New Spyware Threat Costs People Big Money
Lincoln, NE – April 13, 2006:
A new Spyware infection was discovered this morning by the Schrock Innovations research department called MoviePass. Internet users intentionally or unintentionally install the MoviePass software on their computers while attempting to download music or movies from the Internet. Once the free trial software expires, MoviePass demands $29.99 a month from unsuspecting victims. Those who refuse to pay can be slapped with a $359.88 bill and a damaged credit report.
According to Thor Schrock, owner of Schrock Innovations, the MoviePass software blurs the line somewhat between a legitimate software subscription service and a dangerous spyware threat. The software seems to provide a legitimate service, but also collects information about all of the programs on your computer to prevent "software conflicts." This same information could be used to detect anti-spyware programs and build counter measures into the MoviePass software.
Additionally, when consumers sign up for the MoviePass free trial, they are required to agree to a lengthy Terms of use agreement. Within that agreement there is language that explains how customers of MoviePass will be automatically billed if they fail to remove the MoviePass software from their computer before the expiration of their trial.
An excerpt from the Terms of use reads, "IF YOU DO NOT EITHER CANCEL OR PROVIDE PAYMENT INFORMATION DURING THE TRIAL PERIOD OUR BILLING SOFTWARE WILL BE ENABLED UPON THE EXPIRATION OF YOUR TRIAL PERIOD. THE BILLING SOFTWARE WILL RUN ON YOUR COMPUTER, DISPLAYING POP-UP WINDOW REMINDERS THAT PROVIDE YOU WITH VARIOUS METHODS OF PAYMENT FOR THE ANNUAL LICENSE. THESE POP-UP WINDOWS WILL APPEAR MORE FREQUENTLY UNTIL YOU CHOOSE ONE OF THE PAYMENT OPTIONS AND PAY FOR THE LICENSE."
The agreement continues by specifying "IF YOU FAIL TO PAY OR CANCEL DURING THE TRIAL PERIOD, YOU ARE LEGALLY OBLIGATED TO PURCHASE AN ANNUAL LICENSE TO THE MEDIAPIPE SOFTWARE AT THE PRICE LISTED IN THE ADVERTISEMENT YOU CLICKED THROUGH TO INITIATE INSTALLATION."
"Consumers who install this software on their computers agree to a Terms of Use agreement in order to establish their free trial," Schrock said." Once they have agreed to that document, an account is established in their name that has to be cancelled via telephone in accordance with that agreement, or it will end up costing them big money."
In the Terms of use available on the company's website at www.mediapass.tv, the company also explains that is has the right to use your hard drive and bandwidth for their purposes, as well as share your personal information with their affiliates.
Schrock said a telltale sign of the presence of this software is when your computer starts displaying MoviePass messages asking you for billing information. Schrock recommends that unless you wish to continue subscribing to the MoviePass service, you immediately call MoviePass and cancel your account before you remove the software
"The sad thing is that the way the Terms of Use agreement reads, once your trial expires you must immediately provide your billing information to MoviePass, otherwise they will invoice you for an entire year's worth of service," Schrock said. "It is also critical that you call MoviePass to cancel before you remove the software from your computer. MoviePass is unable to cancel your account unless you provide a number from within your software."
The MoviePass and MediaPipe software do have uninstallers that are provided by the company and located in the Add/Remove Programs folder. While the uninstallers remove a great deal of the software, they do not remove everything so a manual cleanup is required of up to 5 folders in the Program Files folder on your computer's hard drive.
More information about MoviePass, including their Terms of Use and subscription rates can be located at http://www.moviepass.tv. Consumers who wish to unsubscribe from the service must call MoviePass at (866) 431-7720.
Schrock Innovations has created a free tutorial that instructs consumers how to contact MoviePass to unsubscribe, as well as how to stop the annoying pop-ups generated by the MoviePass software. This tutorial is located at www.schrockinnovations.com/removemoviepass.php
How to Write Better Advertising Copy
A successful marketing plan relies heavily on the pulling-power of advertising copy. Writing result-oriented ad copy is difficult, as it must appeal to, entice, and convince consumers to take action. There is no magic formula to write perfect ad copy; it is based on a number of factors, including ad placement, demographic, even the consumer's mood when they see your ad. So how is any writer supposed to pen a stunning piece of advertising copy -- copy that sizzles and sells? The following tips will jumpstart your creative thinking and help you write a better ad.
KNOW THE BASICS
All good advertising copy is comprised of the same basic elements. Good advertising copy always:
Grabs Attention: Consumers are inundated with ads, so it's vital that your ad catches the eye and immediately grabs interest. You could do this with a headline or slogan (such as VW's "Drivers Wanted" campaign), color or layout (Target's new colorful, simple ads are a testimony to this) or illustration (such as the Red Bull characters or Zoloft's depressed ball and his ladybug friend).
Promises Credible Benefit: To feel compelled by an ad, the consumer must stand to gain something; the product is often not enough. What would the consumer gain by using your product or service? This could be tangible, like a free gift; prestige, power or fame. But remember: you must be able to make good on that promise, so don't offer anything unreasonable.
Keeps Interest: Grabbing the consumer's attention isn't enough; you have to keep that attention for at least a few seconds. This is where your benefits come into play or a product description that sets your offer apart from the others.
Generates Action: This is the ultimate point of advertising copy -- it must make the reader react in some way. This doesn't necessarily translate to buying the product immediately or using the service. Your ad could be a positioning tool to enable the reader to think about you in a certain light. Speak to your audience, or the audience you'd like to reach, and you'll be surprised how frequently they come to you in the future.
