU, THE SYSTEM SAID MY E-MAIL ADDRESS IS NOT RECOGNIZED. FUNNY THEY HAD NO PROBLEM TAKING MY MONEY!! HORRIBLE !!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Source)
The username says it all: “MAD AS HELL”
Continue reading ‘“Happy” users everywhere …’
… the launch of the newer and better product is a full success at download.com as it seems. A little less than 250 million (244229387 at the time of this writing) downloads in less than two hours, this has to be world record.
Let’s see what bandwidth download.com offers …
244229387 x 17.15 MiB = 4188533987.05 MiB
(For the sake of brevity let’s assume 2 hours, i.e. 7200 seconds)
4188533987.05 MiB / 7200 s = 581740.83 MiB/s = 4653926.65 MBit/s
Yes, dear reader, that is 4.6 million Megabit per second!!! Amazing. Not less amazing, how many users have rated the new product within this short time.
Evil to him who evil thinks,
// Oliver
… please send them to web@lavasoft.com … and keep the Ad-Aware 20067 betas in mind. Oh, four-letter swear words only, please
// Oliver
PS: They really asked for it, just in case you wonder. Screenshot available as always
Now, as we know Lavasoft has published Beta 7 of its flagship-product-to-be Ad-Aware 20067 and things are getting better and better and better … well, just help yourself by getting an overview in the beta forum. I call on the Lavasoft management to make this quality code OpenSource now and make it available to the user community as a contribution in the effort to fight adware and spyware.
As we all know the most secure computer is stripped off of its power supply and network connections and buried below several meters of concrete, so the steps towards this solution taken by Lavasoft should be appreciated by the security community. Even I would participate in enhancing the system-crashing capabilities of a possible Ad-Aware OpenSource Edition to ensure that no adware or spyware sneaks on computers protected by Ad-Aware. Obviously crashed systems cannot be infected by new malware of any kind. Certainly an approach that we in the AV industry will have to look into. Again Lavasoft has taken the lead, let’s follow them. The system-crashing techniques incorporated in the Ad-Aware betas are so advanced that any other software company and even hobby programmers have to stand in awe.
It’s time. Make Ad-Aware OpenSource now!
// Oliver
LS just announced that the Beta 52 of Ad-Aware 2007 has been postponed by one year. Instead of making it available in March 2008 it is now scheduled around March 2009 due to a change in the beta release cycle (fortnightly instead of weekly). However, this is preliminary information and subject to changes
// Oliver
PS: As always a screenshot is available in case the blog entry disappears