Is It Really A Scam?
EZula Inc relies on the thoughtless gullibility of people who think they are being clever by
spreading the word about Kazaa. These people neither know, nor probably care, what else is in
the package or what damage it might do.
Most scams hook people in and then exploit them mercilessly, especially as promoters of the
scam, and this one is no different. eZula cares not a whit for the victims, who include the
plugin users as well as website owners. They will endlessly stretch out the pretence of a
dialogue about the legality of their application whilst continuing to insist that ethical
considerations are not relevant. After all, the more debate that ensues, the more publicity they
get and the more users join and spread the word.
TopText is a carefully crafted piece of software being marketed according to a well thought
out plan.
The people behind it will have anticipated the outcry over traffic stealing and factored it
into their scheme. They will have made a cynical and quite conscious decision, as all scammers
do, to exploit human greed to their own ultimate benefit. They will have known from the outset
that it couldn't last in the long term but they recognized an opportunity to make a fast buck.
The longer it lasts the more they'll make but eventually, they know, it will have to be watered
down until it's of no consequence. In the meantime they will have prepared themselves for a wild
ride and will be hoping against hope that they can spin it out long enough to make a few
million.
In short, it's an absolutely classic scam.
Other Threats
There are a number of other programs that operate in one way or another like TopText. Many
have features that have caused eyebrows to be raised due to ethical questions but none has
overstepped the mark of acceptability quite so blatantly before. One I know of is similar enough
to mention in the same breath except that it has the crucial difference of being a 'stand-alone'
program in its own right (Surf+ at http://www.filemix.net/).
All applications that furtively install themselves and/or that can secretly report back to a
third party, should be avoided, I believe, no matter how attractive their initial proposition
might seem. All those that purport to 'improve' other people's web pages or documents by
altering or adding anything should be shunned altogether. All spam is best treated with contempt
and not considered worthy of a response. And all GRQs (Get Rich Quick schemes) should be seen
for what they are: scams. Most don't work. Those that do, only work for those at the top of the
pyramid and do so by damaging someone else in some way, usually by defrauding or stealing from
them.
There are also some perfectly respectable companies proffering browser plugins that publish
statistics or comments about websites or pages on the Internet as they are visited, often
without the permission (or even the knowledge) of the owner. In my opinion these should also be
treated with extreme suspicion, at the very least. Some are of no real value and merely offer
spurious opinions about what is being viewed (e.g. the degree of 'coolness' or an award of stars
for 'usefulness' etc). However, some can be very useful; for instance, by offering a way of
quickly filling in forms, or by offering a selection of 'similar' sites to explore.
Prudent net users should always keep in mind the potential for abuse. Where there is
potential there is temptation. When advertisers are involved in the mix there is also pressure.
The Immediate Threat
Simple-minded people incapable of thinking through the deeper issues say that TopText is just
another marketing ploy and nothing to get excited about. But this is a form of 'subliminal
advertising' which, by any standards, is reprehensible. Apart from being surreptitious, which is
a threat to everyone's privacy, it actually steals traffic that website owners have attracted by
the virtue of the content they provide. When their market is stolen from under their noses, the
incentive to generate more traffic disappears. What's the point when the only beneficiary of
such effort is the competition? Take away traffic and there is no longer any reason to produce
content to display.
Without meaningful content the 'information highway' will quickly lapse into disuse.
This is a worst-case scenario, of course, but don't be fooled into thinking it's unlikely. If
it's allowed to go unchecked it has the potential to do untold damage to confidence, the culture
of information sharing and the need for an ethical profit potential on the Internet. This has
already happened on Usenet, where there are hardly any public newsgroups worth participating in
any more. They are swamped with spam and scams. Luckily, the World Wide Web came into being just
as the rot set in, so the demise of Usenet was not really noticed. It would be a tragedy though,
if the promise of the World Wide Web were reduced to the same level of ineffectiveness.
Human greed will assuredly always be with us and this isn't the last such threat that we'll
probably have to deal with. Human apathy though, is the real problem because it can only be
overcome by individuals who have the determination and strength of will to sound the alarm
loudly and often enough to wake people up. I hope we can find enough such people to do exactly
that. Part Two of this article, How To Fight The
'Contextual Advertising' Scam, suggests how best they might do it.
© Mike Alexander 2001
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