Stupid Fing VLC

[Al B. Sure!]

Idiots?

Not you. You got it right. The other people insulting me for being stupid. I fell for the scam. I needed VLC for a specific immediate purpose and I didn't give a thought that I could be downloading from a scam site. I needed to be more vigilant, but it's not stupidity, like others (not you, Slowwhand) suggested.

[Al B. Sure!]

Again, to be clear, I unchecked all the crap and when I saw it installed anyway, I immediately uninstalled the crap. Unfortunately, you can't remove malware that easily.

[Lorizael]

Remember to download VLC only from the official repositories or the official website to be safe.

Duh.

[rah]

YES. If he had done the same research prior, he wouldn't have this issue. Hopefully he will learn from it.

[SlowwHand]

In the future, download software, scan it and then install it. Don't just run it. Cnet, File Hippo and Major Geeks, as for instances, are usually safe. I still don't fully trust them.
You ever hear of "Wild Tangent"? I forget what it was nestled into, but it was a mother to get rid of it all, and is actually what finally taught me my lesson.
Auto updates are a different thing. I just run them, generally. Good luck.

[giblets]

Not you. You got it right. The other people insulting me for being stupid. I fell for the scam. I needed VLC for a specific immediate purpose and I didn't give a thought that I could be downloading from a scam site. I needed to be more vigilant, but it's not stupidity, like others (not you, Slowwhand) suggested.

So you saw the need for vigilance in this situation, since you're not stupid, but you were careless anyway?

[Asher]

Hey *******, I did custom install and unchecked everything. When I saw it installed it anyway, I went and uninstalled the crap it installed. That didn't ****ing work.

You want to try to install it safely, you smug ****ers?

http://www.downloadster.org/vlc.php?option=z&catid=&kw=vlc&custr=VLC&lptype=3&mkwid=&aid=12&s=&cust=VLC_AD_www.google.com_&channel=&subid=DSTVL_achrome&roia=%21j4A4vq1BAAKLOkMAAAltVQAAbPdCAABx7Q-A

Go. Download and uncheck the adware. Go ahead.

Why the **** would you download free software from a sketchy site rather than the official?

[Wezil]

Hey *******, I did custom install and unchecked everything. When I saw it installed it anyway, I went and uninstalled the crap it installed. That didn't ****ing work.

You want to try to install it safely, you smug ****ers?

http://www.downloadster.org/vlc.php?option=z&catid=&kw=vlc&custr=VLC&lptype=3&mkwid=&aid=12&s=&cust=VLC_AD_www.google.com_&channel=&subid=DSTVL_achrome&roia=%21j4A4vq1BAAKLOkMAAAltVQAAbPdCAABx7Q-A

Go. Download and uncheck the adware. Go ahead.

No problem. I did it a week ago actually (I unchecked the box for the extras).

I've since uninstalled it as I wasn't impressed. Trying Zoom player at the moment.

[Al B. Sure!]

I unchecked them but it installed it anyway. I immediately uninstalled and deleted all installed programs but it was too late.

[Dinner]

I doubt that. I've never gotten anything off of VLC which didn't uninstall when I uninstalled VLC. It's a very reputable program and if you have something on your system it likely wasn't VLC which put it there.

[Al B. Sure!]

I doubt that. I've never gotten anything off of VLC which didn't uninstall when I uninstalled VLC. It's a very reputable program and if you have something on your system it likely wasn't VLC which put it there.

Are you really this dumb? Did you read my posts? Did you not see the article I posted in which scammers were using open source VLC as a package to spread malware? They buy advertising off google so they are the first result.

In a recent blog post, VLC developer Ludovic Fauvet said that scammers are taking advantage of the availability of the VLC source code to trick users. The scammers are adding malware and adware to VLC and releasing them as the original product.

This is how the scammers work:

They get the VLC code and add adware or malware.
They release their version of VLC as the original.
They buy advertisements using Google AdWords.
They earn more money through the malware and adware bundled with their version of VLC.
They buy more advertisements.
This is a direct violation of the GPL under which the VLC source code is being distributed. (Obviously the scammers do not care about license violation.) And more importantly, this tarnishes the VLC brand in the eyes of unsuspecting users.

This is what Ludovic Fauvet wrote:

What bothers us the most is that many of them are bundling VLC with various crapware to monetize it in ways that mislead our users by thinking they’re downloading an original version. This is not acceptable. The result is a poor product that doesn’t work as intended, that can’t be uninstalled and that clearly abuses its users and their privacy. Not to mention that it also discredits our work as volunteers and that it’s time-consuming, time that is not invested in the development.

Remember to download VLC only from the official repositories or the official website to be safe.

For obvious reasons, we will not link to those scammers’ websites here. However, this is not the first time that a popular open source project has been abused by scammers. Last year, Blender reported that scammers are rebranding their application and selling them.

[Dinner]

So just download it from the official VLC website. It's not hard and a 5 second google search will get you to the right spot. This isn't rocket science.

[giblets]

Are you really this dumb? Did you read my posts? Did you not see the article I posted in which scammers were using open source VLC as a package to spread malware? They buy advertising off google so they are the first result.

He's not dumb, he just doesn't realize how dumb you are

[DaShi]

Why isn't the thread about this?

[Ming]

Don't smart people only download software from trusted sites?