TSR: IN UR COMPUTER, VIRUSIN' UR FILES!

[minionsRmine]

The Sims Resource is full of crap, as always. It IS their responsibility, just like it's EA's responsibility to take care of inappropriate ads that popped up on the Sims 2 site from time to time. It's their responsibility if they want to keep their website "family friendly", as they like to say. 

[dstar]

Yes well given that it appears that Thomass, and the other Execs at TSR do not have much education in business in general and have not take a basic Business Ethics class- or they just don't give a shit that by leaving the ads on their site they are being unethical or making poor business decisionss which is most likely the case
 Poor business decisions how you say? Lets say I go to TSR (lets assume I have never been to the site before) who claim to be a safe, PG-13 site for downloading Sims Content- before I even register I am seeing - inappropriate advertising and content that is pushing it to be rated X in some cases. Than I leave the site only to find out that all sorts of bells and whistles have been set off by my anti virus, anti spyware, anti adware programs. If I am 12 (most TSR subscribers are between 18 and 24 - but that only counts ones who haven't registered with Mummys credit card- something I am sure is ignored by Thomass and co)  I might ignore these warnings and pay for a sub anyways. However if I have any working brain cells at all I am going to leave that site and never go back ,and go to the Booty for stuff by TSR creators that I feel that I must have.

Does TSR get the Subscription fees from those 3:5 people who get a virus the minute the go the the site and never come back no they don't therefore not only is allowing advertising containing malware on their site poor business ethics but a bad business decision as well. Sooner or later having virus infected advertising is going to catch up with them and bite them in the ass.

[Paden]

You say they target the ads at their (paid) user base? Makes sense; if they think that most of their subscribers are pervs and pedo creepies, that is. Thing is, there are more people that those kinds of ads are likely to offend, so they put them up in the hopes of getting monies out of them so the bad nasty stuff goes away and leaves them alone, oh noes!! I wish those stupid fucks in charge over there would grow the fuck up, what they're doing pretty much amounts to extortion and strong arming folks into giving them shekels they've got no possible rights to.

I'm starting to tinker around with recolouring furniture meshes and while I'm improving, I'm still better at it than the likes of Buntah and Atwat, who think they're so great that they have to get paid. I'd rather pay my cat to hork up on a plate, take a picture and fit it to a frame and try to sell that. It still wouldn't be my work though, so I wouldn't do it. Not to mention that it would be in extremely poor taste and I like to think I'm smarter than that. No way in hell would I try to make money off of something that I don't own, I'm too damn honest for that shit.

[scrappysim]

They don't target their paid users with the ads.  If you have a subscription you don;t get the ads.  There are people dumb enough to actually get a sub simply to stop their Anti-virus from going off every time they visit the site.  I know this because when all this was happening I was posting about it in the forums as well and the sheeple were saying things like "just get a sub and then you can just skip the ads".  Like that made it better.  I have since switched to Firefox and have lots of ad-blockers and no script so I feel better but me being able to fix the problem on my end doesn't take away their culpability.

[ValancySterling]

And to clarify further on the whole targeted ads thing, most ad groups I've worked with on websites let you tailor the ads towards your audience of your website.  For instance, the home decorating site I worked on for a bit would have ads for furniture stores and home improvement stores.  Or like at MTS, where the ads are mostly video games/movie ads.

Either they don't make enough off of ad revenue to care about the ads that show up (ie the money they make off of non-subscribers) or the shady ad company pays well enough that they don't care what kind of ads they are.

[Paden]

OK, I get it now. But still, the adult type ads kind of let you know what kind of people they think they have downloading, don't you think? I mean, if it was truly PG-13/Teen, then you wouldn't see some of the eye popping singles ads... I swear, the only taste they have over their is mostly in their mouths.

[scrappysim]

Well, their attitude seems to be that the advertisers themselves or the companies that they contract with are the ones who have complete and utter control over the ads.  They don't take responsibility for the content of the ads at all, even the smutty ones.  It seems to be the same as the virus issue. "We don't put the ads there.  Tell them to do something about it."  There are enough people around the community who have sites that use ads to know that isn't the way it works.  If an ad service is putting inappropriate ads up on your site you tell them to stop.  If there are virus alarms going off because of ads you make them fix it and you take down the ads until they do.  If you do all this and there is still a problem that keeps happening you get a new ad service or, in the case of TSR, you decide that it is bad enough that you are charging for content and you really don't need the extra revenue anyway and you take the ads down.  Well, that last part is just what should be done and not what they will do, obviously.

