More Awesome Than You!

We bring you the shocking news of the latest TSR atrocity: SPYWARE AND VIRII!
(http://beta.moreawesomethanyou.com/terror/tsr.png)
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so have at it.

I guess that's what I get for heading down to that part of town without protection... I feel so dirty.

Well, at least it's somewhat comforting that I apparently use the same anti-spyware program as Pescado.

Wtf is this?  What does that actually mean? Not cool at all.

Glad I wasn't interested. Nice save Pescado!

This comes as no fuckin' surprise at all.

Completely unsurprising news.


It means TSR is infecting your boxxen with unnecessary and potentially damaging crap, either deliberately or due to incompetence.


No, but most people who have been paying attention for the last few years are almost tapped out of outrage at this point. Saying "TSR sucks nards" is self-evident and stating the obvious, much like saying "Sky is usually blue during the daytime."

Thats what my first thought was too.  I certainly am not surprised about the news but I do feel better about my chosen protection.

Thanks for the break down.  :P  I still don't understand what the file in question actually does.

To be fair, those screens are from Shane, who linked em on MTS IRC chat ;) That's his AV app.

I'm sure Pescado hunts down his viruses with a crossbow and finishes em off with his teeth.

I am not surprised by that. I have gotten viruses from them before. Stopped using them before Sims 2 came out.

 
See, that how I thought Pescado would deal with a virus as well.  I still like it better than others I have used.

Dirty girl! DIRTY GIRL!

You should have been using a condom with spermicidal lube, a dental dam, douching afterwards (I know, douching is bad for you, but this is TSR), and then following up with a gyno appointment in a week.

I use Malware Bytes, Comodo, and Avast. Avast proved itself to be effective just this week. That siren is scary.

The other day I went on there for the shits and grins. It was ad city, which is kind of fucked up for a pay site. I mean how greedy can you get? But then I thought okay whatever. Then my web browser gets hijacked and taken to some completely different page that's all black except for a video player and some commercials and an ad for a show that I can't stop from playing are playing.

So I think okay I can just click somewhere to skip the ad and go back to where I was because that's how those obnoxious as work everywhere else.

Nope. No click through. No way to exit. I'm stuck with some damed video running on a all black background at some site I didn't choose to go to. So I just closed the damned browser down.

And of course three more windows of bullshit pop up.  ::)

Luckily, I didn't catch anything from it, but seriously? Is that the kind of shit you have to go through to go to their site if you don't subscribe? And I sincerely hope the people dumb enough to pay aren't subjected to that too.

Well, this is my first post. I'm Shane - the taker of the aforementioned screencaps.

To answer questions asked here & pmbd, the alerts came up both while installing, launching and running the program.

-On installation the program adds itself to the startup registry without asking permission. This means by default it will try to launch every time Windows does. (I didn't screencap this 'alert')

-When launching the program, the  "Attempts to communicate with the internet" alert popped up. This is so the program can show you the latest subscriber downloads available on TSR, as well as offer you 30% off a subscription. This connection between the workshop and TSR is always open, the program launches with Windows if you remember.

Screencap of this: http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj211/ShanOw0/tsrtool.jpg

- When using the various 'features' or saving a file using the tool, the program library injection alert popped up.

TSR has some 'splainin' to do.  I suppose they might have a good excuse.  It should be amusing, at least.

Avast really is the best.  When I had a persistent rootkit problem, Avast was the only scanner that was able to catch it out of several I tried.

Although if anyone would like to brave the depths of TSR to bring me the cleaned up Sims 3 files (especially the toddler hair) I would be forever in their debt.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/zcmmnyytgtt/Cemre_Mesh_ToddHair008.package

It's just the package file, so no need to extract it, run it through any installers or anything of that sort. I downloaded the sims3pack then ran it through Pescado's recompressor tool, then extracted the package and named it a sensible name, not the EA jibberish.

Just tested it in my game and it's working fine and nothing exploded so far. :P

Edit: Put it in Mods/Packages/ or Mod/Packages/Skins or somewhere along those lines.

Awesome.  That's what I was looking for.

But let's not make this just be a THANKS THIS IS GREAT post.  What exactly did the spyware try to do?

Oh, ugh. Thank everything that I didn't use this. I started the installer(Didn't go any further) and lost my cool when my computer starting slowing to a crawl while I was being web-raped impregnated.

Of course this could've been due to the fact that my computer was stupid at the time (my card was in the process of dying, has nothing to do with that but still, wouldn't put anything past old faithful) but lets just blame it on TSR, since their installation is the stupidest thing in the world. Don't remember the details, just remember it was a painful and tedious process.

DEATH TO T$R!!!

@TSR: $&§!%)§#$ (CENSORED)  >:(
I will spread this information to all my friends!
Thanks Pescado  :)

So TSR gets über-pissed when some one pirates their content and when someone actually pays for their content, they screw them over. Thank God I never liked TSR because I swear to God that web site is so stupid.

