I think the people that promote anything also bear the responsibility of doing so ethically. One bad apple in a basket makes the basket look really terrible. I was TREMENDOUSLY DISSAPPOINTEDthis afternoon to receive comment spam on my blogs for getfirefox.com. If asked, I would have promoted the site free of charge (and as a matter of fact, have done so on many occassions including this one). The author was Nicolegrants Kidman (IP: 203.130.233.100 , quiksurfer1.telkom.net.id). If Asa or anyone else from the Firefox team reads this, I hope that they can take the necessary precautions to make sure that this does not happen. I strongly urge promoters to be really, really careful of their methods.
Maybe I was a little jumpy with my conclusions. This very well could have come from “legitimate” (if there is such a thing) spammers trying to get their details approved and Firefox.com really has no way to control this. A spammer professing to be from firefox, microsoft or any other site might not necessarily be promoting that site but be hiding under the guise.
I apologize for the libel and take it back after some thought. I hope that this spam was really not from or for Firefox.com
Imagine how dissappointed we are to see a prominent blogging site lambast a company for something COMPLETELY beyond its control.
http://www.Santa'sBlog.com
Would you like the fat man in the red suit to give you an apology now?
What an irresponsible, libelous post.
I too had some, but the x was replaced by the ascii equivalent (or similar). I took it as a spammer trying to get something in their details approved so they could flood me at a later time – so I killed it.
I learned a while ago that spammers are no longer promoting their own sites (at first strike), instead, they are linking to legitimate website owners and doing 2 things:
1) giving the website owner the brunt of the complaints for spamming and making them look guilty
2) getting the email address they used on the ‘white list’ so they can come back later and spam ’til their heart’s content…
I received some get firefox ‘spam’, but knew it was most likely not them or anyone affiliated with them doing it – but I can understand your frustration.
Glad to see you fixed up the post though 😉
I got a few attempted comment spams for getfirefox.com which I promptly deleted. Whether the URI they give is legit or not doesn’t matter in my eyes. I look at the comment itself. If it doesn’t look legit they get deleted 🙂
I got one the other day too. Although I’m sure the company is not behind them, it’s just sad to see a good thing be used in a poor manner.
I got one as well. From “Brad Pitt”, apparently, on one of my old posts mentioning Firefox.
lofl
i understand the spam frustration, but you should be well aware of what a spam email is and that firefox wouldnt be doing that lol
besides, even if that email got thru my firewall here, i would know better than to even think twice before deleting it
good mark on the edit of entry though, cheers
haha my bad
before ‘not’ deleting it
Yeah, I got one from Brad Pitt too. I’m going to send him a letter demanding a full and immediate apology. He should be able to prevent people from spamming using his name.
Seriously, I doubt anyone from Mozilla is sending this. There are certainly some morons who’ve signed up on Spread Firefox and post about bonehead techniques like blocking IE from their sites, or writing “getfirefox.com” on all the coasters at the local bar, etc. but people discourage that kind of activity, and I can’t imagine anyone on the Firefox team suggesting or carrying out comment spam.
What I find interesing is the numeric escapes in the URL. Podz mentioned the “x” was replaced in the ones he got. The one I got (which was caught by SK2) had the “i” replaced. I have to wonder what the point is, unless it’s a leftover setting from their “usual” spamming.
I’m guessing the ascii codes are either attempts to get past spam filters, or they are remnants of conversion from non-ascii (they are likely spamming from countries that don’t use ascii). All assumptions. But now getfirefox is on my list of blocked url’s.
haha my bad
before ‘not’ deleting it