Capital Summertime Ball 2024

[dstrkzn]

Hi So i downloaded 4od the other day to catch up with Hollyoaks, since then though my internet explorer has been opening up at Movie download sites and the usual insurance sites and that sort of thing, the weird thing is i dont use IE just Firefox so the only thing i can think of is 4od.

Im using AVG virus software and windows defender [spyware thing] and they seem to find nothing.

Has anyone had problems like this? any idea if i should try and fix this?

[Grace]

I'm sure Timsk will know, try and get hold of him.

[Jono]

Stop visiting the porn sites. That might help.

[DC]

dc has had a stupid ie runtime error latley and it's doing his head in. until kespersky seems to have killed it, stupid spyware.

hmm it's back and i cant get rid of it, ah well it will go and all the xp sh*t when i wipe the system soon for vista.

[Timsk]

As far as I'm aware, there's no spyware included with the 4od installation. Your problems have arisen from some other route than this.

HOWEVER, the way in which you get the downloads from 4od is via a peer-to-peer (P2P) service developed by a company called Kontiki - this is mentioned in the agreement you signed up to on installation, but quite honestly who reads those...?

What this all means is that when you download a show from them, it may be coming from other people who've downloaded it as well as or instead of the 4od servers (like other P2P services like bittorrent, kazaa etc). You continue to act as a peer source for other downloaders of the same show for the life of the file on your machine (as defined by the DRM rules for the show/service). Uninstalling 4od does not remove the P2P components, you could still be uploading shows you've downloaded to other users every time you start Windows even if you're nowhere near 4od or similar... Obviously this has an effect on your bandwidth usage, and overall speed when using the internet. And as it can cause the network services on your PC to 'max out' it can cause other problems.

I repeat - this is not spyware, just the method Channel 4 have decided on for distribution of their on demand products (the BBC did the same thing with their now defunct 'iMP trial', as do Sky with 'Sky by Broadband'). Some people aren't bothered and have no problems using the service, some are bothered and do have problems.

Personally, I have the following concerns about it:

1. Lack of clarity about what people are signing up to - for many people a more upfront mention of P2P might cause them not to bother.

2. No explanation of the distributed nature of P2P and how it might affect use of your broadband connection.

3. No way to switch it off or cap the bandwidth it uses.

4. No complete uninstall mechanism to remove the P2P components.

There are ways to get rid of it, but they're fast disappearing from the internet. If you think you have a problem with this PM me.

[dstrkzn]

well i got rid of it and installed PC Guard from virgin media and everythings fine now, viruses and spyware gone now its all good.

[sebdevlin]

Thanks for this was going to try 4od but will give it a miss i think