Yes, but Download.com still assures users that they will never bundle that "extra stuff". Their Adware & Spyware Notice says:

Also, they make it look like a download link for the real installer (which it used to be), and then the user gets this CNET crap. But they still used our name liberally in the trojan installer as if we were somehow responsible for or involved in this abomination. I've got screen shots on my Download.com fiasco page.

Also, this "apology" rings hollow because they aren't fixing the problem along with it. In particular:

1) He claims that bundling malware with Nmap was a “mistake on our part” and “we reviewed all open source files in our catalog to ensure none are being bundled.” Either that is a lie, or they are totally incompetent, because tons of open source software is still being bundled. You can read the comments below his post for many examples.

2) Even if they had removed the malware bundling from open source software, what about all of the other free (but not open source) Windows software out there? They shouldn't infect any 3rd party software with sketchy toolbars, search engine redirectors, etc.

3) At the same time that Sean sent the “apology” to users, he sent this very different note to developers. He says they are working on a new expanded version of the rogue installer and “initial feedback from developers on our new model has been very positive and we are excited to bring this to the broader community as soon as possible”. He tries to mollify developers by promising to give them a cut (“revenue share”) of the proceeds from infecting their users.

4) You no longer need to register and log in to get the small (non-trojan) “direct download” link, but the giant green download button still exposes users to malware.

5) The Download.Com Adware & Spyware Notice still says “every time you download software from Download.com, you can trust that we've tested it and found it to be adware-free.” How can they say that while they are still adding their own adware? At least they removed the statement from their trojan installer that it is “SAFE, TRUSTED, AND SPYWARE FREE”.

I used to believe in loser-pays, but here's where it falls down.

Giant movie studio sues you. You're completely in the right, but perhaps due to a technicality, an idiot jury, or "the winds of fate," the decision goes against you.

Your legal fees were 5-10K or so. The movie studio points to its team of 85 lawyers all billing at $1K an hour for the last six months.

Kinda makes you long for simple student loan debt...

This may be due in part to the way github integrates social networking and coding-- I'm unaware of anything similar for SVN, Perforce, Bazaar, Mercurial, etc...

That'd definitely not fly in the US. "You destroyed the drive, so it obviously contains evidence of insider trading. And tax evasion. And pictures of you buggering a horse..."

I'll take "getting fired" versus "going to jail" any day of the week.

Unfortunately, it's never quite that simple...

This is very much what I want to know. Destroy your drives, shred your papers, I'm with you this far-- but then ADMITTING to having done it? This isn't like the situation of a thug bragging about a store he robbed for ego points; nobody's going to praise you for operating a shredder, so where's the value in yammering about it?

Exactly. If you've got evidence that you've committed murder on a drive, and you destroy the drive, the penalty for obstruction is orders of magnitude less than the penalty for a successful murder conviction.

Depends on whether they actually cracked the drives open and pulled the platters. The article is unfortunately ambiguous on this point; it just refers to them "tearing apart external drives" which may well be them simply pulling the drive from its enclosure.

No, I truly get that-- it's not a hard concept.

My point is that that was their last product "hit." I don't think we can find another viable electronic manufacturer that hasn't come out with something droolworthy in half a decade?

Sure, but look at the platform. It's five years old, and despite its new form factor it hasn't really been updated since release.

I realize they don't want to change things around on game developers, but I'd like to think that we can get better performance today than we could five years ago...

Well, there's certainly that risk. :-p

Hence the wise man hedges his bets and picks something he actually likes first!