c|net Tech News: Peer-to-peer exchanges court advertisers
Article describing the financial arrangements, briefly mentioning the controversy.
c|net Tech News: Chorus of Gator critics grows
Article on Interactive Advertising Bureau's possible regulatory complaint over Gator's ad insertion. Also discusses Top Text and the effort against it.
Slashdot: Don't Eat the Yellow Links
Web owners upset by changed content; describes an "opt-out" procedure.
PetitionOnline: eZula
Petition protesting insertion of advertising links on web pages.
Advanced HTML For Beginners: Yellow links can destroy your day and your income
Forum thread on the eZula "scumware" and possible responses.
Applelinks: Another New Technology to Deep-Six
Editorial suggesting "loud, pointed, organized protests" against this attempt to "take over your web pages."
Associate Programs Newsletter: How to stop Scumware from defacing your website
Explains how Top Text and similar programs can negatively affect income streams, particularly for sites that use affilate programs.
Foistware
Information to help users and webmasters identify when Top Text is installed.
COTSE: You may have heard of Microsoft Smart Tags, but have you seen Ezula and Surf+?
A webmaster's editorial accusing TopText and Intelsoft International's Surf+ of theft, false advertising, and deceptive self-promotion.
You got the yellow linking Virus?
Gives information on how to remove/unistall TopText, and links to other more detailed resources.
geek/talk Forums at GeekVillage
Discussion about the eZula TopText defacement in the context of copyright violation.
PCWorld: Latest Online Ad Gimmick: Hyperlinks
"Advertisers try aggressive (and annoying) hyperlink technology to make the Web pay."
ReveNews: CJ Profits from Ezula's Hijacked Links
Article on Commission Junction's apparent blessing of Ezula's links, followed by a lively discussion.
Ethics in Advertising
Editorial asking "How far should advertising go?" Examines eZula's browser plug in as a specific example of unethical advertising.
Salon.com: The parasite economy
Examines the spread of both "spyware" and programs that add commercial links to websites. KaZaa's distribution of eZula is heavily featured.
San Diego Daily Transcript: 'Poachware' Routes Computer Users To Alternate Web Sites
Article about anti-competitive involuntary hyperlinks being placed by Top Text (aka ContextPro).
Search Engine Watch: Forget Smart Tags; TopText Is Doing What You Feared
Editorial decrying stealth download tactics, copyright and other legal violations.
eZula and Surf+ Script Killer
Provides a script killer for the eZula software. Also works on Surf+.
Mystery links: New Web advertising tool gets results, draws criticism
San Francisco Chronicle: mentions concerns about the ethics of covert advertising, and commercial firms outraged by links to competitors' sites.
StopScum
Resources, news and forums for the fight against contextual advertising.
ThiefWare.com
Information and resources primarily for webmasters who wish to fight unethical contextual advertising.
TrafficG Yellow and Green Link Killer
Provides script to disable Top Text and Surf+. Documents source code alterations made by these programs.
Protect Your Web Site from Unwanted Linking
Explains how the eZula system works and provides resources that allow users to remove it and to help web site owners protect their sites from unwanted advertising insertion.
WebHostingTalk Forums: KaZaa is Hijacking Traffic!
Webmasters and surfers, mostly disapproving of the embedded advertising links.
Whirly Wiry Web: Fighting Ezula
Discussion of web design to detect and defeat contextual advertising, including recognizing the HotText and TopText plugins.
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