Hi Alex,
The real analogy goes like this. If a natural food store bakes some food and uses asparatane/nutrasweet/equal or saccharin (rogue sweeteners, very harmful by natural food standands) then I and others will stop using that store fully. If they use molasses, or even sucanat or stevia or agave syrup, there is no conceptual problem, whether I like those sweeteners or not. They can still get my business (I recently had to check up sucanat precisely because of this type of concern).
Another real analogy is the Google rogue-software ads problem. I have written to companies telling them of this problem and they have responded acknowledging the concern. (There are a number of potential solutions.) And consider not using sites that allow themselves to be conduits of such rogueware ads simply for lucre. Especially if they are indicating the integrity of material on their websites. (Also Google directly needs to be addressed by a group of reputable software concerns and websites, if that has not yet happened.). The immediate person responsible is the one carrying the ads. If they claim to be an integrity software outfit can they carry rogue software ads ? Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? (James 3:11).
As one person wrote about Trialpay.
"... and if these large companies trust TrialPay enough to associate their names with it, I would say you can rest assure it's not a scam."
When some of the TrialPay products are scams, the whole situation of trust breaks down. I am pretty sure that you vette out the offers carefully. If one is deceptive (e.g. it sounds free but your credit card will be surreptiously billed every quarter for years, hoping not to be noticed, and it will be very hard to reverse) hopefully you do not take the offer. (Now I have to wonder on the other end as well, seeing your what-me-worry response above.)
In fact you even place an emphasis on :
"Premier Partners".
"Premier partners" to market scoundrel software ?
"a web of business relationships"
working together to get rogueware on our computer systems ?
However, your blindness to rogue software, as expressed above, is the same problem in reverse. Oh, I see now that gambling software and screensavers are becoming significant Trialpay players. I do not know those products as well as the registry cleaner and spyware-remover shenanigans (thanks spywarewarrior.com for exposing companies, even at risk of their efforts against you) however they are known to be areas that attract deceptive software that contains hooks not apparent when first installed or purchased.
In your response you essentially have acknowledged the problem. Apparently even if a software installs a rootkit, to you it is not your concern in advance. Take the merchant on, like Visa, and then later if there is a problem you can drop the merchant.
Some reasons this is not simply Visa are:
a) You are creating a three-way tie-in. A software vendor (usually), a commercial offer and Trialpay. If one product is deceptive and harmful of the three, all are marked black.
b) Rogue vendors can craftily see Trialpay as a way to get their rogue products into many hands, where they can do a lot of harm. The Trialpay linkage gives the unknown product cachet, a linkage with reputable products. Much like they would like to get on Snapfiles or Fileforum or MajorGeeks (three major software forums known for policing and integrity in listings, which is why I download there) but they are rebuffed if they try. There is a presumption of honesty in your process, how could Boca Coffee or the Economist be linked with rogues ?
c) Trialpay can be part and parcel of actually creating the rogue market. (With or without Google ads as another accomplice.). The product itself emphasizes "free, what do you have to lose, give us at try". Then it can get in and do its dastardly work. Oftentimes these products will have no market and no demand without the accomplices. No reputable company has ever given them an ok. Then they found Trialpay.
I could go on, but that is enough.
btw, many of us do not shop at 'vitamin stores' precisely because they do not have a natural food emphasis first. (And some catering to the body-builders got tainted as steroid-product-type pushers as well in the not-so-distant past.) And if a store sells rogue vitamins (e.g. misrepresented, or harmful fillers) then we will not shop at that store at all. Integrity first. A natural food store that is not a watchman is largely worthless. That is also why I tend to use Queens Health Emporium or Dr. B. Well or Rising Tide (three of my better local stores) or even Whole Foods rather than the health food sections in supermarket. They have a level of accountability and their views are respected, viewing foods with integrity. btw, I buy products like Floradix and Natureworks European tonics like herbal iron at such stores, and green plant powders like E3Live (frozen), and to varying degrees their 'vitamin' sections largely emphasize such excellent products rather than your garden-variety C and B complex. Which I agree can be overused and under-assimilated.
btw, your echinacea attempted analogy makes me question your companies integrity that much more.
http://www.umm.edu/a...echinacea-000239.htmUniversity of Maryland Medical Center
"Several laboratory and animal studies suggest that echinacea contains active substances that enhance the activity of the immune system, relieve pain, reduce inflammation, and have hormonal, antiviral, and antioxidant effects."
Perhaps you work for a pharmaceutical company in your day job.
Shalom,
Steven
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