Open Letter To Aluria Spyware Company

CastleCops ^ | 11/22/2004 | anon

[Read2Know]

So outside of Aluria's control we are presenting Aluria with a set of questions in the hopes that they will be answered. We're certain these questions do not cover everything and more will come up, but this is a start. Aluria's product is called Spyware Eliminator, which costs money to clean your system.

1. 1.
2. What are your thoughts on the Aluria and WhenU arrangement? 2.
3. Do you think this puts Aluria's reputation (along with COAST) in jeopardy? 3.
4. Who profits from its software being bundled in WhenU distributions? 4.
5. Will the software target the removal of competing anti-spyware/adware solutions? 5.
6. Why does Aluria work with WhenU when other security companies describe them as spyware/adware? 6.
7. How can Aluria be an objective security company when it is partnered with a known offender? 7.
8. Andrew Clover has provided details at the Aluria Forums, why is he ignored? 8.
9. Will you be marketing your products and advertising when consumers call your anti-spyware hotline for help? 9.
10. Any comments on WhenU being linked to SP2fucked? 10.
11. How can the 'Spyware Safe' program be reputable when well known companies like Symantec label WhenU bad? 11.
12. Does Aluria consider the use of Installers which doesn't clearly indicate all the software being installed on a system a legitimate and ethical practice? 12.
13. How can Aluria claim that WhenU is spyware safe when it is bundled with known spyware products? 13.
14. Do you condone AdwareReport for suggesting SpywareGuide lied? 14.
15. Did you send a cease and desist order to SpywareGuide when clearly their comments reflected your privacy policy in complete accuracy as shown by Web Archive? 15.
16. Is Aluria hoping to profit from the 80 million people Avi Nader has previously declared have WhenU installed on their systems, even though over 70% of those people aren't aware of how the software got there, and wish to remove the software once they are aware of it's presence? 16.
17. How does this WhenU partnership and public scepticism reflect on your partnership with AOL in delivering Spyware Eliminator to its dial-up members? 17.
18. AOL is offering SpyZapper in its 9.0 release. Has AOL dropped Aluria? 18.
19. How do you feel about being delisted on security sites and therefore losing faith in the public eye? 19.
20. So by delisting WhenU, will user's using Aluria Spyware Eliminator receive no notification or deletion of older versions of WhenU?

It is our hope that Aluria will answer these questions and begin to work with other professionals in the industry again. Certainly their choices lately have received a lot of debate. Why wouldn't it? One day Aluria is fighting WhenU and going after them, the next day Aluria is their friend and bundling their anti-spyware product with WhenU. Can Aluria save face?

[Read2Know]

A posting here inspired me to do some research on spyware. What I found caused me to uninstall my Aluria spyware eliminator. Here is a link to a genuine comparison between all the major brands.

[nevergore]

Your link for the comparison is returning a "this document doesn't exist on this server" message......

NeverGore :^)

[Read2Know]

Sorry try this link: http://spywarewarrior.com/asw-test-guide.htm

[nw_arizona_granny]

Bump


Sorry try this link: http://spywarewarrior.com/asw-test-guide.htm

[Dallas59]

I tried that crap product a year ago. Kept getting Spyware and Adware on my pute. Got rid of it and the adware and spyware stopped. Case Closed.