(Note, the following
is an archived copy of a press release distributed in August of 2001. Unactive
links have been removed.)
PRESS RELEASE
-FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -
- AUGUST 19, 2001 -
Growing concerns mobilize community of 300,000
webmasters
The community of the heavily trafficked and highly popular Jimworld.com
network of sites, including the well liked “Gazette” have responded
to mounting concerns over the unethical practices of a popular software program
known as KaZaa Media Desktop installed with the TopText plug-in to educate and
protect the internet community.
Trabuco Canyon, CA. (August 19, 2001) – The community of
Jimworld.com a highly popular web site has united together to combat the spread
of a highly undesirable software program known as KaZaa Media Desktop (with
TopText plug-in) to address ever-increasing concerns over unethical advertising,
copyright infringement and tracking policies.
KaZaa Media Desktop, is a free software program that can be easily downloaded
and installed on your home PC. KaZaa Media Desktop has been downloaded over
6.5 million times from the C/NET Download.com website alone and many more times
from countless other websites. However, unbeknownst to the user the KaZaa Media
Desktop installed with the TopText plug-in which uses highly unethical practices
for advertising and tracking the surfing habits of their patrons (sometimes
known as spyware). As an example, KaZaa with the TopText plug-in, has been found
to alter copyrighted web site design with links to paying advertisers created
by yellow highlighting and underlines which may not be appropriate for the intended
audience - without owner authorization thereby infringing upon international
copyright laws. Not only does this deprive the site owner of advertising revenues
and potential sales, it has also been documented that some of these alterations
may result in links to adult sites not suitable for young children who may be
using a computer with the program installed.
Small websites aren’t alone in this matter, even highly
popular sites such as MSN.com, CNN.com and amazon.com have been subjected to
unauthorized advertising and traffic hijacking on their sites with yellow links.
It is foreseeable that 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 and site sales.
Even worse, KaZaa Media Desktop provides vague opt-out language
within the installation dialog and an inaccurate TopText application description,
causing average users to believe that TopText is necessary for KaZaa to function.
The program is also exceedingly difficult to remove and leaves Trojan-like components
and files behind after an uninstall which would allow the TopText parent company
Ezula, Inc. to reinstall the program remotely without the users authority.
Amid growing awareness stimulated by the JimWorld community, many
advertisers have ceased to continue affiliation with the “TopText”
program. Most recently the well-known TRUSTe.com company has requested that
the company cease use of the respected TRUSTe logo on their software and web
sites. In addition, several sites have been launched responding to these concerns
including scumware.com from the JimWorld.com network of sites to provide information
and services to web surfers, website owners and advertisers about the potential
problems associated with these programs.
To visit the site and get all of the latest information: http://www.scumware.com
About Jimworld.com
Founded in 1994 By Jim Wilson, Jimworld.com is a comprehensive network of sites
devoted to internet development and is proud to have developed a global community
of over 300,000 webmasters.
