the special sauce writes
"A few months back, our customers (we run a regional ISP) started receiving deceptive domain renewal notices from Verisign and Verisign partners such as Interland. A couple of our customers temporarily lost their domains in the process as the registrant, contact information and hosting company was all changed. Yesterday, I received an e-mail from a customer. He was forwarding a "reminder" e-mail he had received. It was an SSL certificate "renewal" notice from a UK company, Comodo. It instructed him to "upgrade" his current certificate (issued by Equifax) before it expired." More information on this charming practice follows...
the special sauce Continues:
"For those who don't know, Equifax was just bought out by GeoTrust, who offers a QuickSSL product. Comodo's e-mail was advertising an "InstantSSL" product, which I myself mistook for the GeoTrust product on first reading the e-mail. When I realized my mistake, I contacted Comodo and inquired as to their relationships with Equifax and GeoTrust and how they came by my customer's information. The response: "We have no relationship with Equifax or GeoTrust. The information on a certificate is public information which we have used to inform this company that they have an option when they come to buy their certificate." My interpretation: Comodo is harvesting contact information from certificates in bad faith, to market a competing product. Furthermore, I think they have targeted Equifax customers because the company was just bought out. In any buyout, confusion exists as to the "new" company's identity. I think they are offering a product whose name is confusing similar to a GeoTrust's product. The language in their e-mail does everything possible to obfuscate the fact that they are not affiliated with Equifax, encouraging customers to "renew" and "upgrade" their certificates. In reality, if my customer had clicked the links in the e-mail, he would have been purchasing a new certificate from a company with which he had no previous relationship.
So I ask, is this not cert slamming? I don't expect this to be as big a problem as Verisign's domain slamming: we simply host less certificates than domains so it is easier to warn all of our customers with secured web sites. Nevertheless, I've reported the practice to the FTC."
Slashdot Mirror
There was a recent ruling against Verisign for this activity. Because of their deceptive mailings I will _NEVER_ consider using them as my registrar.
scott
Don't customers have to have their service provider actually changed (w/o authorization) for the practice to be considered slamming?
I mean, what's described here is disgusting, but I don't know that the terminology fits.
- DDT
So long, michael. Don't let the door hit you...
At least they aren't invalidating your certification. What they have done is not much different really than other net trolls who do nothing but suck email addresses from websites and Usenet posts. How many junk mail adverts have you gotten that try to look like: a federal government check (i.e., tax refund) certified US mail (credit card adverts) etc.?
What exactly does this story have to do with VeriSign?
If we're going to start working slams against companies we don't like into unrelated stories, we should at least cover all the bases by saying something tangential about Microsoft or an RIAA member while we're at it.
--
Mod up a post Rob doesn't like and you'll never mod again
I switched from one of the big evil registar companys to Go Daddy and I've gotten far less of this sort of spam.
sure verisign doesn't have a stake in Comodo? heh..
Verisign only complains if anything takes money from them. If they don't lose money, they don't care.
I spoke with a person at Verisign about an obvously false whois registration, that belongs to a spammer. This clearly violates ICANN rules, but Verisign does not want to hear it.
Fight Spammers!
Well, once you OPEN one of the psuedo-offical enevlopes you can usually figure out it's just an ad, the offical looking stuff is just to get you to open it (although those 'checks' are a rip). But this, from what I have seen, looks like an actual renewal notice, much more sleazy IMHO.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts."
Sure it's Cert slamming. There's no doubt about that. The problem is though, that to date there is no law against it. That's right, perfectly legal. For example I have on my desk a letter from "The Admiistrative Office of RPR/OFV Records Division". It looks vaguely like something from the IRS, certainly it is from some government agency. When I open it, it looks like a check for $1600 and a ticket for a cruise. Of course, it is all a bogus marketing scam. Probably trying to sell time shares. It's totally and intentionally misleading but, at the same time it is still legal.
