bedelman
Premium
join:2004-06-20
Cambridge, MA
edit:
December 19th, @12:45PM
| reply to TeMerc
quick responses re submissions, threats, arms race
Hi, folks. Ben Edelman here. I'm not in a position to provide full tech support for SiteAdvisor, but where I see questions I can answer, I'll do my best.
said by Mele20 :
I can't submit a download for analysis. I get a blank page in Fx.
Try disabling your popup blocker? The "submit a download for review" window comes up as a new window, and an overzealous popup blocker might block this window even though the window-open is clearly caused by a user's click ont he link. If this doesn't fix your problem, I suggest that you submit this issue through the submit feedback page.
quote:
However, SiteAdvisor says there are no downloads at the site. Of course there are!
This is perfect feedback to submit to SiteAdvisor. One appropriate place to submit this feedback is on the SiteAdvisor dossier page for cursorcafe.com. As I'm sure you realize, it's tough to design robots that find all download links, and no one thinks SiteAdvisor does this perfectly at present. Your feedback, as to specific downloads that have been missed, will help improve the algorithm.
quote:
I'm wondering what happens when SiteAdvisor rates a site red and the site decides to sue over the rating. Is SiteAdvisor going to be able to withstand that sort of thing?
This is a serious worry. In many respects, SiteAdvisor is similar to most anti-spyware vendors; like them, SiteAdvisor rates the programs users may encounter, and SiteAdvisor helps users figure out how to respond to those programs. So if they're able to withstand vendor suits, SiteAdvisor should be OK too. But the bigger SiteAdvisor becomes, the larger a target they'll be. Ultimately the proof is in the pudding -- how the company responds if (and when) they're sued. I think we'll have to wait and see. Meanwhile, my Threats Against Spyware Detectors, Removers, and Critics page indexes other such suits and threats, of which there are remarkably many already.
Justin, Your comments re the arms race are well taken. I can tell you that the SiteAdvisor folks are thinking about this already. There's no single easy answer, but I'm hopeful that SiteAdvisor won't be as easy to trick as you suggest. |
