CNET responds to discussion of Download.com and Adware/Spyware

CNET PR Spokesperson Sarah Cain wrote the following email (published with her permission) in response to yesterday's post CNET's exposure to Spitzer's attack on Adware: more details (in contrast, a spokesperson for LinkShare said "At this time, we have no comment."):

Hello David:

This is Sarah Cain in the PR department at CNET Networks. I'm contacting you regarding your Blog entry today about CNET Download.com.

As you know, on April 28th, we publicly announced that we are enforcing a zero-tolerance policy on adware and, on the same day, Eliot Spitzer's office announced their investigation of Intermix.  You mentioned in your blog that we only announced this policy after Eliot Spitzer's announcement, but in fact, the decision to ban adware on our site was made several weeks ago, at which time we gave advance notice to software publishers that the policy would take effect on April 28th.  The timing of the two announcements was purely coincidental.

You have raised questions about our prior adware policy.  CNET Download.com has always had an adware policy in place that required publishers to clearly disclose what was being bundled with their products. In addition, we have always banned spyware and any other software that intrudes upon users' safety. By making the decision to ban ALL bundled adware, we are taking this policy a step further based on what our consumers consider to be a nuisance, imposing standards that are well beyond any current or proposed legal requirements.

For more details, you can see our press release.

Regards,
Sarah Cain

CNET Networks

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