"David Wright Sr." wrote in message
news:Xns997AACFCEC487nokvamli@208.49.80.253...
>
> "David H. Lipman" wrote:
>
<with change of David's "|" quoting character to ">")
>>
>> <xp_newbie@yahoo.com> wrote ...
>>>
>>> The so called "Free" Adobe Acrobat Reader 8.1 attempts to check for
>>> updates everytime I invoke it. My firewall blocks it, but it's so
>>> annoying to get this message displayed again and again.
>>>
>>> I checked all the Edit | Preferences but couldn't find any way to
>>> disable checking for updates. Is Adobe so dumb? or are we, the
>>> people
>>> who agree to use such crap are the dumb?
>>
>> This isn't spyware issue and is Off Topic.
>
> IMO. Anytime a program is trying to contact a website without the
> knowledge
> of the user, even if it is supposedly the product's own site, there
> exists
> the potential for spyware or adware. Why shouldn't that be a concern
> here,
> if for no other reason than to let other users of that product about
> it.

Then you would have to included EVERY program that provides an
auto-update function, and that is a lot of software. I've had the
auto-update in Acrobat Reader disabled for, well, as long as I've ever
had a version of it. Doesn't it pop open a dialog telling YOU what new
version is available?

You mean you aren't running a software firewall that provides
application rules to regulate what can connect where, along with a log
to tell you what connected, to where, and when? It has been a decade,
or more, of software having an auto-update function and not all provide
a means of disabling it via user-configurable options, so your remaining
option is to disable that auto-update by blocking it at the firewall.

So, I guess that the anti-virus software you run that has an auto-update
function is also spyware. And that the anti-spyware or anti-malware
program(s) you use to scan for pests and which has an auto-update option
(often configured by default to check for updates before doing a scan)
must be spyware, too.
(rolls eyes twice)