Porn-Site Virus Forces PC Users to Pay Up

[Jmart]

Now comes a scheme some researchers say amounts to extortion: One site's threat to disable visitors' computers with relentless pop-up ads if they don't pay for a subscription they were automatically signed up for after a free trial.

more here:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,313961,00.html


mcafee must be making some good money keeping users away from porn using scare tactics. this seems like complete bullshit to me, but maybe theres something I don't know

[SleazyBear]

The popup warnings you get from mainstream that say your computer is infected with spyware is pretty close to about the same thing, it scares the shit out of someone that has no clue what there doing, and 90% of the surfers out there dont have a clue.. I dont agree with this kind of marketing at all, but until someone gets nailed to the wall for it, not much will happen..

[silentwhispers]

eeeee not good, it's going to make surfers weary of getting a three day membership, blahtooey

[facialfreak]

Sounds like a Platinum Bucks creation ....

[Head Boy]

Sounds more like Zango and their friends. The short answer is "don't install anything", that goes for mainstream as well. We know all those toolbars and utilities are really just spyware.

[Hentaikid]

Normal users are like babes in the wood...

[apcwebmaster]

as affiliates do you think it is better for us to educate the surfer about removing this shitware off thier computer with the possibility of losing sales through the removal of 'tracking cookies' OR bowing to zango and thier type and losing sales to them instead?

I'd much prefer to fight the theives but thinking longterm, having more computer savvy surfers could make things harder in other ways like we are seeing today

[blogman]

Originally Posted by silentwhispers

eeeee not good, it's going to make surfers weary of getting a three day membership, blahtooey

but many of them forget unregister.

[Hentaikid]

Originally Posted by apcwebmaster

as affiliates do you think it is better for us to educate the surfer about removing this shitware off thier computer with the possibility of losing sales through the removal of 'tracking cookies' OR bowing to zango and thier type and losing sales to them instead?

It is a dilemma, isn't it? Keeping them scared of viruses may keep them away from p2p free porn, but the malware removal programs tend to lump us in with the scammers, not without reason sometimes.

[flip]

I had a long and sometimes heated conversation about this in the pub yesterday...

The majority of surfers in there blamed porn for their pc infections - they don't imagine it's little Johnny or little Jane downloading all those "whacky colourful games" and "surf bars" with God knows what coming with them...

It kinda went quiet when I asked how much porn they viewed given the dreaded P-word was allegedly responsible for all their viruses

[kaz]

Whoever uses this method of advertising should be shot!

[ScreaM]

That is fucking ridiculous.

[Greg B]

Just another a arrow in the anti-porn quiver. Underhanded tactics like this along with other really stupid things done by some webmasters especially regarding hate speech are going to turn the cc companies away and then we're going to see some real problems.

APC said the smart thing about helping to teach the surfer about scams and how to protect themselves. I and many others have suggested this over the years. Protect your surfers or lose your business.

[Head Boy]

How are we going to teach surfers, when we can't even teach webmasters?

[flip]

Originally Posted by Head Boy

How are we going to teach surfers, when we can't even teach webmasters?

That's an excellent point mate...

Many of my blogging peers from the old blogspot days - are still deep into the more shadier practices of the net...

When challenged about it their answer is "we make money fuck you..."

The first few more hardcore sponsors I ever hooked up with used to have these "tools" for surfers to download - call it an instinct but I didn't bite...

Luckily for me I found Netpond and lurked for a long time trying to find the right way to do things...

Like any business there's always going to be someone dodgy dealing giving genuine guys and gals a bad name...

But sadly as the cowboys are making good dollar from the likes of Zango etc - they are most resistant to change...

How you convince the webmaster/blogger is the key - but sadly most don't give a flying fuck if the cheques still come in...

Sad but reality

[Head Boy]

Another problem we face at the moment is the shift in the attitudes of sponsors. Most don't repect their surfers, but just look on them as a cheap source of traffic. It seems that signups are awarded on a fairly arbitrary basis, and often old established affiliates are rewarded with more than they deserve. It must make it extremely difficult for the many responsible sponsors who still respect their affiliates.

I think that we're almost at the stage where we should drop sponsors with pps payments, and only use them if their promo tools will help build our sites without leeching too much traffic.