Forum Moderators: skibum
Today's NY Times
Big names like LimeWire, and others... Stealing from the hard working affiliates...
Arguments that the diversions are somehow the fault of an unintentional flaw do not persuade Erik Petersen, the chief technical officer at an Internet security company, Polar Cove, in Providence, R.I. Mr. Petersen said that he had received complaints about TopMoxie and LimeWire from friends and took a closer look. After conducting a detailed analysis of the software, he concluded that the TopMoxie program was intricately designed to substitute its affiliate identification code for that of other sites as transactions were made. He said that the program remained on the computer even if the user removed the original LimeWire music sharing software. "I don't buy their explanation," he said. "What kind of accident is that?"Mr. Petersen also pointed to a statement made in an online forum where the technology was discussed, in which a LimeWire developer characterized accusations that the software diverts money as "pretty accurate," but said, "While I agree that this is really a bit of a scam, it is a way for us to pay salaries while not adversely affecting our users."
I wrote at length the other day about parasiteware in
[webmasterworld.com...] (message #6).
Folks who didn't see that post might find it a useful complement to the NY Times article.
"That is an estimated $10.8 to 14.4 Billion market for affiliate STUFF." - Hardly the miniscule amount spoken about within the article!
