Dear [ insert name];
I have a very important issue I hope you can take
a few minutes to address your opinions.
There is a serious issue revolving around
the internet and a piece of software called TopText.
TopText is a product made by Ezula, which is bundled
with Kazaa a popular file sharing program. When a
user downloads Kazza, and thus far over 6.5 million
people have, they also download TopText.
In order to remain brief I will quote
a post from a Haha, a user at gethighforums.com.
The below listed are the exact issues
as they relate to TopText/Ezula.
Website owner/maintainer concerns:
* Alters copyrighted site content without
permission by adding links.
* Alters copyrighted site design with yellow highlighting
and underlines.
* Places text link advertising on websites without
compensating the sites' owners.
* Turns companies' own websites against them by adding
text link ads that lead to their competitors websites.
* Hijacks websites' visitors by adding external links.
* Alters the intended click flow of a site by turning
links into dropdown boxes that promote links out of
the site.
* On sites that use the common design convention of
yellow highlighting for words and links, masquerades
as part of the intended page design.
* Adds links that may not be appropriate for a site's
intended audience.
* Breaks the common policy of keeping editorial content
separate from ads, calling a journalist's and/or site's
ethics and integrity into question.
* Insinuates links to products & services into
"recommended" lists, putting the page author's
reputation at risk and making them a liability target.
* When a site's users are ready to buy the site's
product or service, clicking on 'Shopping Cart' or
a similar link may show users a link to another site,
causing the site to lose revenue.
* Text link ads show up in online legal agreements
like privacy policies and terms of service, bringing
their strictly legal purpose into question.
* Forces web authors to expend precious time and energy
trying to minimize TopText damage to their pages.
Advertiser concerns:
* Causes websites to break any exclusivity
clauses they may have with advertisers by placing
text link ads from other advertisers on the same page.
* Stabs Ezula advertisers in the back by doing the
same thing to their sites once users click on a link
to get to them.
* On sites where advertisers pay for listings, particularly
those with descriptions, alters the text of their
paid listings by inserting links to their competitors.
Web User concerns:
* Text link ads invade the signature
files and comments of participants in online forums,
insinuating a connection to the product or service
advertised.
* The end result of widespread use of TopText and
similar applications will be a mass movement from
free content to paid content by website owners, since
they will be deprived of advertising revenue.
TopText End-User concerns:
* Uses vague opt-out language in Kazaa's
installation dialog and an inaccurate TopText application
description, ensuring that only those with prior knowledge
of TopText will know to avoid installing it.
* Confuses, annoys, angers and/or frightens software
users, who often think they have contracted a computer
virus.
* Average users may believe that TopText is necessary
for Kazaa to function.
* Does not provide users with disable/delete information
in the Kazaa help file.
* Is difficult for many users to delete from their
systems.
* Leaves trojan-like components behind after uninstall.
We, the members of the webmaster community, ask for
your assistance, although our numbers may be high
our resources against larger companies such as this
do have limits. We are taking a stand, we are contacting
advertisers and we are making progress. In the meantime
we are still losing revenues, and in the time of the
dotcom crash we cannot afford to have what we have
worked for stolen from us.
To learn more about this situation I
invite you to visit these forums and share in the
quality discussions.
Direct thread links:
http://gethighforums.com/Forum10/HTML/001386.html
http://www.ahfb2000.com/webmaster_help_desk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=301
Respectfully,
[your name]
- courtesy
of Dave - AHFB, Get High Traffic Forum Member, Website: http://www.ahfb2000.com
