NEW YORK (AP) – An anti-spyware initiative backed by Internet portals Yahoo and AOL would certify downloadable software as consumer-friendly and non-invasive.

Under the program, announced Wednesday, developers that want to obtain certification for their downloads would also have to prove their products can be easily removed from computers once installed.

TRUSTe, an organization that already certifies and monitors Web site privacy and e-mail practices for businesses, will rely on testing by two outside labs for the vetting. It would not name the labs. Developers earning TRUSTe’s certification will not be permitted to promote that fact, said its executive director, Fran Maier.

Rather, TRUSTe will issue a “white list” of trusted programs that partners Yahoo Inc., America Online Inc., CNET Networks Inc. and other Web publishers may use in determining whose software they wish to ally with or distribute.

The Trusted Download Program is to begin early next year. TRUSTe may suspend or revoke certifications for violations.

Lost certification would likely mean lost revenues for software developers from lost distribution channels on major Web sites, the program’s backers say.

“It creates market incentives that will change how consumers see software,” said Doug Leeds, Yahoo’s vice president for product justice.

Backers of the initiative believe that consumers wouldn’t benefit much from a system in which good products simply display seals of approval.

“They are looking for us to do it for them,” Leeds said.

Leeds said Yahoo could use the certifications to determine whether it wished to make its search results available to other companies as a component of their toolbars and other software products.

For its part, AOL could use the certification to determine where to place ads and what ads to accept, said Jules Polonetsky, AOL’s vice president for integrity assurance.

For example, before advertising AOL’s Moviefone Web site through third-party software that generates ads, AOL could check to make sure the software’s developer meets TRUSTe’s standards.

Yahoo is among the major Internet companies that have been accused in the past of benefiting from adware companies with questionable installation practices.

Leeds said applications and the way they are distributed change so often that companies like Yahoo have a difficult time keeping up. A certification program, he said, will allow Yahoo to keep monitoring a partner’s practices.

CNET does not currently plan to require certification for software distributed through its Download.com site, although it will be one factor considered, said Scott Arpajian, senior vice president for Download.com.

Other companies backing the initiative are Internet service provider Verizon Communications Inc. and anti-spyware vendor Computer Associates International Inc.

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