Furthermore I wouldn't look for a law against it any time soon. Things like certificates and how they work are a bit on the technical side, at least for our poor overworked legislators. They have a lot of catching up to do and are currently bogged down trying to stop the MP3 swappers from being the scurge of humanity that they are.
I really think that whois records should be kept more private to stop things like this.
What pisses me off is that I get SPAM snailmail from companies that get my address off my whois.
I have gotten numerous emails from companies doing the same thing.
Unfornutately it is legal because they have a size 5 disclaimer at the bottom
forget it.
While I don't condone the spam advertising methods here, this is NOT comparable to Versign's shady practices. Verisign was sending out notices that tried to make people believe they were renewing their domains, but were actually switching providers.
There is no deception here. It's a simple advertisement asking you to switch.
Nothing to see here.
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
Verisign partners such as Interland
Is it just me or are these internet companies' names getting more cheesy everyday?
Soon we'll have CutCo, EdgeCom, and the ever waiting CompuGlobalHyperMegaNet joining the leagues of crap companies im sure.
Anyone know if Comodo's cross-signed with another provider? I dont' see Comodo listed with their own top-level pre-trusted root in Konq 3.0 or Mozilla 1.0, so I sure hope they are cross-signed with someone.
That would be truly unfortunate for the victim to fall for this and end up with a cert that nobody's browser trusts.
On a related noted, from CNN.com
Comodo is a spam-laden organization. I run a web hosting and network management firm in Edmonton and we've received countless offers for "CHEAP SSL" and other services from Comodo!
It's been thoroughly discussed in other location such as WebHostingTalk.com which I suggest anyone interested in pursuing a Comodo service look at first. These guys actually responded in the forum with a nice show that they don't actually care who they spam provided it makes a buck.
Sincerely,
-Matt
--- Need web hosting?
Beware of con letters from "Domain Registry of
Europe" (based in UK). They are trying the same
scam as Verisign.
- A company uses publicly-available vehicle registration information to pitch extended warranties.
- A tax company uses public appraisal tax rolls to offer their assistance in filing appraisal appeals.
- A company sends a homeowner a form and fee request to file a homestead exemption, again using information from public tax rolls.
- An insurance company sends a "reminder" about homeowner insurance renewal, using information publicly available in some states (usually loan information).
- A doctor's office uses publicly-available information to notify a pilot that it's time for he/she to renew their medical certificate.
In all these cases, companies are pitching their wares using public information, knowing full well that a small percentage of the population will choose not to check the details. Exploitive? Maybe...but certainly not illegal. And it can't even remotely be considered slamming.It even looks like Comodo was very straightforward with you when you requested additional information. I see no attempt by Comodo to obfuscate their purpose.
Careful what you say, if you remember the episode correctly Bill Gates may try to buy you out.
-Matt
--- Need web hosting?
I read both notices and it seems like the VeriSign one was much more confusing then the one from Comondo.
In the VeriSign renewal form, it had no indication that they were not your registar to begin with. However in the Comondo email it had wording such as...
why not upgrade your Certificate with Comodo and join our many customers
That made it clear to me that this wasn't sent to a current customer of Comondo.
If this company is UK based i would advise you to report them to the Office of fair trading and the UK Trading Standards , these kinds of practices are despicable and the OFT and TS do not take kindly to this sort of behaviour
I cannot even count the number of bogus faxes / emails I have received telling me one of my domains (or some clever spelling thereof) is about to expire.
Gee, marketing people are creepy slimeballs. I'm stunned. No. Really.
Cheers,
-- RLJ
So Comodo spams website owners. As a result, the website owners might get tricked into buying this cert "renewal".
But who makes the Certificate Signing Request for website owners? In most cases the company hosting the web site. (Unless it's co-location).
I expect competent tech support personnel to filter out these bogus certificate renewals immediately.
-------
Warning: Slashdot may contain traces of nuts.
