38 replies to this topic

[Noggie]

To: Members of the Spywareinfo Community
From: Catherine Forsythe
Date: November 15, 2006

As many people know, it is my approach to give site updates, while Mike Healan is unavailable. This is one of those update; however, this posting has been vetted several times by my legal counsel. It will become obvious why this was/is necessary, as I outline the situation here.

One of the products that Spywareinfo recommends is X-Cleaner. It is an excellent product and has been a supplier for Spywareinfo for a number of years. Mike Healan has it set up whereby the buyer pays him through his Paypal account and he sends out the download information plus the registration code. People have been buying the program and paying into the Paypal account that Mike Healan has. Unfortunately, he has not been sending out the registration codes.

The result is angry people who have paid and received nothing. - I am trying to rectify this horrid situation. The people at X-Cleaner (Wayne Porter and his colleagues) have been just excellent with me. I could not ask for better assistance in a trying time.

Personally, I am not handling this well. - I will be perfectly frank with you that this has caused me enormous stress. I do not have access to the main site to change the links. No one has that information except Mike Healan and the hosting service. The hosting service has been contacted. And, I have people standing by to modify the links, if I have access to the controls. Why I do not have control of the site parameters is that this is the way Mike Healan has chosen to safeguard the security of the site. And, of course, I do not have access to the Paypal account or the funds therein.

One of my main functions here at Spywareinfo has been to promote the sale of recommended products and keep the site as a free resource for the internet community. Now, however, when there is a sale of the X-Cleaner product, I become physically ill. It is just a mess - and this takes enormous chunks of my time and energies. Furthermore, because of the need for legal counsel, this is an unwanted and unwelcomed financial drain. However, I have no intentions of being involved in legal entanglements as a result of conduct by another individual. - Attempts have been make to contact Mike Healan through the phones, email and registered mail. None have been successful. I am three times zones away or I would knock on his door.

For those of you who have known me over the years, you know that this is not how I conduct business. My name being linked to this behaviour is abhorrent to me. - To any people who have purchased X-Cleaner and not received the registration code, please contact me. I have a means of checking payment and I will correct the problem, as expediently as humanly possible. And you have my sincere apologies for the delay that you are experiencing. You will receive a product code - you have my promise on that. This problem should not reflect upon X-Cleaner, in any manner whatsoever.

I may be contacted through this link: http://www.spywareinfo.com/email2.php

The need for donations at FlyingHamster never has been greater. To those who assist at this site, I make the personal request that you mention to those we help to consider a donation to support the site. Please ask that the donation be made at FlyingHamster ( http://flyinghamster.com/ ). Products can be purchased at FlyingHamster. And if someone wants X-Cleaner, please contact me first and I will provide you specific instructions.

In closing, I want to say that this note has been vetted and heavily edited. I am told to be careful in what I say as this matter moves forward. However, many of you know me well enough to know what I would like to say... and I will leave it at that, for now.

Catherine

[therock247uk]

Noggie I know the hole SWI situation is causing you alot of strees you told me earlyer. I think its time to just let SWI go its causing you stress and its now causing legal problems I think its time for SWi to just go (die) till Mike comes back and sorts stuff out you have great talents you could put them to much better use than SWI IMO ie flyinghamster Dogreader and the worm site you do not need the stress of SWI anymore.

Just my two cents.

Edited by therock247uk, 15 November 2006 - 04:01 PM.

[imheretohelp]

I agree 100% with rocky (perhaps with a little less typos though )

It is too much hassle for you to have to manage a site that you are ill equipped to do. Perhaps it's time you stop bailing out Mike and go your own way with your projects (GQ too ) and do something for yourself- for once.

Love and friendship always

~Phil~

[sari]

I agree with both of them (with fewer typos and grammatically correct sentences). You are a very talented person, and I think your energy would be better spent on projects that bring you less stress and more financial, personal, and professional satisfaction. If/when Mike is well enough to resume management of this site, then maybe you can resume your role here as well.

[Budfred]

I am also worried about the stress you are experiencing and I agree that it would be better for you to leave than to be overwhelmed by that stress...

