Direct Revenue respond...

I have absolutely no problem with heaping out credit where credit is due - especially when that credit involves shutting down a rogue affiliate. Even more so when that rogue affiliate exists in the world of Adware - because all too often, it's the easiest thing in the world for the makers of the software installed to wash their hands of all responsibility. That has been a common staple of the Adware industry for years, and the most common excuse made when things go wrong.

So with that in mind, I will happily publish the below letter from Direct Revenue. I'm still going to write about installs that I feel to be rogue, I'm still not impressed with the whole Aurora issue, and I still don't agree with many of the practices employed by various companies whose products fall (rightly or wrongly) under the banner of "Adware". I also take issue with the article regarding Aurora's distribution being labelled as "deceptive". Apart from that, it certainly doesn't fix the problem overnight - it's just one small chunk of rogue site gone wrong action shut down - but it would be unrealistic to assume such a thing could be achieved with no time given to set things straight.

Simply writing about what's out in the wild has had an impact, and has resulted in the following. I'll give Direct Revenue a little breathing space now - they're likely aware of the issues, problems and maybe even controversy surrounding Aurora...I've made my point. And I don't need to keep banging on about it. So as a result of the below action taken, I will (for now) retreat back into the shadows and give them some time to see if they can sort out some of these botched installs.

June 16, 2005

Mr. Christopher Boyd
Vitalsecurity.org

Thank you for posting the video on Vitalsecurity.org today showing an improper download of Direct Revenue Software. We have identified the third-party distribution channel responsible for the download in question, confirmed that the download of our software was occuring in breach of our distribution agreement and without user consent and, as is our policy in such matters, we have shut down the distribution channel responsible for the offence.

Well done - it's a start.

Incidentally, I just saw this - I would like to point out no-one at this site has confirmed (or indeed definitively stated) that any of the media files included in the MMG bundles were unlicenced, as MMG have not (to my knowledge) made any public statement concerning this one way or another.