Yup, even in the southern hemisphere it's happening.A 53F05EC FC6CC256ABF00090DE4
E A2 77DCC256BC9000CA1D2
Internet Name Group (no URL any more that I can find) and Internet Registry have both been trying it on in Ausralia and New Zealand. The ACCC (commerce department in Aus) and the Commerce Commission in NZ are both keeping an eye on the matter.
Stories on the subject here:
http://www.idg.net.nz/webhome.nsf/nl/D6AC0
and here:
http://www.idg.net.nz/webhome.nsf/nl/A8539751DE
apologies for the evil links... goddam Notes.
I am a leaf on the wind
test post, please ignore.
Malike Bamiyi wanted my assistance.
Don't you think that calling their offering a RENEWAL is deceptive? It is a new and different certificate from the one that is expiring. It is not a renewal, it is a replacement.
Don't moderate flamebait as Troll. Know the difference or you will be Meta-moderated.
I've moved all my domains off of Veri$ign, screw them all. godaddy.com has been working out well.
SSL and crypto in general is all about trust. Would you trust someone who engages in deceptive marketing? Then again, so does Verisign, with their domain stuff. Are there any good certificate issuers?
My interpretation: Comodo is harvesting contact information from certificates in bad faith
The term "harvesting" seems to imply that they did honest work (like a farmer) to get to the position where they could then reap the rewards. May I suggest that the term "strip mining" might be more accurately descriptive of what's going on here?
It's becoming clear that we need spam laws which provide for a penalty against the beneficiary of a spam, even if they did not originate it. An acceptable defense would be that the beneficiary had taken legal action against the spammer. That would make third-party spam actionable. (It may be, anyway, but it's a bigger legal battle under current law. I've been talking to an an anti-spam lawyer, and he's unwilling to take on Verisign because they have too much money.)
So Mr. Coward worked for VeriSign? This explains the penis bird and the goat trolling.
- RLJ
I personally like the term "poaching" when referring to these types of practices. Strip mining is nasty, but not necessarily illegal (though it should be.) Poaching, by the very definition is:
To take or appropriate something unfairly or illegally.
I can't think of a better way of describing this type of information THEFT, for the gain of the THIEF.
I got similar notices from Verisign for domain names as far back as a year ago. Of course, Verisign/NSI sucked anyway, so I had no qualms with immediately changing my service.
That'll work.
Correct me if I am wrong but
Registar information was ruled as non public..ie you cannot use for mass mailings through postal office, mass caling telemarketing, and mass emailing..
Would not cert information be on the same plane?
Don't Tread on OpenSource
Who died and made ICANN boss?
Jon Postel, who is probably spinning in his grave.
Note to moderators: Self modded down (no score +1) as OT.
Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.
I'm disappointed that CNN doesn't even list the names it asserts are confusingly similar to corporate websites. But I have to think that the confusing similarity shouldn't matter in this case. IMHO, this IS a free speech issue, as I think that this man's political commentary that relates directly to the domain names in question SHOULD be considered a valid interest in the domain name.
Don't moderate flamebait as Troll. Know the difference or you will be Meta-moderated.
They went to all the trouble to blur out the customer's address and items on the invoice, and then missed his info in smaller print, just plain as day.
I wonder how this guy feels about that:
Scott Rogers
Cape Cod Computer Wholesalers
P.O. Box 2842
Orleans, MA 02653-6842
Dumbasses.
In Soviet Russia, Chuck Norris will still kick your ass.
I prefer goatse"ing" the general public
***I GOT NUTHIN***
Just to clarify, Equifax sold just the small part of its business that was concerned with certificate management to GeoTrust. Equifax is still an independent company with lots of other businesses. (Yes, I work for Equifax).
So can I use my list of UUnet customers to market to them network connectivity from a company not entering into bankruptcy? It is public information.
now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
I work for Equifax and we did not get bought out by GeoTrust. just the certificate business.
Here's snippets from a renewal notice I got. I've never seen a more ridiculous abuse of domain registrations. I've got other emails from them that have even more domain names being used this way - it's like they're trying to encourage you to register a unique domain for every page on your site..
