He also outlines how he cannot; and will not…stop anyone from forking this software and basically removing the payment bits of the code and just redistributing it under a different name. I strongly recommend someone does that…and maybe license that work under a much more unrestrictive free license that FLOSS-Only users might find more palatable.
This is incorrect. You cannot fork this project. You CAN, however, modify it for your own personal use. You cannot distribute it. Redistribution is specifically what he wants to avoid happening, and that’s why the license is what it is.
www.ghacks.net Brave appears to install VPN Services without user consent - gHacks Tech News Martin Brinkmann 3 - 4 minutes
If you have the Brave Browser installed on your Windows devices, then you may also have Brave VPN services installed on the machine. Brave installs these services without user consent on Windows devices.
Brave Firewall + VPN is an extra service that Brave users may subscribe to for a monthly fee. Launched in mid-2022, it is a cooperation between Brave Software, maker of Brave Browser, and Guardian, the company that operates the VPN and the firewall solution. The firewall and VPN solution is available for $9.99 per month.
Brave Software is not the only browser maker that has integrated a VPN solution in its browser. Mozilla, maker of Firefox, entered into a cooperation with Mullvad and launched Mozilla VPN in 2020. Brave Browser’s installation of VPN services on Windows
Brave Browser Windows VPN Service
A post on Privacy Guides suggests that Brave Browser installs its VPN Service without user consent and regardless of whether the VPN is used or has been used in the past.
You can verify this easily by following these steps:
<span style="color:#323232;">Use Windows-R to open the Run box.
</span><span style="color:#323232;">Type services.msc to open the Services manager on Windows.
</span><span style="color:#323232;">Scroll down until you come to the Brave section there.
</span><span style="color:#323232;">Check for Brave VPN Service and Brave VPN Wireguard Service.
</span>
If they exist, Brave has installed the services on your device. If you were never subscribed to Brave Firewall + VPN, the company may have done so without your consent.
The two services have no description, the startup type Manual and Manual Trigger Start.
There is no explanation why these services got installed on the system. Cautious users may set the two Services to disabled:
<span style="color:#323232;">Right-click on one of the services and select Properties.
</span><span style="color:#323232;">Switch the Startup type from Manual to Disabled.
</span><span style="color:#323232;">Repeat the process for the second VPN service.
</span>
Deleting the Windows services is another option. The main issue here is that there is no guarantee that a browser update won’t install the Services again. You’d need to monitor the services whenever Brave Browser updates to make sure of that.
Some users who replied to the discussion on Privacy Guides said that they did not have these services installed.
Closing Words
Why are the VPN services installed in first place? Brave made no announcement in this regard. Maybe so that users can start using the VPN immediately on Windows and not after a restart.
In any event, you now have the tools at hand to check for the services and either disable or delete them.
Now You: do you use Brave Browser?
Summary
Brave is installing VPN Services without user consent
Article Name
Brave is installing VPN Services without user consent
Description
Brave Software appears to be installing VPN services on Windows devices without user consent during Brave Browser updates.
Please, by all means, inform the class what “collective punishments” Russian Citizens are currently facing that are directly equivalent to what Israel is doing.
You’re the only one who believes your bullshit. You aren’t fooling anyone, or being sneaky. Everyone is very well aware of what you’re actually saying.
I’ve used Firefox for years and never seen an ad pushed by it.
This:
Even though they tell anyone who will listen that Firefox is a private browser, they push their own ads in the browser and have even tried pushing 3rd party ads (for some animation movie).
Is straight up horseshit.
Mozilla is tangled up with social/political advocacy and virtue signals too hard.
This leads me to believe that you’re a right winger. So yeah, a company trying to better the lives of others would naturally feel like oppression to you.
Mozilla Corporation is laying off 250 people, about a quarter of its workforce, explaining that the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly lowered revenue. Mozilla previously had about 1,000 employees.
But most importantly, share of Firefox users have dropped over the past decades from a comfortable lead to less than 3% today.
Firefox was memory hungry back in the 2010ish era and kinda sluggish. Chrome came along and was sleek and fast and Google was a good guy back then. Firefox has since been completely rewritten and is now blazingly fast and provides for an excellent browsing experience.