KNOW THE MEDIUM
How you write your advertising copy will be based on where you will place your ad. If it's a billboard ad, you'll need a super catchy headline and simple design due to the speed at which people will pass. Online ads are similar; consumers are so inundated with Internet advertising that your ad must be quick and catchy. Magazine advertising is the most versatile, but this is solely dependent on the size of your ad and how many other ads compete with yours. If you have a full page ad, feel free to experiment; more page space gives you more creative space. If the ad is tiny, you'll need to keep things as simple as possible.
KNOW THE STYLE
Advertising copy is a unique type of writing. Its point is to balance creativity and readability into something persuasive and entertaining. Keep the following points in mind when you write your copy:
Be Succinct: There are few things more damaging to an ad campaign than messy wordiness. Use short sentences with as many familiar words as possible; save the thesaurus for a thesis or dissertation. Always make sure to use precise phrasing (why use five adjectives when one good action verb would do?); and eliminate any redundancies, such as "little tiny" or "annual payments of $XXX per year."
Talk To Your Audience, Not At Them: Though you are announcing the availability of a product or service, avoid being clinical or overly formal. Write as if you're talking to your ideal customer; use a style they'd use, words they'd be familiar with, slang they'd probably know. But be absolutely certain that you're using these terms and phrases correctly. A recent McDonald's campaign attempted to reach a certain audience by using the phrase "I'd hit it" in reference to a cheeseburger, unaware that the phrase is almost always used as a sexual reference.
Avoid Clichés: It's easy for writers new to advertising copy to fall into this trap, but it's a trap that can severely damage the writing. Clichés fail to ignite the imagination; and consumers so numb to the phrases will often skip right past them, effectively ruining the succinct element of your ad. If you find yourself tempted to use a cliché, think about the message you want to convey with that cliché and try to rephrase it in a more imaginative, personal way.
Always Proofread: It's an obvious point, but you'd be surprised how many ads run in a magazine or on a billboard with an error of some sort. Go through your advertising copy carefully to make sure that every word is spelled correctly, the grammar is impeccable and the punctuation is dead on. Even the best ads can be ruined by a misplaced comma or dangling modifier. Use a program like WhiteSmoke ( http://www.WhiteSmokeSoftware.com ) or StyleWriter ( http://www.StyleWriter-USA.com ) to help you write better.
Brian Konradt has been a professional freelance writer for over ten years. He is founder of LousyWriter.com ( http://www.LousyWriter.com ) and LiteracyNews.com ( http://www.LiteracyNews.com ).
SpyFalcon raised to Number 2 Spyware threat
Lincoln, NE – May 29, 2006:
Although the SpyFalcon spyware infection and its variants (SpySheriff and SpywareQuake) have been plaguing internet users for some time now, demand for assistance in removing the pesky infections is at an all-time high on www.schrockinnovations.com.
As internet users surf the web, they may intentionally or unintentionally install the SpyFalcon, SpySheriff, or SpywareQuake programs on their computer. The typical scenario is a pop up advertisement that informs the user that their computer is infected with a spyware infection that must be removed. This is typically a false detection designed to trick the user into installing the SpyFalcon, SpySheriff, or SpywareQuake software on their computer. In fact, SpySheriff, SpywareQuake, and SpyFalcon are the real infections.
Once the programs are installed on a user's computer, they typically operate for a trial period. After that trial period is expired, the software begins asking the user to purchase it to continue using it. This is where SpyFalcon, SpySheriff and SpywareQuake become a nuisance. All three programs begin popping up alerts from what appears to be the Windows Security Center warning the user that their computer is infected and the only way to remove the infection is by paying for the SpyFalcon / SpywareQuake / SpySheriff software.
If the user elects to pay the $50 price for the software, the pop-ups stop. If the user decides not to pay and attempts to remove the SpyFalcon / SpySheriff / SpywareQuake software they can be shocked to find that while the program appears to be removed, the annoying "you're infected" pop-up messages are still appearing every 30 seconds or so. The pop-ups can not be removed with normal Antivirus programs like Norton Antivirus, and they resist even the strongest anti-spyware programs like Adaware and The Maintenance Checkup Home Edition. The pop-up messages even persist if the user attempts to boot their computer into Safe Mode (a diagnostic mode of Windows) which will usually allow such infections to be manually removed.
According to Thor Schrock, owner of Schrock Innovations, the SpyFalcon / SpywareQuake / SpySheriff triad are all very much the same program and have a similar removal procedure. Unfortunately, that removal procedure is very technical and involves ending processes, deleting files and folders, and running free web-based tools. Despite the difficult nature of the removal, the Schrock Innovations website has been visited over 15,000 this month alone to retrieve the removal instructions.
"Computer users are becoming more and more technical every day," Schrock said. "The SpyFalcon, SpywareQuake, and SpySheriff infections are all designed to extort money from non-technical users."
Despite the fact that the makers of SpyFalcon, SpySheriff, and SpywareQuake seem to be targeting non-technical users, they only offer email-based support to individuals who purchase their product. This makes it impossible for a user to obtain assistance removing the SpyFalcon, SpySheriff, or SpywareQuake products without buying them first.
In fact, an excerpt from the SpyFalcon website states that "SpyFalcon has designed for one purpose, to remove spyware and all potentially unwanted computer applications. SpyFalcon has been developed with significant financial investment and research to ensure it is one of the best designed and supported PC security products in the marketplace." Despite what this poorly-worded excerpt states, the SpyFalcon program is nearly identical in its internal design to the SpySheriff and SpywareQuake programs. The detection database is almost identically designed and coded as well.
Schrock said the best thing consumers can do is not install random programs they find on the Internet. Complete removal instructions for all three programs can be found online.
SpyFalcon www.removespyfalcon.com
SpyFalcon www.schrockinnovations.com/removespyfalcon.php
SpySheriff www.removespysheriff.com
SpywareQuake www.schrockinnovations.com/removespywarequake.php