...
...
...
...
...
...
--
TO RENEW SERVICES
Renew your domain name and other VeriSign Web Services now - it's fast and easy to do:
Go to www.VSSavings.com and enter your domain name.
Go to www.5DaysToRenew.com and enter your account number/login number and password*.
TO UPDATE YOUR ACCOUNT
Visit www.verisignaccount.info to update your address, view services and verify payments made. You will need the following to access your account:
Your account/login number - listed above
Your password. If you don't have your password, go to www.verisignpassword.info or call Customer Service at 1-866-847-2282.
You can read our comprehensive Service Agreement at www.verisignagreement.info.
Please do not reply to this message. For any VeriSign Customer Service inquiries, please e-mail us through the following link: www.contactverisign.com. Any replies to this message, other than unsubscribe requests, will not receive a response.
The words renew, remind, upgrade, and expire (or variants thereof) occur 15 times
The words switch, transfer, move (or variants) do not occur.
The word new does occur once, but in relation to the certificate, not the issuer."I'm not impatient. I just hate waiting." - My Dad
"We have no relationship with Equifax or GeoTrust. The information on a certificate is public information which we have used to inform this company that they have an option when they come to buy their certificate."
They aren't trying to 'inform', they're hard selling, in bad faith. They're misleading consumers into thinking there is no alternative. It's opportunistic, and pretty close to criminal.
An insurance company sends a "reminder" about homeowner insurance renewal, using information publicly available in some states (usually loan information).
I get notices from insurance agencies, credit card companies and any number of other bulk mailers. The difference is, they are out in the open about wanting to sell me a product i don't have, or informing me i have an alternative to the products i may already be using.
These companies are playing dumb. "aww shucks, you mean folks didn't realize they didn't HAVE to re-up with us? well, gosh golly, i guess we'll be more careful next time." A mailing could just as easily be sent out that says "we noticed that your domain name / cert is about to expire. Please consider us as an alternative when you renew." That'd be a company hawking their wares. What they're doing now is a clearly deceptive business practice. Slamming just happens to be the closest description.
There are some people that if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.
I was kind of surprised to see this assertion. So I did a little due dilligence (I looked at the web sites of both parties). Nothing whatsoever in their press releases. I finally found it here http://www.equifax.com/DigitalCertificates/dc_pres s09252001.html
Equifax sold their SSL Certificate business, not anything else, close to a year ago... They're still the same credit reporting, marketing and so forth company they've always been.
IANAL. Now, of course you have to consider that it's up to a court to determine whether a servicemark or trademark is being infringed upon, but "confusingly similar" certainly meets the standard for infringement. However, the special sauce got a different reading than I did - no doubt coloured by the fact that Comodo [brings visions of flushing to mind] spammed his customers for competing (and probably lame) products. I'd be pissed too.
However, my reading of the spam was that it's pretty straightforward. There's obsfucation, but it's arguable that they consider their product an "upgrade" in much the same way Microsoft salesdrones consider W2K Server an "upgrade" to your favorite Unix/Linux distro. Companies often offer "renewals" or "competitive upgrades" to entice users to switch from Brand X.
IMHO, what Verisign has done in its spam "renewal" campaign is fraudulent. In a related anecdote, I've found it next to impossible to move my domains to another registrar; hell, I've had problems just moving them between hosting services.
But, back to the topic, Comodo [flush] ain't slamming, I've experienced that joy on two occasions. BellSouth got a new Access app that had a *required* a selection from a lookup table of long distance providers. The default at the time was AT&T. I went from *no long distance* (I *PAID* a monthly fee for disabling long distance. Not that it mattered, because BellSouth was perfectly happy to sign me up with AT&T for my non-existent long-distance service at a $15 a month fee. I still haven't found out how much they got for it, but after repeated phone calls and legal threats I enjoyed 8 months of free local phone service to settle the matter. Of course, that was after about 8 weeks of haranguing dozens of people - your mileage may vary.
