The beginning of the 21st century was something like the Wild West for the computing world. Everyone wanted a slice of the big pie, and one of the companies that gained the most traction was Bonzi Software, which in 1999 launched its digital assistant BonziBuddy. The purple gorilla installed itself on millions of computers, and over time, what seemed like a charismatic character aimed at the little ones finally revealed its true identity as malware that stole browsing histories, installed toolbars, and hijacked homepages.
The Rise of Personal Assistants
The idea of placing a personal assistant on the computer is nothing new. Those of us who have a few years on our shoulders still remember the horror of Microsoft Bob, a concept that Redmond never fully abandoned, and which was reflected in things like the Office Assistant. However, Bob gave rise to a much more interesting piece of technology, Microsoft Agent.
The Birth of BonziBuddy
That brings us to Bonzi Software, a company created in 1993 by the brothers Joe and Jay Bonzi. Its first application was "Voice E-Mail", which basically saved voice in an audio file... to then send it by email. But Bonzi Software would take the Web by storm in 1999 with its assistant BonziBuddy. The initial version used the parrot Peedy from the aforementioned Microsoft Agent, and a few months later, it was replaced by the famous purple gorilla that many remember, Bonzi.
A 'Friendly' Assistant
Bonzi could read some emails, add entries to a calendar, and even tell jokes. In other words, Bonzi "talked with the user", and its creators did not hesitate to promote it as an example of artificial intelligence, which "learned more from the user" with extended use. At the same time, it was very fun for the little ones, and the fact that it was free stimulated its adoption.
The supposed learning was nothing more than a hoax, and Bonzi Software began to abuse its popularity by presenting advertising in the form of pop-ups. These pop-ups offered other products of the company, like the original "Voice E-Mail", and its two programs "Internet Boost" and "Internet Alert", which did absolutely nothing.
Legal Troubles
BonziBuddy crossed the line when its pop-ups became imitations of Windows alerts, using fake "X" buttons (something Microsoft did in its Windows 10 campaign) that never closed the advertisements. This triggered its first major legal conflict in 2002, and although it reached a quick settlement, Bonzi Software had to pay 170 thousand dollars in costs.
Its situation got even more complicated in 2004, when the US FTC declared Bonzi Software guilty of violating the COPPA law, "Children's Online Privacy Protection Act". The problem was that BonziBuddy requested a data registration upon startup (name, address, and age), and since a good part of its user group were children, the company ended up obtaining information from minors without their parents' authorization.
The Malware Side
What did Bonzi Software do during that period? Double down. BonziBuddy began to install toolbars in Internet Explorer without prior notice, hijack the homepage so that Bonzi Software's portal always opened first, and extract details about the browsing history. The friendly purple gorilla that told jokes turned into a malware bomb.
Fortunately, the impact of the lawsuits and the growing rejection of users precipitated its fall in 2004... or so we thought. To tell the truth, BonziBuddy still has fans, and nobody in their right mind denies the power of nostalgia. If anyone is interested in loading a virtual machine with XP and downloading a copy to listen to its old jokes, they can do so here.
