Spyware is what it's called....
I've never operated my computer without a firewall and when I ran Ad-Aware from
www.lavasoftusa.com (Free) I found 21 different spyware programs....
It seems some of the more popular programs like RealAudio and Audiogalaxy Sattellite phone home on you....And what is in those files?
By the way, if you uses Ad-Aware be sure to download RefUpdate to make the spyware update lists easier to keep current..