Second was when I ordered DirecTV DSL for one of my company's East Texas offices. As in most places, the local Bell does the actual activation - molasses slow for competitors' customers, blazing quick (in comparison) for Bell customers. But I signed up for DirecTV DSL and SouthWestern Bell *canceled* that work order, telling DirecTV DSL that we'd already signed up with SouthWestern Bell; a blatant lie. Still dealing with that one.
__
Choose mnemonic identifiers. If you can't remember what mnemonic means, you've got a problem. - Larry Wall
I'd just like to say that versign blows ass worse than a 386 Packard Bell computer.
Given the tactics in the story do you want to trust access to media that you own to companies that will screw each other (and us) as part of normal business practice?
Cheers
Phil
My attorney told me that if a contract exists, and I become aware that a competitor is trying to win my customer's business *prior* to the expiration of the contract between me & my customer, then the competitor can be sued for damages due to "tortious interference"...
Most of the time, the competitor would back off until the contract was within 3 months or so of expiring. There were a couple of times, though, that we went to court - & got money both times for damages (customer for breach of contract, competitor for "TI").
So how is this situation different from VeriSign, et al, slamming domain registrations? Why aren't the lawyers having a field day with this? Or are they, & I just missed the cloobus?
"He who throws mud, loses ground." - proverb
I guess you can complain as loud as you want, but there is no solution to people, trying to make money off "uneducated" customers/people. They will find a way. When founding a company in Germany, you will receive official looking letters asking you to pay a lot of euros to get listed in some register. At the 3rd look, they are scams. The bigger the company the more likely someone is going to pay these fees just be on the secure side (before your founding was illegal because you weren't listed?)
I was in the same situation, and I'd like to have these companies sued, but they are stepping on a very fine, almost legal, but not 100% illegal line. And to be honest, for me it is easier to ignore and trash those scams than trying to fight someone in court.
...it claimed one of my domains was urgently due for renewal. This was four months ahead of the expiration date. These outfits are scum...plain & simple. I'm inclined to stop using dedicated domains altogether. I've been using the free dynamic domain/ip sites (register and create a psuedo domain with their tag, and then an app on your computer updates the ip. for weeks now, and they seem to work fine so far.
Bah, AAA the auto people recently sent out a pay 75 dollars or my service would be canceled. I dont have nor never will have AAA. What I do have is a garbage company called AAA Rainbow. In checking with my neigbhbors most of them recieved the same exact statement. Written to look like a bill. This practice is becoming all to frequent. They call it marketing, I call it fraud.
If it doesnt stop soon Im gonna have to think of a scam like this so I can have my american dream too. Hrmm. Maybe ill bill all the advertising companys for cpu and video cycles. There using my hardware. If i do it right they wont even notice.
Not at all. Certs are just as good as if not better then Altoids. You just think Altoids are better cause they've run an ad campaign to make themselves out a independent, non-corporate, alternative breath mint.
Its not unlike people who thought their converse shoes and sketchers less corporate and more independent than Nike and Adidas.
So eat some fucking certs. They're good.
And here we have a certificate authority (CA) who's masquerading as a competitor, in order to slam "subscribers" and certify their identity to end users.
PJRC: Electronic Projects, 8051 Microcontroller Tools
All your Altoids are belong to us
Check this out, for even worse: We were with them for years until earlier this year, after they merged with Micron. Our Miva merchant store (which our business is based on) started acting up and they, with no warning, shut our site down and referred it to their abuse department, over what turned out to be a server misconfiguration on their part. I found this out through user complaints that the site was unavailable. When I called Interland (after the requisite 45 minute hold time), I was told that the abuse department, the only one that could reinstate our site, had no phone. Yes, read that part again. So, we immediately moved to another host. The abuse department responded to my 25 emails 6 weeks later. Thanks, guys! Sorry I had to AC this, but my handle's my real name and, surprise, we're going to sue the crap out of them.
