Talk:Viewpoint Media Player

EULA
Here is the entire Viewpoint Media Player EULA. you will note that it does not make mention of sending information to Viewpoints' servers.

it says:

- VMP communicate with Viewpoint's servers to check for update for itself. (similarly to what Windows update, flash update, ot most softwares do these days..)

- it also says that a content developer can track user interactions in the content he developed and send back information to his server. it is no different than what you can do in flash or HTML. THis is in NOT done automatically by the VMP.

Hence, the VMP cannot be called malware because of information being sent to a server. I however do agree with the very first post in the history: the VMP is considered malware because AIM installs it without user consent.

So, I do propose the last paragraph in the wiki article to be removed. (since it is wrong.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.215.146.170 (talk • contribs)

I disagree. It installs without notices, assigns a UID and allows publishers to track that UID. (Just for added clarification, this is spelled out in the end of this EULA you posted). It is very unclear how that information is used or accessed. And the      fact that the program is by and large unneeded and unused on the wider web but still sneaks it's way onto so many machines certainly hints at maliciousness or atleast a company buying it's way onto peoples machines. I hate Adobe Flash, but I atleast I know when I'm installing it. 130.13.244.221 03:15, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

Furthermore, Viewpoint disguises itself with the Windows Media Player icon on the host system, making one hesitant to uninstall it as it appears to be a Microsoft Windows component to a somewhat knowledgeable computer user. 130.13.244.221 23:08, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

Viewpoint Media Player License
NOTICE Please read this License Agreement carefully before proceeding. This Agreement between Viewpoint Corporation, a Delaware corporation with its principal office at 498 7th Avenue, New York, New York 10022 and you (either an individual or an entity) grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use Viewpoint Media Player and accompanying documentation (the "Software") and contains warranty and liability disclaimers. By selecting the "Install" button or installing the Software, you are confirming your acceptance of the Software and agreeing to become bound by the terms of this Agreement. If you do not agree to the terms of this License Agreement, click on the "Cancel" button and/or do not install the Software.

LICENSE This Agreement allows you to: (a) install and use the Software on only one computer or on only one multi-user system; (b) make one (1) copy of the Software in machine readable form solely for backup purposes, provided that you reproduce all copyright notices and any other proprietary notices on the copy; and (c) physically transfer the Software from one computer or multi-user system to another, provided that the Software is removed from the computer or multi-user system on which it was originally installed and is used on only one computer or multi-user system at a time.

AUTOMATIC UPGRADE FEATURES Viewpoint will occasionally provide you automatic updates, upgrades, and add-ons ("Updates") to the Software to improve your viewing experience. The Software automatically communicates with the Viewpoint component server on the internet to check for Updates, such as bug fixes, patches, enhanced functions, missing plug-ins and missing components. Viewpoint may download Updates during these communications or when the Software detects a file that requires a component that is currently not installed. These downloads will occur automatically and without any advance notification to you.

RESTRICTIONS You may not modify, translate, reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the Software, or otherwise reduce the Software to a human-readable form. You may not sell, license, rent, transfer, or grant any rights in the Software in any form to any person or entity without the prior written consent of Viewpoint.

OWNERSHIP This license gives you limited rights to use the Software. You do not become an owner of the Software, and Viewpoint retains all title to the Software and all copies thereof. All rights not specifically granted in this Agreement, including United States and international copyrights, are reserved by Viewpoint. Unauthorized copying of the Software, or failure to comply with the restrictions set forth in this Agreement, will result in automatic termination of this license and will make available to Viewpoint all other legal remedies.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES The Software is provided to you free of charge, and on an "AS IS" BASIS WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Viewpoint does not warrant that the functions contained in the Software will meet your requirements or that the operation of the Software will be uninterrupted or error-free. No distributor, dealer or any other entity or person is authorized to expand or alter either this disclaimer of warranty or this Agreement. Any such representations will not bind Viewpoint. You assume the entire risk as it applies to the quality and performance of the Software. Should the Software prove defective, you (and not Viewpoint) assume the entire cost of all necessary servicing, repair, or correction.

SOME STATES OR OTHER JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. YOU MAY ALSO HAVE OTHER RIGHTS THAT VARY FROM STATE TO STATE AND JURISDICTION TO JURISDICTION.