[Paden]

Pescado, a request, if you would, sir. I've been talking with folks online and there are some ideas floating around that someone like you could easily prove or disprove regarding this piece of shit tool. The tsr program comes with a dll file added, and it makes changes to the registry and makes sure the program updates, etc. but it can have a keylogger included in it, can it not? Have you torn into the .dll to see exactly what it does?

I mean, if there is a  a keylogger and if you do banking on your pc, you're so screwed. A keylogger records all of the information you put in, it can even take screen shots of where you login, and capture all your passwords. Even regularly changing passwords will not help you in cases like that. Generally is hidden in .exe files and .dll files, tiff files and all of that happy fun kind of shit, as well as it can send the info by email, or ftp, or other means.

The hacker can then view athe info, study it, sell your information to whoever they bloody well feel like it. Oh, and of course hack your photobucket and shit.So, Shanow might have lost a lot more than just his vacation pictures. And get this: a huge amount of keyloggers are undetectable for the most part, so that trial run Thommass did could have probably been a keylogger?

Of course it doesn't have to send anything until the hacker tells it to send stuff, in order to avoid detection even better. So, say if Shanow gets annoying, I see in my database what IP he uses, then I whip out my software and lookie there at that, Batman, he has it installed... so I activate the logger, and have it send over screenshots of everything he types and it doesn't even need to be running everywhere.

Sounds insidious, doesn't it? Is there any way you can find out if it exists anywhere other than supposition/imagination or is this just something you're going to sit on your ass and contemplate while your prehensile beard helps you to strangle tonight's dinner? Just wondering.

[calliandra]

Jesus Christ. My first post after lurking for months without an account is about how absolutely terrifying having a keylogger would be. Oh the things you do to the masses, TSR.

If they do include a keylogger, couldn't that be called an invasion of privacy and grounds for lawsuit or at least some huge public scandal? I know it's technically legal but for TSR to install a hidden keylogger, especially when they have access to their subscribers' personal information and have proven that they're not the least bit hesitant to broadcast it, seems like it would spell certain death to their site. I'm sure that even the dumbest subscriber at TSR would know that having their every keystroke monitored by a stranger would be a bad idea.

[Paden]

It's not proven, though. I'm just asking if that would be possible and if so, can he obtain the information so that people don't get into a panic that isn't needed.

[SnarkyShark]

That's an interesting theory, Paden. It could also possibly explain why Thomass would have sent johan over here to try and alleviate concerns about the tool's safety. The booty is costing TSR tons of money, and yet they want to share their tool with us? Riiiight.

[Paden]

It's kind of telling that Johan was so proud of the work he did, too, now isn't it?

[Nightmare]

I have found a way to reproduce the input so there is...

http://www.the-prism.com/index.php?topic=3225.msg39307#new

You have to use an VMware clean machine and Trend Internet Security Pro 2009

Step by step:

1 Install WinXP SP 2 Pro. on Vmware 6.5....
2. Install NET framework 3.5
3. Install Trend Micro
4. Install TSR workshop
5. See what happens  

Pes, if you want to remain credible, you have to provide ways to the Averages Joes. Relying on word and screenshots still leaves place for doubt.

Thanks to Shanow
Special thanks to Paden

As the Trend Micro says, a Library that loads at WINDOWS Startup to be loaded by some or ALL applications, if programmed badly, could affect system stability.

For now, I don´t recommend the tool, specially the version I investigated. 0.6.1.0

EDIT: Just downloaded from TSR the 0.6.3.0 same warnings

[Skoria_Bay]

Thanks for testing it Nightmare/Sblade.

Yikes! Rather glad I don't have Sims 3. Still, I think Thoma$$ and company should be reported.

[kenmtl]

Average Joes? As in all the stupid people who aren't you? Dude you do great work but your people skills really suck.

However, thanks for the info.