I smell lawsuit, hopefully  8)

I actually posted some houses there. Then I came here about a month ago.. Am now in the loop. F*ck Them.
They charge money for some really stupid shit too.
Some of their "Featured Content" made it to GoS's worst finds thread. Nuff Said
Wow... I feel like I just joined TSR Anonymous or something... do I get a chip? lol

I posted a link to this thread on GOS but apparently it got deleted.
It makes me wonder if some people are ignorant enough not to listen when someone shouts SPYWARE!. I personally think you should listen to things like that.. but pah, it's my fault for trying to share a heads up. Their computers.
... I'm going to go install more virus killers.

Avast does rock. Also I thank God I come here before I go to T$R.

I thought they Disliked TSR there...
Oh well..
If someone had the technological Savvy to remove the spyware from TSR's Program and repost it somewhere else.. That would be Hilarious.To be a fly on the wall...

I think that is really shady for places, even TSR, to delete posts and threads. If someone is being inflammatory or insulting then tell them to tone it down (unless it's here, and then tell them MOAR!!) but to just out and out yank a post like it never existed makes it look like you are trying to hide or cover something up.

Simsecret is open until Friday.


Maybe because people are stupid, especially the ones that shout spyware despite having no evidence?


So you found out that the workshop uses a retarded setup and initiates a Internet connection.

So does STEAM ...

I fucking hate STEAM.

Spyware would indicate it would "collect information about users, their computer or browsing habits without their informed consent", being set to launch on setup is not doing that beyond being retarded annoying, like STEAM.


Yes ... go do that because its a GREAT idea to have more that one anti-virus program running at the same time, its not as if its a unnecessary waste of resources or if they will interfere with each out ...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oh and before someone gives me shit about this ... I would advice not using TSR workshop program because its from TSR that have no experience on that matter.

Also I dislike people that spread panic, especially ones that are bandwagon jumpers as I know how ranting on TSR is popular but when I make a accusation I try to be sure that is actually true.

The Internet being a reflection of the human soul is filled with virus and malaware, I do not fear it because I have my computer shielded with adequate protection and I only got fucked up when I did a STUPID STUPID STUPID thing despite Avast warning me.

In short, chances are you have virus (that is the plural of virus STOP RAPING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE!) and/or malaware.

Wait - virus is the plural of virus?   :'(

No. It's viruses.

no
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/virus

Awwww.  You gotta love a man who knows his Latin.

Is that a very recent build of the program?  The one I've been using has a differently named .exe and ZoneAlarm has never reported that it attempted to access the internet, nor have any of the several anti-malware programs I run regularly turned up any issues.

ETA:  Okay, apparently that version was released today and added massive new functionality to the tool.  The older version (that only included the plugin for making new patterns) scans clean according to VirusTotal, ThreatFire, SpywareDoctor, and Malwarebytes, so anyone who's been using it can probably continue to do so without fear.

In light of this report, the following sections of the EULA for the thing take on a rather ominous tone, as does the fact that the download page for the program makes a special point of directing the user to go read it before downloading:

• 5. NO WARRANTIES
  IBIBI HB expressly disclaims any warranty for the SOFTWARE PRODUCT. The SOFTWARE PRODUCT is provided 'As Is' without any express or implied warranty of any kind, including but not limited to any warranties of merchantability, noninfringement, or fitness of a particular purpose. IBIBI HB does not warrant or assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within the SOFTWARE PRODUCT. IBIBI HB makes no warranties respecting any harm that may be caused by the transmission of a computer virus, worm, time bomb, logic bomb, or other such computer program.  IBIBI HB further expressly disclaims any warranty or representation to Authorized Users or to any third party.

• 6. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
  In no event shall IBIBI HB be liable for any damages (including, without limitation, lost profits, business interruption, or lost information) rising out of 'Authorized Users' use of or inability to use the SOFTWARE PRODUCT, even if IBIBI HB has been advised of the possibility of such damages. In no event will IBIBI HB be liable for loss of data or for indirect, special, incidental, consequential (including lost profit), or other damages based in contract, tort or otherwise. IBIBI HB shall have no liability with respect to the content of the SOFTWARE PRODUCT or any part thereof, including but not limited to errors or omissions contained therein, libel, infringements of rights of publicity, privacy, trademark rights, business interruption, personal injury, loss of privacy, moral rights or the disclosure of confidential information.

/me looks to jfade for an explanation.

Correct, and I'll add more: virus (poison, in Latin) is a noun of the second declension (like vir), but it's a special case, as it retains the -us ending in subject, accusative and vocative case. It also doesn't have an own form for the other three cases, and it uses the synonym venenum instead. So there's no "viri", nor "viro", but the full (singular) correct declension is: virus, veneni, veneno, virus, virus, veneno.
Also (again), a plural form doesn't exist at all - virus is a singularia tantum (single only) noun.
In short, in Latin (and Italian) is indeclinable; in Italian we use the singular form (virus) with the plural article (i), but I assume that in English it's different, also because there's no different singular or plural article.

I love that ya'll are getting all defensive about the validity of "viruses" while ignoring who said it was incorrect. Drakron. Drakron is ESL, and unlike many of the excellent ESL posters we have here, still suffers from awkward sentence structure and rampant grammatical errors. He has no leg on which to stand.