The Interland notice CLEARLY states that you are authorizing them to switch your current registration; anybody who reads the text of the form will know that, it's not even fine print.
If the people who received the notice failed to read it before sending their money in, they deserve what they get.
Besides that, who the heck isn't aware of who their registrar is anyway.
Abdul
Equifax is a huge profitable multinational. Certificate mananagement could not have accounted for 1% of its revenue. For GeoTrust to buy out Equifax would be like WorldCom to buy out MCI. Wait, ... bad example, but EFX has not been bought out. If they dropped out of the certificates business, that was not important enough to make it to their press releases.
No I don't work for EFX.
Did the term originate in 1989?
I remember being a victim of the long distance slamming. Only what they did was put their service on your bill without your consent or notice. At least here, they bother sending you an ad, and would need to get some feedback before they can actually charge you. In the phone slamming days, you just got the bill. Lots of
people paid it for months or years because they didn't realize it.
You obviously did not even attempt to read it before you signed it. First off the Interland one... Near the bottom right below where you sign your name taking up a good chunk of the mailing, in a font larger than most on the mailing it clearly states that "By signing this order form you agree that Interland Inc. will process the indicated multi-year renewal for your domain name registration through VeriSign." and here is the good part you moron "You agree that this transaction will cause your registrar to be changed to VeriSign." OMG!! Right there in plain view in a font larger than your IQ, It says your switching registrars!
The one from Comodo also states that there with be a switch in service provider ("So why not upgrade your Certificate with Comodo and join our many customers") had you taken the time to read it. However if you want I can send you a nice letter about the renewing the ownership of your house and automobile perhaps I will get lucky and you will just sign those away also.
Does it bother anyone else but me that Equifax is also the fuckwadding scumbags that have a say in my credit rating???
If you currently have any domains registered by Verisign, immediately change to a different registrant and notify Verisign's customer service department as to exactly why you are doing it. Don't just threaten to do it, really do it. Even if you can't get a refund and have to shell out another $20 to somebody else, even if Verisign offers you incentives not to leave. Leave. And unless it makes you feel better don't waste your time crafting an eloquent manifesto, because they don't care about you or your moral arguments. They care about your money. Be clear, be blunt, and just take your business elsewhere.
Did you read the email? Sorry, I guess this would certainly qualify as a "company I don't want to do business with" but they plainly state that they are Comodo, and offer a supposedly better service/deal than you're getting now, etc. Shady, maybe, but you'd have to be a complete idiot (and hence maybe not the best network admin) to be fooled for even a second. It plainly states the company name "Comodo" many times. "Upgrade to Comodo's product" implies, to me, switching vendors.
Given that it's obviously a sales email from a company with whom i do not do business, I would file it immediately in the spam bin, no further thought required. But I see no fraud.
Anyone who has registered a domain name, should have enough competency to understand who is sending email to them to deem it as 'official'.
Someone that enters into contracts with companies in a field that is as technical as computing should know a thing or two about how the Internet works.
If this was a company employee that did this, I would say that they didn't know what they were doing and they need to find another job.
If this was a private individual doing it, It would be like somone trying to build a bomb from instructions they found on the Internet, and it blowing up in their face.
And in this case, the builder would try to sue Bob, and lose horribly.
We used to use Veri$ign/NetworkSolutions as our Registar, but due to too many problems (changing freeforms/faxforms, parking domainnames for no reason, fscked up database[*], and so on) we are moving all our domains to Tucows/OpenSRS and BulkRegister (trust me, we are not the only hosting provider in NL who does this).
;(.
It also looks to me as if Veri$ign/NetworkSolution has made a pact with NameZero, since every domain which we host and has been registered through NameZero has become "parked" at NetworkSolutions.
This can be very irritating for our customers (help! my domain doesn't work!), and the worst thing is that they never notify anyone about this (it's even worst because I get all these customers on the phone
[*] A simple domaintransfer could take 3 months, only because Veri$ign/NetworkSolutions couldn't find the domain in it's database.
