real.com

real.com is a company selling proprietary software. They are also offering a free (as in free beer, certainly not free speech) downloadable version of their main software, which is packed with ads for the commercial version, nagging banners, and a lot of annoyances - as always when the software thinks it knows better than the user. To make it usable without too much trouble, you have to uncheck every box which is checked by default, and vice-versa. If you don't, you're bound to the Real way of thinking, i.e. brainwashed.

This concept of nagware is a shameless, despisable selling technique; but it is not abuse, and I have no real (pun unintended) problem with it. I don't have to use the software. (Besides, I suspect the commercial version to be as inconvenient.)

Except that I recently had to use the software, to read a file someone sent me, because the Real format is, of course, proprietary. So I registered at real.com, carefully unchecking all uncheckable boxes, and especially the one saying "I want to receive news, updates and special offers from real.com". I downloaded the free-, nag-, adware version, and used it. Great.

A month later, I received an HTML mail at my registration address:

From: RealPlayer <offers@real-net.net>
Subject: Votre lecteur est trop vieux : actualisez et obtenez RadioPass GRATUITEMENT !

with some marvelous commercial offer, and if I decide not to keep RadioPass after the 14-day trial period, I can still keep the brand new RealOne Player.
Wow.
But the best part is at the end of the mail:

    Vous recevez ce courrier électronique parce que vous avez téléchargé
       RealPlayer, RealJukebox® ou un autre produit à partir du site
     Real.com, en indiquant que vous souhaitez recevoir les actualités,
       mises à jour et offres spéciales de RealNetworks®. Si vous ne
    souhaitez plus recevoir nos courriers électroniques, cliquez sur le
                  lien Annuler mon inscription ci-dessous.

which approximately translates as: "You got this e-mail because you downloaded some Real product, and indicated that you wished to receive news, updates and special offers from RealNetworks. If you don't wish to get our e-mails anymore, blah blah blah".

which is patently false, since I especially unchecked that box. Maybe I forgot one, that wasn't displayed by my browser.

Conclusion: Real.com sends spam, and blames the users about it. This is plain and simple abuse.