Instead, Gomes thinks the publisher

Instead, Gomes thinks the publishers should try persuasion instead of litigation, free speech instead of legal coercion. In particular, the publishers claim that most Gator users don't realize that they have it on their computers or, at least, don't understand how it tracks their web-surfing habits. Gator denies this, but in any case the publishers could, Gomes says, inform their website visitors that there are programs like Ad-Aware that allow PC owners to check whether their computers have Gators or other sorts of adware on them and then, if they want, to delete those programs. The publishers could also point out that Microsoft, Yahoo, and other provide the software that Gator gives away, but without any Gator-like tracking built in. This, Gomes argues, is the right way to respond to the challenge of Gator--by giving computer users more choice, not less.