Nitpicking? No, absolutely not. The obsession with spyware terminology, however, is a deviation from the real issue here. Fact is that OC is an Ad serving platform that also tracks your usage of software, monitors your actions and report this information back home. Arguing that others (Google, Adobe, Java, ....) do similar stuff does not (and should not) approve OC. Targeting the 'happy click next' ignorant crowd is not okay. What it actually does is setting a precedence for the rest of us who do think before clicking yes, read the EULA, etc. Next thing you hear, but everyone is using google, everyone is on FB... every installer is powered by OC (well, they wish).... got it?
The comment about Sweet IM illustrates another issue I have with OC, developers have no control about what OC promotes and they do not care about the end user and would recommend anything that pays well. User satisfaction my arxx ...