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.

In this section, we also list one other malicious characteristic of mobile phones, location tracking which is caused by the underlying radio system rather than by the specific software in them.

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 March, 2021, the pages in this directory list around 500 instances of malicious functionalities (with more than 590 references to back them up), but there are surely thousands more we don't know about.

If you want to be notified when we add new items or make other changes, subscribe to the mailing list <www-malware-commits@gnu.org>.

Injustices or techniques	Products or companies
Addictions Back doors (1) Censorship Coverups Deception DRM (2) Fraud Incompatibility Insecurity Interference Jails (3) Manipulation Obsolescence Sabotage Subscriptions Surveillance Tethers (4) Tyrants (5) In the pipe	Appliances Cars Games Mobiles Webpages Conferencing 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

2021-03
Amazon's monopoly and DRM is stopping public libraries from lending e-books and audiobooks. Amazon became powerful in e-book world by Swindle, and is now misusing its power and violates people's rights using Digital Restrictions Management.

The article is written in a way that endorses DRM in general, which is unacceptable. DRM is an injustice to people.
2021-03
Over 150 thousand security cameras that used Verkada company's proprietary software are cracked by a major security breach. Crackers have had access to security archives of various gyms, hospitals, jails, schools, and police stations that have used Verdaka's cameras.

It is injustice to the public for gyms, stores, hospitals, jails, and schools to hand “security” footage to a company from which the government can collect it at any time, without even telling them.

Please note that the article wrongly refers to crackers as “hackers”.
2020-10
TV manufacturers are turning to produce only “Smart” TV sets (which include spyware) that it's now very hard to find a TV that doesn't spy on you.

It appears that those manufacturers business model is not to produce TV and sell them for money, but to collect your personal data and (possibly) hand over them to others for benefit.
2018-09
Tiny Lab Productions, along with online ad businesses run by Google, Twitter and three other companies are facing a lawsuit for violating people's privacy by collecting their data from mobile games and handing over these data to other companies/advertisers.
2021-03
At least 30 thousand organizations in the United States are newly “cracked” via holes in Microsoft's proprietary email software, named Microsoft 365. It is unclear whether there are other holes and vulnerabilities in the program or not but history and experience tells us it wouldn't be the last disaster with proprietary programs.