Mike, empty your inbox, would you please?

Not that I'm very happy at the moment with TSR (I am not - their ads are full of redirects that take over your browser, etc.).

However, NOD32 from Eset scans that program as clean - no virus, no malware. I am running Eset's latest build with the latest update.

Not passing any judgment on the TSR program itself...but, apparently some anti-virus programs are more prone to giving 'false positive' readings.

I have to leap to the defense of the word virii, not because it is correct or even appropriate, but because it is just cool, the way "fambly" is cool, i.e., a nonsense corruption of an otherwise decent word made for the sheer pleasure of indulging in corruption.  

Likewise, I defend to the death the word penii as the plural of penis.  Yes, I know, penis doesn't end with a -us, but let's not be picayune.  Penii has many uses, for instance, in describing mutant genitalia.  "And so it came to pass that their baby was born one dark, stormy night, bearing ten itty-bitty fingers, ten perfect itty-bitty toes, each like polished pink pearls, and two clear and unmistakeable penii, one pointing left, one right, like a bi-plane propeller."

Oh noe!  I have an image of that one now ...!   :o :)

Mean. ESL is curable, and preferable to silence.

I don't think TSR's tool (which is totally absent from the ranch here) will be anywhere close to complete as long as they use the .obj format for transferring meshes, as that format does not support bone assignments and skin weights. And we have all seen on the hair meshes, including the EA produced ones, how important proper assignments and weighting are to overall quality.

So I think it is only a fitting punishment that pay meshers will have to use the TSR tool, since my stuff is not licensed for commercial use. But you can be assured my programs and plugins will never require an internet connection to phone home with.

Total shitheads. Damn them with this spyware.

Mind you, maybe they want to be just like daddy (EA).

"Virii" (like "penii") is correct when using The Rule Of Funny.

At any rate, if you have more than one virus, you have bigger problems than worrying about what the correct plural form of the word would be, IMHO. For one, if infected, you probably stupidly wandered over to TSR after being fully warned in advance, and probably need a minder and a HELMUT with a chinstrap.

Mac users you should already have little snitch or something else blocking internet connections.
Can mac users even use this TSR tool? I wouldn't use it in any context.

For windows I have comodo firewall, it's extremely paranoid setting works great and if you can't learn how to write port rules maybe you should let someone else set up your internets. You have no one to blame but yourself if you download applications blindly. It's not surprising paysites give it the very least effort whereas the enthusiasts and the community who give it away for free have the best quality.

TS3 is going to be hell of a lot more picky about your modified content, so it isn't really hard to see the light this time. I don't like having to reinstall my games every five days, so I make backups, I read about what it is I'm actually sticking in there first and stick with creators who listen to feedback/update. I think some ignorant people imagine computing is magical powers that they have a right to service (paying for or not), and such things as hair helmets are from the computer gods of course- wonderful things, not photoshopped L&P cloned alpha edit EA hair that costs 4.99. Can't wait for what kind of abomination of payshit comes first.  ::) How I cringe at remembering watching someone opening her computer and ripping the video card out to wash it in warm water. No, I'm not saying TSR users are that stupid at all /sarcasm

Malwarebytes and Avast/Avira should be all you need after that.

I just want to clarify that the official GoS stance on TSR is that it sucks. Also, we currently are hosting a thread that was posted by Pescado on the topic. I can't speak for everyone of course, but I am waiting to hear more about this; what it does and how to kill it. I don't think anyone in their right mind would endorse viruses and spyware being installed on their machines.

Yes, TSR sucks ... if you actually download their wonderful FAILshop items you find out they are in Sims3pack format and so you must use the launcher.

And there is were the fun starts, some of then do not install as others install so its a fucking big mess.

(Edit:the launcher was just being rEtArded with uninstall)

So I'm still confused.  What is this spyware attempting to do?

From the GOS thread:


Does anybody know if they're using spyware in their downloads as well?

Edited because I can't fucking type. *smacks forehead*

Sheesh, only a sixth of that is actually the program!

Basically, it's taking up system resources when it doesn't need to. It's leaving a port open to TSR all the time, which most likely isn't being used for any sinister purpose. However, you as the user aren't being given the option to deny this usage of system and internet resources. Plus, it's TSR. I wouldn't trust them with a connection to my computer any further than I can throw them.

That does not mean by itself that its spyware Sigmund , EA lancher and FUCKING STEAM do exactly the same thing ... of course STEAM is in fact spyware as it does record your activity and reports it back (Valve let that up slip when they started to talk about how long did people played HL and how many finished the game).

FAILshop likely just connects to the interwebs in order to throw those TSR ads that were reported (the Launcher does the same thing).

It may not mean that it's spyware...  But it is fucking arrogant.

Which DLL modifies? can you post the details?

You might not consider it spyware, but users who have tried it may not agree.


Regardless of what it's called, a program that needlessly requires to be connected to the internet and installs dubious files onto my system is too close to the "spyware" definition for me.

