Ready Software's Glue Menu is based on stolen code

Last May, we speculated on whether Ready Software was in fact a reincarmation of the infamous Gadget Software, exposed for using stolen code used in their software (see this item). Although it seemed likely that both companies were actually the same, we lacked definitive evidence and dropped the matter. We can now at least confirm (thanks to Avi Drissman) that Ready Software is following in Gadget's footsteps. In particular, Ready Software's Glue Menu is based on stolen code. With Glue Menu enabled, menus automatically drop down without needing to click on the menubar. Glue Menu also allows you to open the Apple Menu Items folder via an Option-click. Avi found that when you install Glue Menu, it places the main Glue Menu application/control panel in the Startup Items folder. More importantly, it also installs an extension called Glue Menu Engine. The problem is that Glue Menu Engine is a direct copy of Bubble Pop's Apple Click (which provides the same Option-click feature)! Kevin Parichan (of Bubble Pop) confirms this: "It's quite obvious that this is my Apple Click product, just repackaged." Amazingly, Ready Software's home page contains a message from Kevin, asking that they remove the stolen software. Their reply, which seems to place blame on the defunct "Gadget," makes little or no sense. And the product still remains listed. We also received an email from Ready Software that almost duplicates what is now on their home page and asking us to post this story. We've obliged. Finally, Glue Menu's Installer also places an invisible extension (MenuLib1) in the System Folder. Avi looked at the code with Resorcerer and found that it is not a Lib file at all, but what appears to be a control panel, although with many of its resources stripped out. Still, this invisible file alone is enough to get Glue Menu's other feature (auto-drop down menus) to work. Thus, the main work of Glue Menu is not done by the application itself but by this invisible extension. [There are also invisible files named MenuLib2 and MenuLib3 placed in the Preferences folder.] As there seems no obvious need for these files to be invisible (other than to make it less likely that someone will find them and examine them), this similarly raises suspicions about the origins of the MenuLib code. The bottom line here is no surprise: Avoid Ready Software. Update: Ready Software has removed virtually all of the content from their Web site. All you get now is a simple Index listing.