Free software and movies - OK, where's the catch?

[DarrenS]

I won’t post the URL for fear of vexing the mods, but I found a site that claims to offer information on how to download commerical software for free. It was a paid link on Google - I was searching for information about Microsoft Outlook. It’s not regular freeware stuff - they are claiming they’ll tell you how to get free, full (not demo) versions of major commercial apps like Outlook, Windows 2000, Partition Magic.

This site says that for $17 (ha) they will send you information on how to do it.

Now, you’re probably thinking the same as me - another sleazy spammer/“warez” site, right? Well, a couple of things give me reason to think otherwise:

1. This is a paid link on Google. I have enormous respect for the integrity of Google - would they allow a sleazy, illegal operation to advertise on them? I know Google has to make a living too, but to me (in my naievete perhaps) Google seems so…pure, and trustworthy.

2. In the FAQ for the software site, it says

Question: Is this legal?
Answer: Yes, as long as you use the software for home use and do not make copies for resale.

Has anyone tried anything like this? How can it possibly be legal? Please, no discussions about other “illegal” options - I just want to know how this particular one can possibly be legal, and if not, what it is doing advertised on Google!?

[Chronos]

2. In the FAQ for the software site, it says

Question: Is this legal?
Answer: Yes, as long as you use the software for home use and do not make copies for resale.

So they didn’t say anything at all about why it’s legal? That’s a warning sign, right there. Another warning sign is that they won’t tell you anything more until you pay them.

[sailor]

That site says:

Disclaimer/ Agreement:
Note: This information is so powerful we must inform you that you must already own an existing legal copy of the software you want to download, and the downloaded copy will only be for backup purposes, or your existing CD is damaged or missing. This information is intended for educational purpose only.

The whole thing looks pretty sleazy to me

[DarrenS]

Sailor - I hadn’t seen that. How on earth did you find the site with the information I gave?! Probably shouldn’t answer that.

Anyway, that pretty much proves that it’s a sleazy, illegal operation. They are no better ethically than the ‘warez’ sites that say things like “this full version is for evaluation only, you must delete it from your disk after 2 days.”

Shame on Google for taking advertising money from them!

[Kalashnikov]

Apparantly, the process of buying those ads is automated, so its possible that no one at Google ever read the site.

I read about someone was buying those ads but using them to point to his personal poetry pages rather than to a business, and it took a while for Google to notice.

[handy]

What happens if you put the ad text in the search box there?

[DarrenS]

Kalashnikov - looks like you nailed it. I got a reply from Google (more and more impressed - they seem to reply to every e-mail). I hope they wouldn’t mind me quoting their response to clear their good name. Here’s the relevant part

The advertisement you saw was generated through our AdWords program. This program is designed to enable thousands of small business owners to quickly and efficiently generate traffic to their sites. The ads they create run on our site immediately. Our editorial staff reviews all ads to make sure that they are appropriate for our site. Since we show ads immediately, there is often a short period of time when the ad is running before being reviewed and approved by Google. Please note that we try to keep this lag as short as possible.

Unfortunately, it seems you saw the advertisement before we had a chance to review it. We have since had the opportunity to review the ad and have deemed it inappropriate for our site.