That is so tacky.  ::)  At first I hated EA for opening that store, but now this has put things in a different perspective... I mean, after all it's their game to FUBAR as much as they want (which I'm afraid they already have quite a bit). But TSR profiting off of a game created by completely different group of greedy douchebags is incredibly stupid... and thus shows a cycle of greed that poisons our world.  :(

Just like there are people that brought laptops to play The Sims 3.

Lets go with the dictionary then





So far I seen no evidence that FAILshop does either, adding itself to the startup and using Internet connection in order to display announcements is not enough for it to be called spyware and unless you have evidence that it does ... its not.

Also getting malaware is pretty easy, only needs one banner with it embedded on it to get contaminated.

In fact, some years ago the Bethsoft forums ended up with a image file with a embedded virus that proceed to infect everyone that visited the site and I am talking about a reputable software developer (of shitty games) and publisher (of shitty games).

(edit: forgot to write virus ... what a dumbass)

And there have been a lot of complaints recently that many of the third party ads on TSR are apparently themselves infected with viruses and trojans of various sorts.  So if these are the ads that the launcher is opening you may be in danger of malicious infection even if TSR itself isn't doing it.

I asked this before on MTS and never got a satisfactory explanation other than Pescado claiming that I do not know how to look at the internals of my PC and figure out what runs on startup, which I can assure you I do.

So, the question is; What, exactly, is this supposed to "install to run on startup"?  Becuase I've looked, and I can't find a single thing.  Absolutely no evidence of anything TSR related running on startup or otherwise unless I load the TSR workshop, which obviously then gets the ads and latest uploads so on.  msconfig shows nothing, and neither does the much more in depth autoruns.

I agree with Delphy. I've seen no spyware what so ever in this tool. I've scanned before install & after. The tool is not in my user start up & does not load with windows. Though it does connect to the net like the EA launcher & throws TSR updates, links etc when running it.

According to jfade, who says he also used a packet sniffer to double-check exactly what the thing does, Trend Micro Internet Security is known to throw false positives for a number of programs with similar functionality.  He says, and I quote, that the Workshop "accesses TSR to download an XML document that tells if there's a new version as well as other news about the tool.  Downloads 4 JPG images.  THAT'S IT."  Also, it can be successfully blocked by firewalls, etc.

I am inclined to believe jfade, as he has never given me reason to doubt his word, so I will probably download the thing when I find a need for it.  YMMV.

Jfade is clearly not familiar with the many techniques which exist for sending messages without including the content of the message in the actual message, however. That is the obvious approach that would be used in such a scenario, which is why it escapes packetsniffing. Everyone knows that everyone and their dog has access to a packetsniffer, and if you want to hide a message in a transmission, you cannot obviously place the message in the transmission, and even encrypting the message so it looks like gibberish is suspicious: You have to hide the message in the metadata of the transmission. A pattern of seemingly innocent requests, a specific timing of requests, or even the fact that the request was made at ALL can all constitute a message hidden from plain sight. You can clearly see that this is happening, because the message is not apparently inside the actual transmission. The fact that it has been hidden in such a manner proves its malicious intent.

Well, this much is true.  For a while, Trend did not let TS2 run for some reason, and I had to turn it off to play.  (This has since stopped, either because of a better version of Trend, or because I installed AL.)  It has occasionally tried to tell me that various other games are problematic too, but I don't remember if those were the exact error messages.

In any case, I wouldn't trust a TSR program just on principle, and I'm not impressed by the amount of TSR-related ads in it either.

I haven't messed with the new TSR program, and probably won't.  But is it in anyway sneaker than something that can be just shut down by cutting it off at the firewall?

Toma$$ is sticking to his story that it is equal to the Sims 3 Launcher, which yes, I do consider malicious. I did not ask for your sodding adverts, and I will choose what I do with my computer without TSR telling me it MUST have access to my Internet connection and waste my bandwidth, to feed me complete shit.

And as for cutting it off at the firewall- who says it will run if it has no Internet connection?

Mmmm.

Too bad for TSR I don't use Windows. EAxis should've made the game run better on OSX, so we should't have to worry about poo on our systems.
Lovely though  :P

For what it's worth, I ran some tests on the latest TSRW.exe 07/24/09
MD5:521605E8B73BA0BD98AD72CFF3AD14D0
CRC-32: A3952AF2
Neither  Jotti (0/21) (http://virusscan.jotti.org/en/scanresult/ddbbae766261dea672849d2e7f1ca8a44a87da67) nor  VirusTotal 0/40)  (http://www.virustotal.com/analisis/794fd07419b58d458a981d2c74a33e751a7b8d476a1de0e907c61de89e6e2ee1-1248445309) found anything.
During Installation both parts  (SlimDX and TSRWorkshop.exe) asked for net access, which I had blocked.

Next I tested the just installed TSRWorkshop.exe
MD5: 84D590202FC53AA752831288D0775BBC
CRC-32: 155F574A
on  VirusTotal (0/40) (http://www.virustotal.com/analisis/a7e2cb5497f14341773208f11602be44de1b097c2bd189fc098619b1720782bf-1248447451) and on   Jotti (0/21) (http://virusscan.jotti.org/en/scanresult/c9f9dc9978da3fe4defa1aaebec16a0e325d492d)
The program started and seemed to work (I'm no modder so don't take my word for it).