LIMITATION OF REMEDIES IN NO EVENT WILL VIEWPOINT OR ITS REPRESENTATIVES BE LIABLE FOR LOSS OF DATA, LOST PROFITS, COST OF COVER, OR OTHER SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, CONSEQUENTIAL OR INDIRECT DAMAGES OR LOSSES ARISING FROM THE USE OF THE SOFTWARE, HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY. THIS LIMITATION SHALL APPLY EVEN IF VIEWPOINT OR ITS REPRESENTATIVES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR LOSSES. The limitation of warranty and limited liability set forth above are fundamental elements of the basis of the bargain between Viewpoint and you. You agree that Viewpoint would not be able to provide the Software on an economic basis without such limitations.

SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

US GOVERNMENT RESTRICTED RIGHTS If you are acquiring the licensed Software on behalf of any part of the U.S. Government, the following provisions apply. The Software and accompanying documentation (if any) are deemed to be "commercial computer software" and "commercial computer software documentation," respectively, pursuant to DFAR Section 227.7202 and FAR 12.212(b), or other comparable or more recent government law or regulation, as applicable. Any use, modification, reproduction, release, performance, display or disclosure of the Software and/or accompanying documents by the U.S. Government or any of its agencies shall be governed solely by the terms of this Agreement and shall be prohibited except to the extent expressly permitted by the terms of this Agreement.

LANGUAGE The parties hereto confirm that it is their wish that this Agreement, as well as other documents relating hereto, have been and shall be written in the English language only.

GENERAL This Agreement is governed by the laws of the state of New York, including its Uniform Commercial Code (except that federal law governs copyrights and trademark(s)). You hereby consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the courts in New York County, New York, U.S.A. in any and all disputes arising out of or relating to this Agreement or your use of the Software. This Agreement is the entire agreement between Viewpoint and you and supersedes any other communications or advertising with respect to the Software. If any provision of this Agreement is deemed invalid or unenforceable pursuant to applicable law including, but not limited to, the warranty disclaimers and liability limitations set forth above, then the invalid or unenforceable provision will be deemed superseded by a valid, enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision and the remainder of the Agreement shall continue in effect.

All questions concerning this Agreement should be directed to Viewpoint Corporation, at 498 7th Avenue, Suite 1810, New York, New York 10018.

Viewpoint and the Viewpoint logo are trademarks of Viewpoint Corporation.

Privacy Statement

VIEWPOINT DOES NOT COLLECT ANY PERSONALLY-IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION, SUCH AS A USER'S NAME, PHYSICAL ADDRESS, ELECTRONIC ADDRESS, PHONE NUMBER, OR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER.

Each installation of Viewpoint Media Player is assigned a Player Identifier, a random alphanumeric identifier generated at the time of installation. The Player Identifier is never connected to a user's name, email address, or other personal contact information.

Viewpoint Media Player is designed to check for the availability of software updates, upgrades, and add-ons ("Updates") to ensure that you have the latest product improvements and functionality. When the Viewpoint Media Player installed on your machine checks for the availability of Updates, the Player Identifier, the type of operating system using the player, the type of browser in which the player is operating, and the URL visited at the time are sent anonymously to Viewpoint. An author of Viewpoint content can use tags to collect aggregated, anonymous information about users' interactions with content, such as which colors users select to view the appearance of a product, which animations are most frequently invoked by online viewers, and the like. User interaction data is typically used by Viewpoint's clients to understand how their customers, in the aggregate, interact with online presentations of their products.

Much of the data sent by the Viewpoint Media Player installed on your machine is required only to enable a feature or service to be performed over the Internet. All data is discarded after its intended use is served.

Viewpoint's Ad-Deployment Technology Creative Innovator, Viewpoint's advertising deployment technology, uses Viewpoint Media Player for displaying advertising content. Like other industry-standard advertising technologies, Creative Innovator collects certain information about the advertisement displayed. This information includes the number of times the advertisement is displayed, the number and duration of users' interactions with the advertisement, and the browser and operating system viewers are using while the ad is displayed. This information is stored by the Creative Innovator system and reported to Viewpoint's customers.

VIEWPOINT DOES NOT, AT ANY TIME, COLLECT USERS' PERSONALLY-IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION.

