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Firefox Extension Links to Free, Illegal Downloads from Amazon

by Tim Stevens on December 4, 2008 at 05:25 PM

New Firefox Extension Links Directly to Illegal Downloads
If you're a user of Mozilla's fine and free browser, Firefox, chances are you have a few extensions that you've installed to help you customize your surfing experience (if not, might we recommend a few of our favorites?). There are extensions for all sorts of tweaks and changes, but we've never seen one quite like Pirates of the Amazon, which is making quite a stir by effectively allowing users to steal stuff listed on Amazon.

Pirates of the Amazon is a new extension that links from Amazon directly to illegal downloads on the Pirate Bay, a notorious source for subverted copies of music, movies, games, and more. After installing the extension, you'll often see new links on Amazon.com that say "Download 4 free." Click there and you'll be given the opportunity to download an illegal copy without paying a cent.

We don't think Amazon's particularly worried, as the people who use this are likely already downloading software illegally, but it'll be interesting to see if they make some changes to their site to circumvent this extension. If so, it'll surely turn into another back-and-forth battle of updates with no winners. [From: CNet News]

Tags: amazon, extension, firefox, firefox extensions, FirefoxExtensions, pirate bay, PirateBay, pirates of the amazon, PiratesOfTheAmazon, web

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