Conclusion: Either the Program itself has been modified after Pescado's discovery or the warning was a hiccup on TrendMicro's side and the scanstrings have been updated/adapted/corrected accordingly.

What I didn't test was, if the program loads any unwanted payload after it's given net access.
After uninstall 101Reg-keys were left (mostly under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE  which also includes the now obsolete firewall settings to block this prog. and HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT those were mostly Installer related).
As expected with runtimes SlimDX hat to be uninstalled separately.

-le

PEs, provide an scientifical way of reproducing your input, otherwise I´ll have to discard this news as false. I will feel backstabbed, as I´ve trust you many times and now I feel there´s no scientifical substance here.

*back to my Vmware tests*

I get an entirely different md5sum, 51e41f48f7aceef99c3ed57f0e072e2c for TSRW.exe, meaning your version is newer and has been altered, probably to better hide the evidence now that they know they have been caught. They are probably using a new trick that fools your particular scanner.

I'm not exactly sure what you want. You want me to provide a demonstration of steganographically concealed transmissions in innocuous data? Just look at the Splotch Creatures. They are PNG files. Totally harmless PNG files. If you examined them, you would find harmless PNGyness. But they contain DATA in them and can be used to reconstruct a Splotch critter. Admittedly, this is a completely benign implementation done for reasons unrelated to nefariousness, and the fact that it is not nefarious is why we know of it, as the game never really attempts to conceal this fact from us. TSR, however, is known to be a nefarious operator: They have acquired and then misused or released to third parties personal information from users in the past. It is reasonable to say that they do so regularly and there is absolutely no physical reason why they would have stopped, and therefore, there is every reason to believe the practice continues. In fact, on PMBD, Johan himself came over to gloat about how undetectable his new system was, because he just couldn't resist the temptation to brag and gloat smugly.

That's why I included the checksums to begin with ;). Additionally I wasn't able to find any evidence of "run at startup" in this version.
I checked with msconfig, autoruns, Hijack This and manually via regedit (clearly I have way too much time on my hands  ;D ).
Security software installed here includes Avast, Ad-Aware and Mark Russinovich's Rootkit Revealer.

Again mind you, the program was never allowed to connect, so I have no idea what it might have done/loaded/installed after contacting its home server.
So until someone finds more evidence, the program in its present form appears to be safe to use .

-le

Bah, SimSecret. MSTY (http://secrets.mustnotbenamed.com/) is vastly superior.

Meh - SimSecret actually updates though.

Yes, but recently SimSecret basically boils down to

<GOSling> sucks!
STFU, <GOSling>
GOS sucks!
GOS rocks!
Jenfold sucks!
Jenfold rocks!
I love your legacy!
I hate your legacy!
Simsecret sucks!
Everyone sucks!
<Sims Forum> sucks!
<Sims Forum> rocks!

Seriously.  Every single fucking week.  Jesus Christ, no one cares anymore.

Problem is though - MSTY seems to be exclusively MATY secrets, and 99% of those relating to Retardoland, and not really secrets at all.

SimSecret is certainly not as good as it used to be, it has to be said. Recent submissions could be broken down into four categories: Spam, GOS hate, Pretentious Shit and MATY. There's also a fifth category that turns up occasionally: Everything Else.

Also: Morrissey sekrits.

So submit secrets so we can post them. Do something instead of just bitching uselessly.

You're not honestly telling me MSTY is getting no submissions at all? Not one since the 18th?

We've got nine cooking at the moment.

Are you saying that admitting to like/lust after a MATYian should not be considered a secret?

No, what I'm saying is obvious secret makers are obvious.

Does it really matter, as long as they are amusing?

I think the point is that just because one cannot find any message being transmitted in plaintext or an obviously encrypted format does not mean that it definitely is being transmitted as stegotext. True, TSR is a known nefarious site with their ad hell and previous nonsense, but there is no proof of there being any spying activity going on at the moment.

You look at the history, too: TSR *ALSO* has a known history of using underhanded means to collect user information, including passwords, and then either uses them, or gives them away to people, to break into other sites. Two datapoints is a line: When you have capability + history, you have a profile of someone who habitually performs such acts and will do so at every opportunity. Consider, for example, a thief: You know this person has stolen in the past, and still has the use of his hands. Therefore, it stands to reason that he continues to do so and will do so again the moment you give him an opening to do so.

A plural of a penis would get my vote any day of the week... the more the merrier I always say...   ;)   :D   ;D   :-*

Wow.
I'm not here to be the champion of TSR, but SOMEONE needs to break this goofy "omg tsr is so evils :o" train.

Users of TSR are not stupid (as so many of the fanboys here seem to think). There IS such a thing as not wanting to spend hours at a time making, obtaining or installing additional content for a videogame. Hence, they're willing to use a Paysite ("Time is Money, Friends"). It has nothing to do with "stupid" so much as "just don't care to spend gross amounts of time".

