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Yes, they are intentionally fear mongering, just read most of their examples. It’s like reading tabloids.

Fear mongering? Now you go to the other extreme.

What is malware? Is that browser toolbar your aunt has on ther internet explorer Malware? Probably yes.

Is a "Cleaner" Program that does effectively nothing except Phone home Malware? Probably Yes.

Is a software that does similar things behind your back without your knowledge, but that has some useful parts to it Malware? Maybe Yes?

But is ALL proprietary software malware merely because I don’t get the source? I could get the Linux source but it wouldn’t do me any good because I don’t know how to compile it. The whole thing is a silly argument. I pay for some software precisely because it does what I want!

Probably not, but unless you fire up wireshark or reverse engineer precisely which bits on your disk a software touches, you cannot always tell which one does and which doesn't.

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