Real Networks Real Jukebox a privacy violation?

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check this url and let's talk about whether this is actually a violation of consumer privacy:

http://www.wired.com/news/reuters/0,1349,32244,00.html
it's from today's issue of Wired on wired.com, and talks about how RealNetworks Real jukebox software keeps track of what you play and what you record for the company. The users do not know that the information is tracked. However, RealNetworks claims it's not a violation b/c they don't store the information nor do they sell it.

-- Aisha Stroman, November 1, 1999

Answers

I found an interesting article in Newsweek. Try going to Enonymous.com; They give star ratings describing the privacy policies at Internet sites:

****: AOL, Hotmail: Won't share personal info with third parties

***: Altavista, Excite, CNet: Share your personally identifiable info with third parties, but will ask you for permission first.

**: Ebay, CD Now, Sportsline, Travelocity: Contact you without your permission, but do not share info without permission.

*: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Geocities, Lycos, Netscape, MSN, Yahoo, Real: Share your personal information without permission, sometimes adding restrictions. For example, some MSN sites may select companies to send you information

-- James Kim, November 29, 1999