In my personal opinion: Don't do business with Ver$ign/NetworkSolutions.
Does this sound like any company you currently do business with? Most companies I do business with sound like this when you're not a customer. Once you're a customer, it's "Here's your bill for next year."
Move along, nothing to see. This is nothing more than a solicitation for business and an oversensitive recipient. There are enough valid targets for our annoyance with corporate lack of ethics without targeting a company which did nothing more than find people whose certs are expiring and let them know they have a choice.
The whole thing is a fucking scam. How can anyone trust a faceless corporation who has no regard for their own reputation? Trust and reputation are what certs are all about! That's the whole point of them! ARGH!! (Oops, better watch them blood vessels..)
Zimmerman had the right idea. Webs of trust, with people taking personal responsibility for themselves and knowing the basis for their own trust judgements. You know what? It's a pain in the ass. But it's also the only approach that actually means anything. The alternative, blind faith in unresponsive unaccountable unshamable spamming faceless inhuman entities, is really way out there. The next time you buy a cert from one of these guys, maybe you should also ask the helpful Scientologists about their free personality test.
If you believe this is fraud and/or computer crime committed by a UK individual or company you can report it here:
http://www.nationalcrimesquad.police.uk/nhtuc/n
The problem is though, that to date there is no law against it.
Maybe not in the US, but as they are based in the UK I'm sure this would come under decpetive marketing.
I'd report them to the UK Trading Standards.
(Miss representing yourself and products like that is very illegal. Quite a few of the electricity commpanies have been fined in the UK for deciving customers to sign for information, but in reality changing there electricity suplier)
Anyone quoted by a reporter knows how little they understand
Don't believe what you read is the truth.
I've received a snail/junk mail advertisement (which looked very official) asking me to "renew" my domain registratiosn. In the small fine print it was made somewhat clear that this wasn't, in fact, a renewal but a completly different company wanting me to switch registration. I think it is sleazy and I'm certain many people have fallen victim to the add.
Slightly off topic, but along a similar vein, every magazine I have a subscribtion to asks me to renew my subscription about 3 months after I've renewed for the previous year. A friend of mine's father who has Parkinsons ended up with 6 years of advance subscription to Discover magazine because every time they sent out a new notice he'd send in a check since he really couldn't remember when he sent in the last check. Legal, I suppose, but very sleazy.
Waltz, nymph, for quick jigs vex Bud.
I see Barbie's having a bad hair day-
"Barbie Girl" is protected free speech.
Companies of the future will mix astronomical names with technical jargon: for instance, "Uranus-Hertz."
!#@%*)anks for hanging up the phone, dear.
When you check out their $49 product
here you will notice that DESIGNED is speeled "deisgned"..
Would you buy an SSL certificate from a company so unprofessional it can't be bothered to spell check their site?
If you're receiving a lot of unsolicited advertising faxes, you may want to check out http://www.junkfax.org/ to see how to fight back.
I am gay!
-klerck
My theory that the reason many Europeans hate Americans is because we care so little that they hate us
Actually, it's because you're a bunch of arrogant wankers, for the most part.
HTH, HAND, etc.
This is a reason for consideration of David Chaum's push for certs with the bare minimum information in them required by their usage.
Email certs have email. (plus public key)
SSL Certs have a hostname. (plus public key, etc)
Any other information leads to data hijack operations.
The UK's utility companies use just as underhand tactics to get consumers to move their account to them :( One company in particular recently made a completely unrelated offer (nothing to do with Gas or Electricity), but hidden in the small print was a clause that said along the lines of "in signing up to this offer, I agree to move my Electricity supply contract to XXXXXXX".
Home contents insurance companies send out extremely official looking documents that take on the appearance of a renewal notice, even though it's actually just junk mail.
I've received a few of these, and anybody even just slightly off the ball (hangover?) could be duped into signing the form and sending it back.
If it weren't for the libel risk, i'd love to start a website that named and shamed companies using these sort of trick tactics.