That said, I would be distressed to see SWI fail... I think we provide a great deal of assistance to many people and I think it would be an unneeded victory for the malware criminals if we fall... If there is a way to help, I (and many others) would happily do so... We already try to get people to go to FlyingHamster and will continue to do so...

[rambro]

Dear Noggie,

I would definitely contact the company that hosts the SWI website, and let them give you access to the necessary links (to change them) so that people don't purchase the X-cleaner product though Mike Healan's paypal account.

For the people, that have already purchased the X-cleaner product, you should try an "credit" their accounts for the purchase of this product, since they have probably paid for the this product through a credit card (that is, refund their money through a credit on their credit card balance.)

Set up an account of your own, so any future transactions (purchases of this product) will go through you in cooperation with the manufacturers of the X-cleaner product.

I don't know how legally liable you are in this situation, but be careful here so you will not be accused of defrauding the public. Good luck.

rambro.

[Xblock]

I would like to follow up with some comments from XBlock Systems:

We have had a longstanding good relationship with Spywareinfo and Mike. This turn of events is very unfortunate for all of us.

To all those involved:
Please accept our appologies, but realise that there is nothing we can do to create a "good" solution to this problem. XBlock does not receive any notification or money when somebody pays Mike directly via Paypal, nor do we have any control over the links or the wording on the spywareinfo.com pages.


Nevertheless, we will supply everyone who purchased via this system with a license for X-Cleaner.

You can follow Catherine's instructions as stated above, or you can contact XBlock directly at this URL:
http://www.xblock.com/support.php

Please use "SpywareInfo X-Cleaner Purchase" as title of the email, and include the details from the Paypal purchase confirmation email.

Catherine: We hope you find the strength to get through this situation.
Everybody here: Keep up the good fight!

[Indrid_Cold]

Speaking as one with a vested interest in SpywareInfo, I would echo Budfred's sentiments.

[jedi]

Speaking as one with a vested interest in SpywareInfo, I would echo Budfred's sentiments.

Myself also.

[TheJoker]

I agree, it would be a terrible loss to the anti-malware community if something were to happen to SWI.

[teacup61]

Catherine,

knowing what we know and knowing how we all feel.......please tell us what we can do, big or small, to help. I'm just a little guy here, well girl, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who would like to know what we can do to help. I want SWI to stay, I want you to have some relief, and it's hard to just sit here and just watch all this happen.

[Chancellor]

I want SWI to stay, I want you to have some relief...

Me too.

^_^

[TheJoker]

What I did was to send along a PayPal donation to the FlyingHamspter site. Reality is that there are still bills to pay for the site, and every little bit helps; probably helps to reduce Catherine's stress level too as that's one of her worries at the moment. And to not add to anyone else's stress level, I and I'm sure everyone else realizes that not everyone may be capable of doing that.

[hornet777]

SWI needs a patron who is able to secure its continued existence, and without strings. Another alternative is for consumers to demand that computers be produced that are not vulnerable. SWI is at a crossroads, a dangerous place to be sure: this is the third alternative. To paraphrase Hölderlin, 'where the danger grows, so is to be found the saving grace as well...'.

Edited by hornet777, 16 November 2006 - 06:22 PM.

[jedi]

What I did was to send along a PayPal donation to the FlyingHamspter site.

I would like to send a donation, however, I do not have a PayPal account and do not particularly want one. Is there another method I could use?

[ChrisRLG]

jedi

You do not need a paypal account to pay via paypal.

Just follow the link - use the buttton that says you do not have a paypal account - and enter your visa/mastercard (etc) data to make the payment.

[jedi]

Thanks Chris, I didn't know that.

[cnm]

Please - let's distinguish between the main site http://www.spywareinfo.com, which is part-owned and managed by Noggie, and the forum http://www.spywareinfoforum.com which is managed by me with the help of Maddoktor2, Budfred, Swandog46, and Indrid_Cold.. I expect to continue the forum. The subscription to Invision (the forum software) that I purchased doesn't expire until May 2007.

The forum will not die.

Noggie has my sympathy and it is a shame she is put in this position. Our thanks to XBlock and the folks at XBlock Systems for their understanding.

