In the 1990s, tech innovation was at its peak. The big players were always trying to improve their game in the market. One such big player, was, of course, Microsoft. Its operating system Microsoft Windows was already very popular and thriving. Around that time, Microsoft launched Office 97, which had a 'Personal Assistant' named Clippy. Clippy guided and helped you through the software. It was built on a platform called 'Microsoft Agent', which was made available to anyone by Microsoft for making such virtual assistants so that they could also be integrated to 3rd party software.
How did BonziBUDDY originate?
As stated earlier, the Microsoft Agent platform was made available to anyone who wished to integrate a virtual assistant in their own software. A company called 'BONZI Software', took it a step further and launched their 'Standalone' (standalone meaning not attached to any other software, independent) program, called BonziBUDDY. It consisted of a green animated parrot called 'Peedy', created by Microsoft, who was supposed to be your virtual assistant, present not in any software but right on your desktop. It would help you with stuff, chat with you and do many other types of things for you. It was a very new concept at that time.
Bonzi: The Purple Monkey
Peedy the parrot was available for any developer to use for their programs. But then Bonzi Software launched their own character, a purple monkey, which was their trademark, meaning no one else could use the purple monkey.
The Rise of BonziBUDDY
When BonziBUDDY launched, the internet was still relatively very immature compared to what it is today. Most people did not know about internet privacy and security. A new and exciting, and most importantly, FREE software like BonziBUDDY, which supposedly helped you through your digital life, looked like a cute purple ape, talked with you, told you jokes, searched the web for you, had nice animations built into it, caught people's attention. People thought that as it was free, so they would have nothing to lose if they downloaded and tried it. And that is exactly what they did. BonziBUDDY exploded on the internet. People downloaded it in vast numbers and installed it on their computers.
The Problem with BonziBUDDY
What was the problem with BonziBUDDY? Well, the biggest problem with it was that it was not just the innocent piece of cute little virtual ape assistant that it claimed to be. It was Malware, Spyware, Adware, and much more!
It collected your information without you knowing anything about it! It installed random toolbars, reset your homepage to Bonzi.com, showed you random pop-ups now and then saying that your computer is infected with viruses or that you need to install this and this program to stay safe. It showed you fake 'X' icons to close the pop-ups, but if you pressed them, you would be taken directly to the pop-up page or the pop-up would be installed on your computer!
It claimed to increase your internet speed by using some kind of firewall named Internet Alert 99. You were required to register to Bonzi Software by giving your name, address, phone number, etc. before using it. It even collected data of children without parental consent.
In short, it was a horrible security and privacy nightmare!
The downfall of Bonzi Software and BonziBUDDY
The road ahead for BonziBUDDY and Bonzi software was not easy. As it is said, if you go on unchecked for a long time, you stop caring. The same thing happened here. Bonzi Software got careless and became very aggressive with their ads and pop-ups. Finally, people began to realize that something was wrong. And that's when the road downhill began for BonziBUDDY.
It faced several heavy lawsuits between 1999 to 2004. The company faced a class-action lawsuit for using deceptive ads. It was also forced to clearly label its pop-ups as ads, and not some genuine security risks. They also had to pay over $170,000 dollars as legal fees. They were fined $75,000 again in 2004 for violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.
The multiple lawsuits finally made Bonzi Software bankrupt, forcing it to shut down BonziBUDDY in 2004. It remained active on their website till 2008. After that, the website was discontinued too. Thus, the era of BonziBUDDY came to an end.
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