Tag - Add-on
Websites charging for free Messenger add-ons
on Tue 18 Sep 2007 (19:49 GMT)
on Tue 18 Sep 2007 (19:49 GMT)
Last week I received an interesting email from Salem, a guy who plays an important role when it comes to reporting bugs and giving feedback to Messenger newsgroups. He told me about an increasing trend of websites charging for Messenger add-ons which are free.
I see threads about this issue in Messenger forums regularly and Salem has provided an interesting summary of the problem:
Unfortunately these websites are becoming incredibly popular. They prey on young minds who may own a mobile phone and thus making it a convenient way to pay. You just have to look how much people spend on ringtones via similar techniques, so this may in fact seem a good deal, when in reality people are getting scammed.
I see threads about this issue in Messenger forums regularly and Salem has provided an interesting summary of the problem:
I've just come across website(s) which actually charge you to download Freeware (freely available) software. Take CryptoSoft.com for example. CryptoSoft charges £6 (approx US$12.12 or 8.88 euros) for a single download of software such as MessengerPlus! Live, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, Skype and more, all of which are available as FREE downloads. CyrptoSoft even charges you to download Open Source software like Mozilla's Firefox & Thunderbird.
So, what does CryptoSoft.com do? Once you click on the 'Download' button you are asked to send a text (SMS) message with a given prefix to a designated number. Each text message costs you £2, and there are a total of three text messages involved in completing a purchase (£2 x 3 = £6).
Now there's nothing wrong with freely distributing freeware, but the problem comes in when you actually charge people for the free software you're giving them, which is illegal.
When looking for a software always download from official sources (the official product website). If however you find a (third-party) site wants to charge you for downloading, use you're trusty friend Google (or any other search engine) to have a look at the official website to see if there are any costs involved in downloading.
So, what does CryptoSoft.com do? Once you click on the 'Download' button you are asked to send a text (SMS) message with a given prefix to a designated number. Each text message costs you £2, and there are a total of three text messages involved in completing a purchase (£2 x 3 = £6).
Now there's nothing wrong with freely distributing freeware, but the problem comes in when you actually charge people for the free software you're giving them, which is illegal.
When looking for a software always download from official sources (the official product website). If however you find a (third-party) site wants to charge you for downloading, use you're trusty friend Google (or any other search engine) to have a look at the official website to see if there are any costs involved in downloading.
Unfortunately these websites are becoming incredibly popular. They prey on young minds who may own a mobile phone and thus making it a convenient way to pay. You just have to look how much people spend on ringtones via similar techniques, so this may in fact seem a good deal, when in reality people are getting scammed.