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if I download Firefox from Mozilla's website, how is Yahoo involved?

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  • Last reply by AliceWyman

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I don't know why, but people think that downloading firefox from mozilla.org will get you the Yahoo version or that Yahoo somehow has purchased Mozilla. You have search partnerships with Google, Yahoo and now Bing but if people want the original Firefox rather than the Yahoo version they should know that they can still come to you rather than get it from Yahoo. I have seen a lot of spam emanate from Yahoo's servers so I personally will not use Yahoo and do not trust that downloading the Firefox that Yahoo is actually a safe download. Yahoo created its own custom Firefox because Microsoft would not let them create a custom Internet Explorer anymore. That is the only reason. I think that you should insist that Yahoo do much more to increase its security and you should get the message out that Firefox is still available in its original form from the Mozilla website and that it has nothing to do with Yahoo.

I don't know why, but people think that downloading firefox from mozilla.org will get you the Yahoo version or that Yahoo somehow has purchased Mozilla. You have search partnerships with Google, Yahoo and now Bing but if people want the original Firefox rather than the Yahoo version they should know that they can still come to you rather than get it from Yahoo. I have seen a lot of spam emanate from Yahoo's servers so I personally will not use Yahoo and do not trust that downloading the Firefox that Yahoo is actually a safe download. Yahoo created its own custom Firefox because Microsoft would not let them create a custom Internet Explorer anymore. That is the only reason. I think that you should insist that Yahoo do much more to increase its security and you should get the message out that Firefox is still available in its original form from the Mozilla website and that it has nothing to do with Yahoo.

Chosen solution

To add to what was said:

Mozilla allows its "partners" to distribute customized versions of Firefox, such as "Firefox Optimized for Yahoo" but Mozilla must approve the customizations. For more information, see

...which links to

Please note that any customizations to Firefox and other branded products intended for distribution require Mozilla's approval. For further information on our distribution policies, please see the Policies section.
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The original (default) search from the mozilla.org is google.

If they have a problem with Yahoo or any other search engine, you may want to try to reinstall firefox for them from mozilla.org , then use the searchreset tool.

Firefox is also opensource meaning anyone can contribute to it (coding, support forum here, testing, and just plain using it).

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This is good info but I was commenting on the so called "ownership" of an open-source application. When Yahoo! started offering its own custom Firefox, because Microsoft would no longer allow them to offer a custom Internet Explorer, some people think that Yahoo "bought" Mozilla and that they "own" Firefox now. I don't believe this is true. And I continue to download my Firefox directly from the original source--http://mozilla.org

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I'm sure Yahoo! went through channels to secure the ability to use the Firefox brand on its version. However, if you think it's causing confusion, you can submit your concern from the following page: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/legal/fraud-report/

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That is for philosophers, not I but thank you. Open Source means "nobody owns it, and everybody owns it"

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I wonder if people are forgetting that?

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Open source means different things to different people... At the base level, it means the source code is not secret. But if someone wants to do more than read it and run it for themselves, the details are controlled by the license, in this case the Mozilla Public License.

If you're interested: http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/1.1/

Note that the license does not include a trademark license (2.1a and 2.2a), so recipients of the source would need to give their custom release a different name unless they get separately get permission to use the Firefox name.

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Chosen Solution

To add to what was said:

Mozilla allows its "partners" to distribute customized versions of Firefox, such as "Firefox Optimized for Yahoo" but Mozilla must approve the customizations. For more information, see

...which links to

Please note that any customizations to Firefox and other branded products intended for distribution require Mozilla's approval. For further information on our distribution policies, please see the Policies section.