I have used TSR before (no viruses, spyware, malware or anything else, ever) and I have my doubts that what the original poster found was actually anything malicious at all. Yes, spyware/malware is bad, if it IS malware that would be pretty terrible, but in all likelihood, it's just that weird Install Wizard they have at their website. It was for downloading content right from their site and installing it via the website without the hassle of unpacking anything. That's... I'm almost 100% sure, the reason the program "connects to the internet".

I haven't seen any "Threat Details" here. Yes, the EULA's legalese is ominous, but so is ALL legalese. Find me legalese that isn't ominous.

I'm not trying to invoke anyone, but I do think people are flipping wigs here for no reason other than they have a wig they need to flip over something.

Dear TSR shill:

FUCK OFF.

Wow, aren't we inflammatory.

I'm not a shill, I'm not here to promote one thing or another, all I said was people are probably overreacting. Though it probably doesn't matter, you probably didn't even read my post.

I read it, it was full of stupid platitudes, about your reductionist life and how you think money is the only important metric. What about ethics? Pride in your work? Not boning some crazy internet hag and then pretending her bad art is fabulous just so she doesn't shop you to your wife?

Still, you've drunk the Kool-Aide and probably even think TSR isn't sharing your paypal info. Move along.

Faded, do you have any idea of their history?  Don't assume this is the only questionable thing that have ever happened.  Don't assume there is no history that leads people to question them now.

Wow, I never said anything like that. You all are just blowing assumptions.
No, money is not the only important thing. Pride in your work and so forth and so on, fantastic. Did I ever say TSR was marvelous? No. I never said I was even a fan of the site.

But, please do keep on insulting me for no reason at all, even though all I've done was said that people are overreacting. I haven't been insulting anyone (even though I'm being attacked).


No, I did not know there was any sort of history, I've never heard anything about that.
All that I know is the time I used TSR, nothing bad happened to me.

Maybe they've changed for the worse (like I said, I've never heard anything about their history, I guess they've changed since I used it, in which case, it saddens me.)

I might agree that not all TSRers are stupid, but that also is moderately dependent upon one's definition of stupidity.


In this case, I'd lean more toward "ignorant" than "stupid," as in, those who have half a brain and haven't discovered alternative sources (http://paysites.mustbedestroyed.org) for these materials are simply ignorant. Those who have, and still prefer to pay for something that the creators and distributors are legally not permitted to profit from, would be classified as stupid.

I happen to agree that the issue with this purported "spyware/malware" was completely exaggerated here, but so what? MATY seems to be all about drama. And I'm not convinced of TSR's innocence as I, too, tend to consider history a good indicator of probable intent. They've done nefarious things with user info before; I have no reason to believe it is beyond them to do it again.


If you find rohina's reaction surprising or offensive, take this advice: Pretend you never found this forum. It is not a place for you.

Thank you Cherita, I appreciate this. :)

Like I said above, I never have heard of TSR doing anything like that before I came here. History is a good indicator, I would have to agree there, for sure. It's just that no one has ever pulled me aside and told me anything. I'll certainly be more wary of ever using that site again, knowing there is a bad history, for sure.

I do realize there are lots of sites out there for content, it's just one of those things though that you find it through a network of other sites. I didn't know that there was a large collection of goodies here though (being this is the first time I've ever been here - directed from the ModTheSims site!) and I do like!  ;D

I'll definitely be filling my hard drive now. Cherita, you simply rock. :)

Oh, so you are an ignoramus as well as fucktard. Go get someone to read coconut's blog to you, and then come back when you have educated yourself.

Why pay for something that is supposed to be free?

There is plenty of good quality FREE CC out there, much of it of better quality than the stuff at TSR.  You do have a choice you know: the choice between spending time browsing TSR for CC that costs you money and spending the same amount of time browsing free sites for CC that will cost you nothing.  One of these options is definitely smarter than the other, and it's not the TSR option.

Go and read Coconut's blog to find out what TSR have done in the past.  Just because nobody pulled you aside personally and made a point of specifically telling you about their past shenanigans doesn't mean those events didn't happen.  Those events include sharing user's paypal information and encouraging other paysite owners to do the same.  Then there's the question of how someone at TSR (or possibly someone hacking TSR's database as was initially claimed by TSR, although they later backed down from that claim) managed to access TSR's member database to acquire the login details of a creator from MTS2 as well as the login details of one of the owners of TSR.

TSR have already demonstrated that they are not to be trusted with user information.  I'm not going to give them a back door into my system, whether they're likely to use it or not, or whether it is currently used or not.  I'm just not naive enough to believe that they've reformed from their bad habits.

Also, has anyone else heard that Shan0w's photobucket images were replaced with less than family friendly materials within a short amount of time of his TSR tool screenshots surfacing?

Thank you, Kyna! I'll definitely be reading that when I get a chance.