Contact Us about Privacy If you have any questions about this privacy statement, or our software and website practices, please contact us: Privacy Policy Group Viewpoint Corporation 498 7th Ave. Suite 1810 New York, NY 10018 privacy@viewpoint.com >>

Information
I am a computer science major and am working over the summer at a company with a lot of computers. Viewpoint media player and the other viewpoint products have been a consistent issue over my time here. After searching it and finding this page on Wikipedia, I felt that the article had the same tone as their (Viewpoint's) Website. This program is generally considered malware, and certainly has a lot of the malware features, not limited to advertisements and submission of a user's data.

I have made a number of modifications to the article to assist users in figuring out exactly what Viewpoint is, and not just what they claim to be. I have tried to remain neutral, however, in not putting in anything blatantly negative.

This is supposed to be a fact based source not opinion based.
No need to make this long. I am a web developer/architect for 15+ years and I have yet to find a better web based 3d rendering engine than the Viewpoint Media Player. Microsoft and Computer Associates say that Viewpoint is clean of spyware or malware. They are both time tested companies and the final say on this issue. If that is not enough, even the smaller respectable anti-spy companies give viewpoint media player a clean bill of health.

The viewpoint media player has been around for over a decade and many fortune 100 companies have trusted them to showcase their products to their end users. I read the EULA...conclusion...what you are not in favor of is everything that a standard COOKIE does.

As a developer...I want to know what the end user is interacting with. Maybe my button is not brite enough, maybe my message is not clear, how horrible it is to be blind to that and not know what I could change to make it more effective/better. Better for the END USER too. Being able to get some feedback on how people are interacting with a presentation is a tremendous tool in making the web better.

Never a perfect scenerio...what is good for one may not be good for another but we must be reasonable. No damages, no invasion of privacy, it is definitely not warranted to be labeled spyware. If that is the case, every single site uses cookies and they do the same exact thing. The entire web is spying from this perspective.

Viewpoint is a responsible company and respects the privacy of others. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Michael tzez (talk • contribs)

regardless
Regardless of whether or not viewpoint is a 'responsible company and protects the privacy of others' this article reads like an advertisement and needs some serious rewriting. Microsoft most certainly does NOT have the final say over whether or not viewpoint is good or bad and your own experience as a web developer cannot count for anything more than original research. Lets add some balance so that this page isn't simply a defense for 'viewpoint'. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.101.174.207 (talk • contribs)

Balance
That is exactly what I did. I added balance to a very bias article. The article now states:

Do you need the viewpoint media player on your computer?

NO

Is the VMP useful?

Yes, for certain jobs it is very useful.

Is it Malware or Spyware?

All the well recognized companies say that it is CLEAN and their software is the most widely used anti-spy, anti-malware softwares in the marketplace(By a landslide). Therefore it is fair to say that they are the authorities as to whether or not this media player is malware or spyware. Certainly more of an authority than you, me, or anyone else that we can dig up. Who ever initially wrote this bias article was getting their info from blogs and forums. Sorry, those sources are not more credible than the decision of company like Microsoft(always under the microscope), and Computer Associates. After all, these companies would make more money too if the vmp was on their list. They don't have them on their list because they are responsible companies and they concluded that the vmp is Clean.

Balanced, Truthful, Factual.

I use the vmp often to deliver product presentations for clients and have hands on experience with all aspects of this media player. I use it because I simply can not deliver the same quality interactive experience with any other player. Flash is what I use mostly but when I reach it's limits...It is the vmp that takes over. It alows me to fuse real-time interactive 3d and flash in one movie. I can not do this with another player. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.46.161.67 (talk) 17:04, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

Regarding Malware
A clean bill of health from the industries leading companies and uniblue's process library. http://www.processlibrary.com/about/

Some argue that viewpoint is installed without the users consent. Okay, think about this for a moment.

In the case of AIM: It is Aol that put it on your machine not viewpoint. They bundled it to render their own graphical interface. They did not bundle it because viewpoint is paying them to...like so many other bundled softwares.

They bundled it to use it for their own uses.

So, don't you think you are throwing stones at the wrong company????? Not that I think aol was planning on irritating users either but if anyone is to blame it is them. They should have paid viewpoint and had it built into their system as a white label player.

