I received some spam over the weekend from a website which displayed no visible proof of being a McAfee affiliate, urging me to buy McAfee`s VirusScan 6.02 (sic) for only $19.95.
A couple of clicks later, I discovered that the same product (or presumably the same product, as the McAfee site has it listed as VirusScan 6.0) retails on the official McAfee US Online Store at $59.90.
The creator of the world`s first commercial e-mail application reportedly believes that spam will eventually kill e-mail.
Basheera Khan, UK correspondent, ITWeb
It`s been my experience that it`s always the high profile companies which feel they don`t need to depart the days of nameless, faceless drones carrying out the company`s services behind a stonewall of branding. Hence, it`s perfectly logical that McAfee believes I really want to fill in an online form and wait for a press representative to get back to me.
Continuing the theme of transparency and informative helpfulness, the site has no evidence of an affiliates list, which though it wouldn`t move me to make a purchase, would at least assuage my concerns that someone out there is doing the Internet equivalent of selling brand name goods at greatly reduced prices, from the boot of a car in an anonymous backstreet.
Attempting to get in touch with Network Associates` UK office left me no better off than before; there`s nothing like an anonymous voice mail message left by a media liaison with absolutely no desire to be contacted if he`s not at his desk to get a journo`s blood boiling.
In the end, through comparative analysis of various software retail sites and anti-spam sites, it turns out that the domain name used to send me news of the incredible offer is, as I initially thought, not to be trusted. In case anyone wants to know, it is yourbigvote.com, which in turn refers to www.perfectcollectibles.com - another site teetering on the brink of credibility.
I`m not sure if the suits behind the Network Associates or McAfee corporate logos are aware that the product names may well be being used in vain, and it`s proven quite difficult to speak to a person who`s willing to answer that question.
Incidents like this set me empathising with the opinions expressed by Eric Allman, currently CTO of Sendmail, and lauded as the creator of the world`s first commercial e-mail application. He reportedly believes that spam will eventually kill e-mail - that users are in the middle of a spam explosion, that there is very little that companies can do to prevent it from worsening, and that people may stop using e-mail if the flood continues.
The nightmare doesn`t look set to end until spammers can be made to pay (in cash, that is - although I do believe physical torture would get them to repent) for each sent message. But that can only be achieved when the sender is known, and that, as they say in the classics, is, for the foreseeable future, an impossible dream.
In my opinion, the cherry on the top will be if I next receive a spam message touting the values of McAfee`s SpamKiller. That would definitely be a keeper.
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