Here's some sample spam sent by RHS's agents:
| Apr 14-15, 2001 | Apr 20, 2001 |
| May 11, 2001 | Sept 3, 2001 |
| May 15, 2001 | May 15, 2001 (#2) |
| Tolkien fans respond! | The NPR show Back of the Book disses EE (scroll down) |
A quick check at Google Groups on March 17, 2002 confirms that the spam campaign continues -- Evidence Eliminator spam clogs the porn groups, and occasionally spills over into more reputable groups.
The response of Andy Churchill when confronted with allegations of supporting spam has been rather dubious. He claims, alternately, that a) it's not spam because it doesn't meet some strange definition of spam that he just made up (the real definition is "Unsolicited bulk Internet advertising"), b) the spam is a "joe job" where affiliates are trying to get each other kicked out of the affiliate program, or c) that the spam is produced by some "New World Order" conspiracy out to destroy Robin Hood Software (gosh, this guy really needs the AFDB!). For some reason, this New World Order conspiracy is only out to destroy Robin Hood Software... not any other security vendor (and there's plenty who provide better security than EE will ever provide). Quite... bizarre.
Meanwhile the spam continues, with a terrifying new twist: Push-ICQ links that can even set your home page to point at a terrifying scare ad. Wired Magazine did an expose' on these ads, which are widely spammed via USENET. Readers from around the globe have complained that they have been subjected to these terrifying ads.
What does Andy of Robin Hood Software say about this new type of spam for his product?
Uhm, well, he encourages it. Says Andy, "we now welcome FAKED LINKS, PUSH LINKS, ICQ, BLIND LINKS, POP-UPS, you name it, we'll convert it!". In short, Robin Hood Software welcomes spam, as long as it results in a sale. The only time they object to spam is when there's risk to their Internet connection, but since Robin Hood Software signed up with UUNET-UK, they've been basically unassailable on the spam issue -- they respond to UUNET-UK with "We don't spam", UUNET-UK says "Oh, so sorry", and they stay connected to the Internet. In short, UUNET-UK is a spammer haven. Unfortunately, as a division of MCI-Worldcom, they don't have to care -- they route half the traffic of the Internet. So next time you see spam advertising Evidence Eliminator, by all means forward a copy to UUNET and UUNET-UK, but don't expect anybody to do anything. They're MCI-Worldcom. They don't care. They don't have to.