I keep my computer locked down pretty good as adware/antivirus goes (as well as a very strong, protected router), it's beginning to look like those measures I've taken for ages now are the reason I didn't see anything bad happen to me by TSR.  :-\

My apologies. I must have missed Pull Faded Aside and Inform About TSR's Nefarious Acts Day. It was right after that festival. You know, the one with the cheap jewelry vendors and the pierogis and the Verizon booth and the beer. I was sleeping it off and forgot to look at the calendar.

So everything from TSR that has been pulled  to more awesome than you has been "cleaned" of their messiness at TSR?

I personally have not downloaded anything for TS3 at TSR. I read their forums, but I have never been directed to another site from there. Personally I do not care either way since I plan on spending NO MONEY there at all.

Also, I would like to read coconut's blog. Who is coconut? And where is this blog?

http://tsr.mustbedestroyed.org/

Prepare to be disgusted.

Thanks. What is SFV site they keep talking about? Also how do they know who is downloading from Paysites Must Be Destroyed?

SFV was Sims File Vault, a sort of precursor of PMBD. Now that task is covered at Sims Cave (http://www.simscave.com/), Sharing Area.


They don't, actually.
They could, in the beginning, because they embed a code/stamp (sort of) in their packages. Just like Peggy and Rose. Those files are presently disinfected at PMBD before being put in the booty for download, so they're safe.

THey never really knew for sure which is what makes their behavior so much worse.  All they had to do was suspect that you might be sharing a file that they decided shouldn't be shared and that was enough to make all the other things they did to people ok in their minds. 

Thanks for the heads up on TSR. Some at TSR are such lowly creatures. I feel so lowly myself each time I take there booty,NOT !!!

I don't even bother with the Booty. As far as I'm concerned, if it's payshit, it doesn't go into my game.

What I was asking is what I did:

http://www.the-prism.com/index.php?topic=3225.msg39307#new

You have to use an VMware clean machine and Trend Internet Security Pro 2009

Step by step:

1 Install WinXP SP 2 Pro. on Vmware 6.5....
2. Install NET framework 3.5
3. Install Trend Micro
4. Install TSR workshop
5. See what happens  ;D

Pes, if you want to remain credible, you have to provide ways to the Averages Joes. Relying on word and screenshots still leaves place for doubt.

Thanks to Shanow
Special thanks to Paden

There´s even more stuff

(http://gi60.photobucket.com/groups/h19/7BKRK218RK/Kaspersky7thwarningHIGHSECURITYRISK.jpg)

Figures they'd pull some crap like this - but then, is anyone actually surprised that they would?

Their programmer has been made aware of the issue. It is a keyboard hook, used because they failed to find the simple way to tell if the ALT key is down when the mouse is moved (for the 3D preview). Examples of how to do this were provided.

While I am inclined to believe them, as their explanation after they discovered they really do set off alerts from AV programs seemed credible, others may not. But the alert is from a keystroke hook, which certainly CAN be abused and is totally unnecessary for any application to do, unless it is some hot-key activated tool (like fraps). When you are the currently active application, you get all the keystrokes from your window port, When you are not, you shouldn't need to see them.

Haha. This is a joke, right? I see this as nothing more than a transparent ploy to hide a keylogger. Because you can't trap ONE keydown message using the standard Windoze API, you write and install an ENTIRE KEYLOGGER SYSTEM for this? You do realize this "explanation" insults your intelligence, right?

See? I told you this was a keylogger. They're trying to steal user passwords, just like they did last time. Once a crook, always a crook.

Now I was in the conversation. I said I was inclined to believe their explanation, based on how it played out, but I am not inclined enough to test the program myself. Anyway, I am busy making my own set of tools, and do not need them to provide the research for my work.

Yes, but keep in mind that they would be saying things that would make you WANT to believe it. You can't listen to what they say about it afterwards, you have to assess things based on their actual capabilities and known behaviors. Never listen to what people say, only to what they do.

Wow. So, in TSR is either unrepentant bad faith or utter incompetence. Not to mention the fact that it could also be BOTH.
Way to go, guys!

That explains why I was always getting viruses a year ago. I was always downloading stuff from there for my sims 2 game.

If you actually lurked around here moar you would know you shouldn't touch a thing from there, tard.

You know, I'm positive SkittlezYo was around here a year ago, what with the post count of one and all.

Give the bloke some credit--think of his posting as a rebirth, or a Second Coming or whatnot.

Do you only get this Spyware installed if you pay for something there? Or does this apply to the free stuff as well? Because I downloaded a bunch of their free stuff.  ???

That would be the worst marketing plan in history. Infect your paying customers while leaving those who leech off of you completely free and immune.

So, I'm infected. What should I do?

Think, McFly. Or better yet, read. We are discussing a specific case with a specific tool given out by TSR. Do you have it? If so, the best way to lessen your risk is just to uninstall it. It's not the type of spyware you are thinking of.

Ah, ok. So, Spyware is only is this particular tool and not anything else on the site?

