Shady practices by KAZAA and others like it.

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  • RSCPaul
    Registered User
    • Sep 2002
    • 92

    #1

    Shady practices by KAZAA and others like it.

    Hi ya all, I'm new to the board but been a lurker for a long time.

    Anyhow here is something interesting that I've found on the ARS board posted by one of the webmasters.

    " This is from NY Times"
    When you install Kazaa, Morpheus, or 20 or so other programs, they also install an affiliate code swapping program. It runs in the background, and when a URL request is made to the Internet, it checks if the URL's site has an affiliate program, and if so, swaps in its own referral code in place of the existing one. Tiger Direct and Amazon are mentioned in the article, although I'd be amazed if they weren't doing the same with porn sites. Has anyone heard of this being done in the porn biz?

    Amazon's terms and conditions forbid the practice, and so they drop the accounts when they spot them. Tiger Direct cut them off just out of principal. But presumably they can change referral codes on the fly, so it's just a cat-and-mouse game, and in any case they're not going to restore the commissions to the original referrers. To further complicate things, the affiliate-swapping program isn't deleted when you remove the original program that installed it."


    New Software Quietly Diverts Sales Commissions
    If you want to read the complete article then use arslogin for login and password or create your own.


    If this is true than no wonder some of us see decline in sales while the sponsors don't notice anything, basically they get their sales one way or another, just the middleman (affiliates referral code) changes. I hope most reputable sponsors don't allow this practice and will terminate such accounts, but there is always others that won't care who gets the credit as long as they get the sales.

    Let's not turn this into a sponsor bashing thread please, I'm not sure if any of the adult sponsors are aware of this and if they are taking any steps to prevent such dishonest practices or if they just dont care.



    Any thoughts?
    Last edited by RSCPaul; 09-27-2002, 10:50 AM.
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  • Dawgy
    Confirmed User
    • Jul 2001
    • 5856

    #2
    i wondered how long it'd be before someone figured out they could do that with software thats used for other purposes.
    the revolution is coming.

    Comment

    • foe
      Confirmed User
      • May 2002
      • 5246

      #3
      Not suprised at all. Gator does the same thing

      Comment

      • Psychadelic
        Registered User
        • May 2002
        • 10

        #4
        This is getting ridiculous.... getting screwed in every direction.
        ))} Psychadelic {((

        Comment

        • -=HOAX=-
          Confirmed User
          • Dec 2001
          • 4365

          #5
          Its been done before, and happens more often than you think...but if you think about it...what's the difference? You still get the same site, the same service, etc.

          If you could do it, you would. We all sit here talking about, "Nothing's Free...there's always a catch." Like freehosts for example...well p2p isn't any different...
          Insert Value Here.

          Comment

          • RSCPaul
            Registered User
            • Sep 2002
            • 92

            #6
            Originally posted by -=HOAX=-
            Its been done before, and happens more often than you think...but if you think about it...what's the difference? You still get the same site, the same service, etc.

            If you could do it, you would. We all sit here talking about, "Nothing's Free...there's always a catch." Like freehosts for example...well p2p isn't any different...
            This has nothing to do with p2p trading, read the article first before posting.
            Basically your referral codes on the customers PC is being changed to theirs (KAZAA?s and others like it), so you don?t get a credit for sales generated from your sites/links. It?s like selling a product in a commission driven store and someone else getting the credit for it. This may not be a huge problem yet but if it continues, it will be a different story few months or a year from now.
            <a href="http://www.isharecash.com/refisc.php?a=i101"><img src="http://www.isharecash.com/promo/isharecash/banners/120x60_isc1.gif" width="120" height="60" border="0"></a><br>
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            Comment

            • -=HOAX=-
              Confirmed User
              • Dec 2001
              • 4365

              #7
              I disagree...

              When you install Kazaa, Morpheus, or 20 or so other programs, they also install an affiliate code swapping program.
              This doens't involve p2p????


              When you install the software that allows you to trade free shit with others (Kazaa, Morpheus) that's peer to peer bud...when that software includes a proggy that adds a referral code onto any url that has an affiliate program...I'd say it involves p2p.
              Last edited by -=HOAX=-; 09-27-2002, 02:30 PM.
              Insert Value Here.

              Comment

              • RSCPaul
                Registered User
                • Sep 2002
                • 92

                #8
                Sure it involves p2p because it is embedded and distributed with it, but it is not limited to such a program. There is plenty others that are not p2p and do follow such a practice. I though you originally meant that this was only a p2p porn/warez trading thing and not an affiliate code switching program. Anyhow, when some thought that the p2p was getting bad for trading porn/warez, it just became worse.
                <a href="http://www.isharecash.com/refisc.php?a=i101"><img src="http://www.isharecash.com/promo/isharecash/banners/120x60_isc1.gif" width="120" height="60" border="0"></a><br>
                <a href="http://www.isharecash.com/refisc.php?a=i101">Weekly Payouts, Top-Converting Niche Sites<br>Free Hosted Galleries, Secure Epoch Third-Party Processing.</a>

                Comment

                • Jon
                  Confirmed User
                  • Jun 2002
                  • 2578

                  #9
                  no shit..
                  thats why i use Kazaa Lite.. comes with all the searching features without the spyware, code swapping, bandwidth leaching or ads for that matter.

                  like woah.
                  WickedFire.com - Stay here. We don't need more of you. Not unless you have money, then, fine...

                  Comment

                  • Sly_RJ
                    Live Hard - Die Hard
                    • Feb 2002
                    • 17042

                    #10
                    Originally posted by -=HOAX=-
                    I disagree...



                    This doens't involve p2p????


                    When you install the software that allows you to trade free shit with others (Kazaa, Morpheus) that's peer to peer bud...when that software includes a proggy that adds a referral code onto any url that has an affiliate program...I'd say it involves p2p.
                    Dude, this has no affect on the users. It's fucking US!
                    PHAT SERVERS - Quality dedicated hosting at a quality price!
                    sly AT phatservers DOT com - 147479144

                    Comment

                    • -=HOAX=-
                      Confirmed User
                      • Dec 2001
                      • 4365

                      #11
                      I hear you loud and clear, DUDE, The only reason I correlate it P2P is because p2p's proliferation...I've seen this type of tactic mixed with free public proxies promoted to "Kill Pop-Ups" which is double trouble...

                      I understand who is getting the shit end of the stick here...

                      Although, I'm curious as too how far they actually go...do you think they can risk the futher complications that would arise if the gov't. realized they were peddling porn as well as facilitating the mass infringment on inumerable copyright laws?
                      Insert Value Here.

                      Comment

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