Olly thinks we have resorted to desperate measures to raise funds
Hello to you both -- I have subscribed to your newsletter since your very early days, and have always found it very interesting and informative. That was until recently, when i have been unable to read any of the links to comments in the most recent newsletter because, it appears, you have started to have an association with the notorious "Overpeer" which is quite rightly being blocked by my risky site blocker.

I have researched this company and I have discovered that they have been in business for some time as uploaders of fake software, which contains adware, and spyware, and even possibly viruses, but I'm sure you are already aware of this!

I also can't open your homepage as I used to, because of "Overpeer, Inc". and also "LeaseWeb" because both are being blocked, leaving me with a "The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading" alert from Firefox.

At first I wondered if you had resorted to these companies as a way to make much needed funds, in the way Google does, by tracking it's users information for advertising, but you have always been open and honest in the way you run your site, and that would be very underhanded to make money in this way without telling us. So it must have another explanation which I hope you will be able to give to me, with, hopefully, a way around the problem.

Our answer
Wow Olly - there's so much misinformation in your question, we don't even know where to begin. First of all, Google does not "track" its users anymore than Microsoft's Bing or Yahoo, or any other search engine does. It keeps track of what is being searched for and what advertisements are being clicked, but there is no way that any personal information is being stored about you, Olly, or anyone else. With all the real dangers on the Web, it just irritates us no end when some newsletter or Web site somewhere starts hawking the dangers of Google or worse, cookies.

We have nothing dangerous on our site. We use Google ads, Linkconnector ads, and a very few Burstmedia ads. All of these companies are legitimate companies - none are purveyors of spyware, malware, "uploaders", or any other harmful software or files. It's a shame that someone has misled you and you're worried about Google tracking you. It looks to us like you should have been more worried about the kinds of programs you've downloaded and about the kinds of sites you've downloaded from.

Everything you mention in your question from "Overpeer" to "LeaseWeb" is indicative of problems on your own computer - and not with problems with our Web site. Overpeer isn't notorious - it's a program that is used by the music industry to prevent theft of copyrighted material. We don't have any music downloads on our site - we're not a file sharing Web site, but you have obviously installed file-sharing software on your computer. You would only have "Overpeer" warnings if you had installed P2P (File sharing software) on your computer and you downloaded corrupt and infected files using it.

Here is a description of what Overpeer actually is:

"Overpeer started operations in mid-2002. Contracted by the major recording labels, it was responsible for flooding major P2P networks with corrupt music files. With enough corrupt data injected into the major P2P networks, it was believed users would become discouraged with file-sharing head back to the music stores. It was a viable concept, and now time would tell whether this ideology would prosper...."

"LeaseWeb" is a legitimate web hosting company. But it's not a hosting company we've ever used - and not one we're using now.

Overpeer ceased operations in 1995. So nothing on our site is causing these warnings on your computer - it's the infection on your own computer causing these warnings. The same goes for all the other warnings you're getting.

Instead of worrying about being "tracked" by Google and cookies and all the things that are mostly benign, you need to get the infections removed from your computer. We strongly suggest you install a good antispyware program - like Spyware Doctor and allow it to scan your computer and remove any and all the spyware and adware it finds.

Your question represents an excellent example of what happens when sites and newsletters have agendas or try to trump up danger where there isn't any - for example accusing Google of "tracking" users or making cookies out to be something just shy of spyware. While sites and newsletter fill people's heads with imagined dangers, the real dangers often slip by. It's like being out in your backyard spraying dandelions while burglars are waling out your front door with all your belongings.

You need to scan your computer for spyware as soon as you can, Olly. You might have gotten infected from the P2P file sharing software you've installed. A lot of the files others share isn't always what it appears to be.

Finally, just so you and everyone else knows: We will never engage in any underhanded activity nor will betray our visitors, subscribers and/or members by resorting to spyware, adware, trickware, or malware. If we can't make it by doing things the right way, we'll fold up shop and say "thanks for the memories". Good people sometimes turn bad, but not us - not ever.