[Maddoktor2]

For those of you who have known me over the years, you know that this is not how I conduct business. My name being linked to this behaviour is abhorrent to me.

And the way you're handling it is a credit to you and your reputation!
Hang in there, Noggie - we've always gotten through the bad times in the past and will continue to do so.

[regnew]

Sites these sizes should't cost much.. Around $50 a year for hosting and domain. I don't understand what other donations are needed

[ChrisRLG]

Sites these sizes should't cost much.. Around $50 a year for hosting and domain. I don't understand what other donations are needed

I run my own sites - and I can tell you, that you need to times that by two - to get near the monthly costs for a domain/server that this sort of site requires.

The server needs to be able to survive a moderate DDoS attack without blinking - so requires much more than a small host will provide, which is all you would get for that sort of money.

So your questimate is miles and miles out.

[cnm]

Usually there is a monthly fee for the hosting.
Not to mention the cost of the Invision software that runs the forum. Yearly license over $100.

[1984]

I never realized that it was so expensive to run a site.

On another (or perhaps related?) topic, what happened to Mike? Is it a case of incapacitation or what? Excuse my ignorance, just following this thread and not sure what exactly happened.

Edited by 1984, 12 January 2007 - 07:02 PM.

[Budfred]

On another (or perhaps related?) topic, what happened to Mike? Is it a case of incapacitation or what? Excuse my ignorance, just following this thread and not sure what exactly happened.

There are other topics that address that question... The short answer is that we don't know and he may decide to let us know when he returns... Otherwise, we carry on...

[1984]

Thanks Budfred. I looked around after this post (should have done it first) but still couldn't find a definitive answer. Strange that someone is MIA for so long.

[screen317]

http://www.spywarein...mp;#entry429691

^

That explains the first large leave of absence.

It is unknown whether or not the current one is related.

[1984]

Thank you. That explains a lot. I feel empathy for Mike-Depression is a very difficult disease/imbalance to deal with. And more people deal with it than the general public knows about.

I wish Mike full healing, and strength and health. Take care.

[TheJoker]

I didn't see it on the main page either, but found it on a roundabout way through some links. It's also in several of our signatures:
http://flyinghamster.com/support-us/

[cnm]

You'll find the link in this topic: Main page, donations,editorials, reviews,... in the Flying Hamster links subforum.

[Asiadeep]

That sounds terrible and puts you in the light of a bad color. I hope this mess ends fast and you get your health back again.

[Swami]

If Healen left over a year ago and isn't returning calls or handling his responsibility then he isn't coming back ... or at the least doesn't deserve to have anything to come back to.

I could see if he was sick or had taken a new job requiring relocation ... but it sounds like the dude just dropped out - It's time to turn the page on him and possibly this site.

IMO

[cnm]

He's the owner! We don't control the site, only the forum. I expect that eventually Mike will decide what he wants to do with the main site which currently not even Noggie (co-owner) can access. Mike has said in the past that he will never let the forum die; don't know if that's still true. In the meantime we carry on and I try to handle things the way Mike would have.

Mike was last here in July 2006. Most of us remember him as a remarkably fine person and a great leader; we truly hope that he is OK.

[Fire Vortex]

Hmm, I half get this situation... Is Mike still back? Any new news from him???

[Budfred]

Hmm, I half get this situation... Is Mike still back? Any new news from him???

I am not sure what you mean about "still back"... We have not seen him for more than 2 years... If he is back, he has not let us know...

[Fire Vortex]

Hmm, that's really sad... Is everything all right right now? Last week I started couldn't access the forums through www.spywareinfoforum.com...

Only spywareinfoforum.com works.

Is this related to that?

Edited by Fire Vortex, 18 May 2008 - 02:16 AM.

[Budfred]

Hmm, that's really sad... Is everything all right right now? Last week I started couldn't access the forums through www.spywareinfoforum.com...

Only spywareinfoforum.com works.

Is this related to that?

Yes...

[Fire Vortex]

I saw the other post that Mike posted a long time ago...

This is really sad. ;(

Wherever he is, I hope he's ok.