After my first post today I sent the following letter to MediaPost:
Dear Mr. Fadner, Your article today about "behavioral marketing" which quotes Debra Williamson left out some important information about spyware.There are a litany of complaints leveled against the companies like Gator, Bonzi Buddy, WhenU, et. al, because they are dishonest about what their software does. Many times you don't know what you've installed (or even that you've installed it) until you start getting pop-ups on your screen. Many pop-ups on your screen. When you try to find the culprit, and remove the software, it's hard to locate, hard to kill, and hard to keep off your computer once it's been installed. Left on a computer, it will make the victim's computer slower, more unstable, and more crash-prone.
Those kinds of actions are very similar in intent to how viruses and Trojan horse programs work. Only, these are somehow okay because they're paid for and supported by a commercial company.
To have an article about "behavioral marketing" (euphimisms at their best) and not address those issues.
I'd be interested to hear what spyware advocate Ms. Williamson would have to say about those charges.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Maurice Reeves