I had no idea TSR was doing these despicable practices. Thankfully, I've never downloaded their workshop and never paid for a subscription. I also never click on their ads, learned that lesson that hard way many years ago. I'm so glad I found MATY, better to learn of their deceit now. Now being the paranoid soul that I am, I'm off to run Spybot just in case.  ;)

Just so you are clear, you don't have to actually click the ads there to get into trouble.  Just viewing their pages made my computer go crazy and I ended up with a Vundo virus and I have never clicked on any ad.  I was one of the people that was told it was my responsibility to report their bad ads to their advertisers, not to them.  I was also told that to avoid this problem I should just get a subscription so I wouldn't have to worry about the ads anymore.

I never had a problem with their ads causing my computer to go haywire, probably because I can't see them. I have the AdBlock Plus add-on installed in Firefox. I can't stand websites that bombard me with ads, so I solved my problem by making them invisible. What a bunch of asshats for telling you it wasn't their responsibility they have bad ads on their page, that is a load of bull in my opinion.

Noscript, use it.

Better yet Noscript (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/722) AND  Adblock Plus  (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865)

Just don't forget, if Noscripts constant updates notification starts to bother you (opening its webpage after each update) go to about:config and set
noscript.firstRunRedirection to false

Yeah, adblock extension or privoxy running the background if you're not using Firefox. You almost have to these days.

I mentioned no script to my hubby last night, the resident techie in our house. I remember him mentioning it before but as most wives do, I often tune him out so only remembered the name and not much more about it. He said it can be a big pain with all the notifications but now that Leticron has giving me a way to turn it off I'm going to give it a try.  ;D

Oh, I absolutely use ad block and no script now.  This problem at TSR goes back so long that I had issues before I knew about any of them.  The fact that we very recently had many people who had virus and other issues from their ads again simply means that it is a problem that they know exists and still have done nothing to fix.  I want people to understand that you do not have to click on anything or download anything to be at risk there.  If you visit thier site and do not have proper protection for you computer, then you are at risk.  Simple.

I learned recently (the hard way) that lack of protection means one day you will be backing up your data and doing a reformat from orbit.  It's the only way to be sure. ;)

It's a no-brainer choosing between free content which doesn't put your system at risk, and paid content which does.

This is very true, tried checking out TSR the other day and wham Spyware. Thank God I use McAfee, popped up right away and redirected me elsewhere. God no wonder I barely ever used TSR. BTW newbie here and I am awed by everyones talents  ;D have a good day.

I don't know if this was mentioned, but if you installed tsrworkshop, it installs another program slimdx that it needs to run it, if you uninstall slimdx or don't install it the program won't run proper or install, but they got some nerve to write a program that installs two programs that needs to interact with each other but when you uninstall tsrworkshop, It won't uninstall slimdx, you got to uninstall it by itself, boy this is how sneaky they are to leave I am going to assume the main spayware on your machine, cause this is sneaky and that it should uninstall every program it install but tsrworkshop don't, anyways, there are way better tools out here then that crap.

Based on googling, it looks like SlimDX is a library related to .NET and DirectX APIs, not an actual executable program.  It's probably not going to hurt your computer.

I just joined today... I've not been here before.  I've been downloading free stuff from TSR (with WinRAR) and not the TSR thing.  I also use MTS .... I wish I would have found this site earlier...

I've caught some things through my Avast! while being on TSR, I just thought it was from corrupt people encoding crap into their uploads... I didn't know TSR was behind that, I didn't know they could be so damn low....  >:(

I've read the link posted back a bit, I just can't believe all of this... its just so sick. 

I have Avast! & Ad-Aware ... should I use anything else?  I just feel sick.

Lurk more and read, kiddo.  I imagine you will learn a thing or two.  But do not spew n00b crap everywhere.  There are members here who are very intolerant.  And don't call me rude again, because I am actually being relatively nice and giving you some good advice.

Hmm... you again I see.  ::)

I see you are going to get along well here.  Enjoy.

The subject matter on the original post was certainly correct, older versions of TSR Workshop installed a keyboard hook that caused alarms to go off. It no longer does that, nor does it even attempt to connect back to TSR unless you authorize it to. Whether this indicates that it is now just sneakier, or that complaints caused changes to be made to the program depends on your paranoia level.

I have never seen the issues with their site myself, but it has ads, and I have seen 3rd party cookie warnings from other sites with ads. Other complaints stem from fallout remaining from the nuclear winter after the war between TSR and PMBD went critical. All who remain are in Wooden Ships on the water, very free (and easy).

I got in contact with Gabe Newell, chairman of valve about this


I've personally used steam since it was released in 2003 and had no errors.

That is clearly a lie. It tracks your usage habits, for one thing. That's how it knows exactly how long and when you've been playing. Given that he has lied about this, it stands to reason that he also has lied about everything else.

He said it stores no PERSONAL DATA.

How is this not personal data? How about I tag you with a radio tag and monitor your every move. Is that personal data I'm tracking?

Captain Scarlet, Steam is well known for data mining. It's one of the reasons I don't use the program.

Dang, I always knew 'The Shit Repository' had a bunch of crappy stuff, but spyware? Tsk, tsk, tsk.

BREAKING NEWS
OMG is this a joke everybody knows that TSR is shit

Well, are we all done with this issue? Guess I'm getting bored with it all, as I'm fixating on the loins of P.