Since the beginning of this year, leading anti-spyware developers, academic leaders and public interest groups have come together to form an Anti-Spyware Coalition (ASC). Led by the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), the ASC has been working on a consensus on a uniform definition of "spyware" helping all users to make educated decisions about removing or blocking certain programs.
Safer Networking Ltd is supportive of these efforts and contributes to them as a member of the ASC. We will try to stick to the uniform definitions for new detection rules and, time permitting, will also adapt the existing rules.

On July 12th, the alliance was ready to present a first public document containing a first draft of a "spyware" definition (including examples of spyware technologies), a glossary of technical terms commonly used in connection with spyware and some basic anti-spyware safety tips to stay safe while using the internet.

The ASC now invites the public to comment on this document until August 12th, and thus help refining the draft definitions for the final version that will be published this fall. The document itself, a comment form and more information about the coalition can be found on the ASC's web site.