This is one of the few cases where software is bundled for the use of the bundler vs being bundled for profit making.

This is the truth. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.46.161.67 (talk) 17:47, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

Did a Viewpoint employee write this article?
I feel like I'm just reading an article from Viewpoints website about their product.204.210.72.247 (talk) 16:50, 10 March 2008 (UTC)


 * [Viewpoint's FAQ http://www.viewpoint.com/installer/v4/html/vmp_faq.html]] is more or less a direct copy of the Description on this page. Your concerns are valid. --  Randall00  Talk 22:43, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

COI August 2008
I just tagged this; an employee did indeed edit this article. See the contribs of and this link. Additionally, a look at the contributions of is pretty suspect (see this diff, especially the change to the "Malware" section). A quick google search of that name seems to suggest they frequently jump to the defense of Viewpoint when there is criticism; see for example this link. There doesn't appear to have been much recent activity in this area, however. JeremyMcCracken (talk) (contribs) 08:41, 24 August 2008 (UTC)


 * I've made a few edits to this page - every sentence now has supporting citations. Is it OK to remove the COI/disputed factual accuracy tags of this page now? SmackEater (talk) 16:42, 30 September 2009 (UTC)


 * I'd forgotten about them; they're old now and the COI problem hasn't reappeared, so it looks fine. JeremyMcCracken (talk) (contribs) 20:38, 30 September 2009 (UTC)

Not the case, besides...
what does flash, wmp, quick time, real player, etc...read like? Go look at those articles and then make your remarks.

This is a source for what I would like to think is factual information. Nothing that I wrote was invalid. All factual information and I stand by it 100%. No opinions!

ANY software that installs without explicit permission, is malware.

It's activity and functionality aside, It was not asked for, and no notification is provided to install this unwanted application.

The idea that VMP is more robust than disparate aplications is ludicrous except possobly to someone who might benefit from saying otherwise.

1 - Not wanted 2 - Not useful 3 - 'Sneaks' onto systems through bundling or misleading web prompts (akin to phishing). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.234.34.13 (talk) 19:59, 29 March 2008 (UTC)


 * I'm sure you're more experienced in the field of computer security than I am, but I seem to recall that malware had a more specific definition than something that installs without explicit permission. Not all bundled software is malware. In fact, doesn't the AIM client specifically tell you about the Viewpoint Media Player and present you with its license agreement? (I wouldn't know myself because I don't use AIM.) Malware is written for malicious purposes, as the name implies; however, adware and spyware are somewhat different. In my layman opinion, if it doesn't steal overly vital info (passwords, keystrokes, yadda yadda) then it's not malware. If it wipes your hard drive for no reason, I'm pretty sure it's malware. Cheers,

Danny Sepley (talk) 06:19, 23 August 2008 (UTC)

Supported OS/Browsers
From my experience IE seems to be the only supported browser, perhaps the opening sentence should be changed to explain this (if a verifiable source can be found), or an infobox added (as in Adobe Flash Player) where the supported systems are listed.

Metastream
Metastream redirects to this page, but nowhere in the article does it mention Metastream nor its relationship to Viewpoint Media Player. Also worth mentioning is that Firefox disables Metastream. Does it do that to Viewpoint Media Player also? Ileanadu (talk) 10:34, 2 August 2010 (UTC)

rich!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????? RIIICH!?
please remove tho word 'rich'. Jake1993811 (talk) 09:14, 2 January 2012 (UTC)

Completely out of date
All references to www.viewpoint.com are out of date. That web site is now a construction management software company and has no connection with Viewpoint Media Player and you cannot download VMP from their site. 12.234.99.131 (talk) 18:30, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20070806040918/http://www.viewpoint.com:80/technologies/viewpoint-media-player.shtml to http://www.viewpoint.com/technologies/viewpoint-media-player.shtml

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External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20090129182727/http://www.viewpoint.com/installer/v4/html/vmp_faq.html to http://www.viewpoint.com/installer/v4/html/vmp_faq.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20090129182727/http://www.viewpoint.com/installer/v4/html/vmp_faq.html to http://www.viewpoint.com/installer/v4/html/vmp_faq.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20090129182727/http://www.viewpoint.com/installer/v4/html/vmp_faq.html to http://www.viewpoint.com/installer/v4/html/vmp_faq.html

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