881454 - Blocklist PutLockerDownloader add-ons

Status: VERIFIED FIXED

(Toolkit :: Blocklist Policy Requests, defect)

Description

[Kris Maglione [:kmag]]

Silently installed by the PutLockerDownloader installer. Bypasses about:newaddon. One of the add-ons installed by the installer changes the default search engine without opt-in, none revert it on uninstall. Also uses multiple IDs for the same add-on.

ID: [e-mail] ~65K users
ID: [e-mail] ~123K users

Comment 1

[Jorge Villalobos [:jorgev] (he/him)]

You might also want to look for IDs ending in smarter-downloader.com or smarterdownloader.com, since they seem to be the same company.

Comment 2

[Jorge Villalobos [:jorgev] (he/him)]

The developers have been contacted.

Comment 3

[Kris Maglione [:kmag]]

Yeah, these also seem to be theirs:

[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

And possibly:

[e-mail]

Comment 4

[Jorge Villalobos [:jorgev] (he/him)]

Blocked: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/blocked/i396

This is a regular expression block that should cover the following:

*@putlockerdownloader.com
*@ftdownloader.com
*@clickmoviedownloader.com
*@m2kdownloader.com
*@sharerepodownloader.com
*@smarterdownloader.com
*@smarter-downloader.com

Comment 5

[Iulian Timis]

Verified as fixed in https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/blocked/i396 on FF21 (Win 7).
Closing bug.

Comment 6

[oren]

Hey guys,

i'm the developer of these add-ons, can you please explain why these add-ons were blocked? I see that someone wrote that the putlockerdownloader changes the default search engine but i can assure you it doesnt. you should have no problem to check and see that there anything related to any search settings. these add-ons are being installed with downloader app (you can see it on http://www.putlockerdownloader.net/), all they do is replacing the app download links on specific sites to a specific handler that launch the app if its already installed. please let me know if there is anything i should do from my end so you will roll back this block.

Comment 7

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

As explained in the first comment of the bug, these add-ons violate policy in a multitude of areas:

Silent installs. Doesn't display the about:newaddon screen in Firefox when installed. Multiple ID's for the same add-on. I'll double check the Search Engine thing, but if they are not reverting settings on uninstall or asking permissino to change search settings on install that's another policy violation.

Comment 8

[oren]

thank you for your quick replay. i'll check the about:newaddon thing. as for the other things, the install is not silent, there is a specific screen - the first installer screen where the user agree to install the product (downloader) with its browsers extensions/add-ons. (and as you'll see when you'll check it, it has nothing to do with any search settings).

Comment 9

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

So this is a silent install because it uses an opt-out installer for the toolbar. Users currently will get the extension by accepting all defaults, which is not acceptable. There should be a checkbox that users explicitly have to check in order to receive the toolbar, as well as additional checkboxes for any settings changes.

Upon install, Webcake and delta toolbar (which are apparently bundled with the toolbar) did give me an about:newaddon screen, but Putlockerdownloader didn't. 

Before even accepting the download, the search provider had been changed to delta search. This is unacceptable. 

Upon uninstall of putlocker, delta search was not removed. Nor was it removed by uninstalling the other add-ons.

Comment 10

[Kris Maglione [:kmag]]

Whether or not the installer has an opt-in or opt-out is irrelevant. Add-ons installed from outside of Firefox need to be accepted by the user via the about:newaddon screen. No other method of opting in is sufficient.

Comment 11

[oren]

hi guys,

we updated the installer so it wont skip the about:newaddon screen (http://www.putlocker-downloader.net). we're working on update the others now. 
can you guys remove that block from my extensions? after all these extensions should improve the users experience for users who're using our downloaders. these add-ons replace the download links of the downloader's installer with handler that launch the downloader if it installed.

thanks,
oren.

Comment 12

[Jorge Villalobos [:jorgev] (he/him)]

(In reply to oren from comment #11)
> we updated the installer so it wont skip the about:newaddon screen
> (http://www.putlocker-downloader.net).

Is this the place where we can find the new installer to test?

Comment 13

[oren]

yes, latest ver in here - http://www.putlocker-downloader.net/

Comment 14

[Jorge Villalobos [:jorgev] (he/him)]

Tyler, can you give this new version a try?

Comment 15

[oren]

hi guys,

any news one this one? (http://www.putlocker-downloader.net/)
i have some more add-ons on queue, i want to make sure its good now before going live with the others.

Comment 16

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

Ok, so I got a new add-on installed by the Putlocker Downloader called "KeyBar". I will file another bug to block this add-on as it is skipping about:newaddon and changing search settings with out permission. Are you associated with this add-on?

I didn't get a putlocker toolbar from that downloader, is there an issue with it? (Apologies for the delay, I have been traveling alot this month)

Comment 17

[oren]

Thanks for the update. the "KeyBar" is not related to the fixed installer, it's a 3rd party advertiser who run on this installer. it was a different installer that doesnt install the PutlockerDownloader browser add-on at all.that fixed version went down since we got complaints from users that it installed blocked add-on. we placed back the fix version, you can see it now on http://www.putlocker-downloader.net. 
Thanks,
Oren