What’s wrong with being a sucker? Looks pretty fun!
SiteAdvisor blog – February 3, 2006:
We are constantly amazed by the ingenuity of online scammers. Here’s one of our favorite examples. Try typing “Firefox” into the search box on Google, Yahoo! or MSN. Now check out the paid advertisement for “FreeDownloadHQ.com.”
Click on “Download” and you’ll enter a dialogue that quickly turns to money. Yes, FreeDownloadHQ is anything but free. These guys take FREE software and SELL IT FOR $37.95 and then have the nerve to call themselves FreeDownloadHQ! (By the way, they’ll also sell you Internet Explorer, Opera and Netscape and any number of other free software programs.)
Actually, they don’t sell software, they sell a valuable service. From FreeDownloadHQ.com’s faq:
The software is free. You are paying for the membership to our site that provides you with location, evaluation and/or recommendation of various file sharing programs as well as utilities, online tutorials, online help and support and other tools and services for the lifetime of the membership.
If that’s not funny enough, check out this hilarity!
When you actually get to the download dialogue, look closely and you’ll see that FreeDownloadHQ is simply directing users to Download.com to get their copy of Firefox, for free of course.
All I know is that chick is pretty 😛
Too funny.
Genious!
I’ve also noticed sites that take shareware, add adware in the installation and allow you to download it without ever ‘sharing’ for the full copy. Not unheard of, but this isnt the doing of the shareware makr, but by the site.
The world is fun of morons, proof positive here.
Yet another idea I wish I’d thought of.
gquaglia
Hey gquaglia , don’t be so hard on yourself.
Sorry typo, full of morons
Yes again, some one (in this case Milo) has said something I should’ve though of first….
I think naive might be the better word here.
While most of Dvorak’s readers have been online for awhile and are aware of the tricks used, there are still a lot of people out there that don’t know the subterfuge used.
The best remedy is to expose these deceitful, fraudulent practices. Though not as dangerous as viruses and Trojan horses, they are harmful.
Then there are those that are just gullible.
Pat, gullible is just not knowing. At one time in my life I didn’t even know the ABC’s. I was gullible (and I had to be) BUT fortunately someone steared me in the right direction, NOT THE WRONG ONE. Not everyone is computer and internet literate. We should not take EXTREME advantage of this.
I had a bad experience with freedownloadhq.com. I authorized $1.66 for a one month membership and they debited me for $34.92. I went back and got screenshots of every page that I went to. They never mentioned any additional charges. They also said in one area that they would prosecute in federal court, any charge backs to their account. …Bob
Many people believe that the spirit of the GNU project is that you should not charge money for distributing copies of software, or that you should charge as little as possible — just enough to cover the cost.
Actually we encourage people who redistribute free software to charge as much as they wish or can. If this seems surprising to you, please read on.
The word “free” has two legitimate general meanings; it can refer either to freedom or to price. When we speak of “free software”, we’re talking about freedom, not price. (Think of “free speech”, not “free beer”.) Specifically, it means that a user is free to run the program, change the program, and redistribute the program with or without changes.
Free programs are sometimes distributed gratis, and sometimes for a substantial price. Often the same program is available in both ways from different places. The program is free regardless of the price, because users have freedom in using it.
While most of Dvorak’s readers have been online for awhile and are aware of the tricks used, there are still a lot of people out there that don’t know the subterfuge used.
I thank you for your comment.
Damn what a pretty sucker 😉 hehe. Nice article also btw. =)
Crazy story. But everyone should use one’s loaf to avoid payment for free software.