Proprietary Software - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation

Proprietary Software Is Often Malware

Proprietary software, also called nonfree software, means software that doesn't respect users' freedom and community. A proprietary program puts its developer or owner in a position of power over its users. This power is in itself an injustice.

The point of this page is that the initial injustice of proprietary software often leads to further injustices: malicious functionalities.

Power corrupts; the proprietary program's developer is tempted to design the program to mistreat its users. (Software whose functioning mistreats the user is called malware.) Of course, the developer usually does not do this out of malice, but rather to profit more at the users' expense. That does not make it any less nasty or more legitimate.

Yielding to that temptation has become ever more frequent; nowadays it is standard practice. Modern proprietary software is typically a way to be had.

As of October, 2018, the pages in this directory list around 350 instances of malicious functionalities (with more than 400 references to back them up), but there are surely thousands more we don't know about.

Injustices or techniques	Products or companies
Addictions Back doors (1) Censorship Coverups Deception DRM (2) Incompatibility Insecurity Interference Jails (3) Sabotage Subscriptions Surveillance Tethers (4) Tyrants (5) In the pipe	Appliances Cars Games Mobiles Webpages Adobe Amazon Apple Google Microsoft
Back door: any feature of a program that enables someone who is not supposed to be in control of the computer where it is installed to send it commands. Digital restrictions management, or “DRM”: functionalities designed to restrict what users can do with the data in their computers. Jail: system that imposes censorship on application programs. Tether: functionality that requires permanent (or very frequent) connection to a server. Tyrant: system that rejects any operating system not “authorized” by the manufacturer.

Injustices or techniques

Products or companies

Back door: any feature of a program that enables someone who is not supposed to be in control of the computer where it is installed to send it commands.
Digital restrictions management, or “DRM”: functionalities designed to restrict what users can do with the data in their computers.
Jail: system that imposes censorship on application programs.
Tether: functionality that requires permanent (or very frequent) connection to a server.
Tyrant: system that rejects any operating system not “authorized” by the manufacturer.

Users of proprietary software are defenseless against these forms of mistreatment. The way to avoid them is by insisting on free (freedom-respecting) software. Since free software is controlled by its users, they have a pretty good defense against malicious software functionality.

Latest additions

A cracker would be able to turn the Oculus Rift sensors into spy cameras after breaking into the computer they are connected to.

Unfortunately, the article improperly refers to crackers as “hackers”.
In China, it is mandatory for electric cars to be equipped with a terminal that transfers technical data, including car location, to a government-run platform. In practice, manufacturers collect this data as part of their own spying, then forward it to the government-run platform.
Malware installed into the processor in a hard drive could use the disk itself as a microphone to detect speech.

The article refers to the “Linux operating system” but seems to mean GNU/Linux. That hack would not require changing Linux itself.
Game Of War: Fire Age is an iPhone game with addictive features which are based on behavioral manipulation techniques, compounded with group emulation. After a fairly easy start, the game slows down and becomes more difficult, so gamers are led to spend more and more money in order to keep up with their group. And if they stop playing for a while, the equipment they invested in gets destroyed by the “enemy” unless they buy an expensive “shield” to protect it. This game is also deceptive, as it uses confusing menus and complex stats to obfuscate true monetary costs.
Many games are designed to keep gamers compulsively playing—and renewing their subscription. To achieve this result, developers use techniques that derive from behavioral and brain research:

The Skinner Box

An environment in which the rat… sorry, the user is trained to “push the lever“, i.e. do a certain action over and over again in order to get a reward.

Virtual food pellets

Items that have nothing to do with the game itself, but are valuable to gamers because of the work required to obtain them (e.g., EverQuest); some people will end up collecting them for the sake of collecting.

Random rewards

They turn the game into the equivalent of a slot machine (e.g., World of Warcraft, ZT Online).

Elaborate cycles

Gamers' behavior can be “shaped” by making cycles (progress from one level to the next) slower and slower, designing complex tasks that are difficult to get out of (e.g. World of Warcraft), or conversely dividing them up in small chunks to avoid frustration (e.g., New Super Mario Bros.Wii).

Decay of game assets

This makes it necessary for a gamer to keep playing, without vacations, simply to avoid losing what they have earned so far (e.g., Farmville, Ultima Online, Animal Crossing).

Games such as World of Warcraft, which are considered very addictive, use several of these techniques.

However, the addictiveness of a game is only one of the determinants of addiction. Equally important are the psychological make-up and life circumstances of the gamer. Gaming addiction, like other addictions, is a form of mental escape from an unrewarding life. The sad truth is that, in the long run, it leads to an even worse life.

Note: We are not gamers. If you think we have misunderstood some point, or have suggestions for making this text clearer or more correct, please send them to <[email protected]>.