Dear RMX Direct publisher,

Right Media does not support or condone spyware or parties who facilitate the introduction of spyware on the Exchange. Over the past several weeks, we have had multiple incidents in which publishers on the Exchange have used our ad tags to inject ads into spyware applications. We have been actively investigating these incidents as we have learned of them and have deactivated offending publishers. We remain dedicated to providing a safe marketplace for all advertisers and community members.

To be more specific, when we say spyware, we are focusing on desktop software showing ads that is deceptively installed, spawns multiple pops, has no user consent, or is malicious in any other way.

Currently, we are working to identify and record the signatures of these programs by running them through a test environment that we have dedicated for this purpose. Once we find these signatures, we look for similar patterns to identify publishers which may be facilitating spyware agents. Although we have already identified numerous spyware programs as part of this process, we are aggressively seeking to expand our pattern and identification library for spyware programs.

As of today, we are changing the process of handling sites that we believe are spyware. As is very clearly described in our content guidelines, using spyware inventory or working with any other entity that may have a connection to spyware is strictly prohibited.

If we identify spyware on an RMX Direct publisher, we will take the following steps:

1. flag the publisher as spyware
2. deactivate the publisher in question
3. notify the publisher of the detected spyware

If you are contacted as participating with spyware and believe this is an error and you can provide us with sufficient evidence that what we have identified is not spyware or has been removed, please email [email protected]. We will review the information provided and determine in our discretion whether it is sufficient to establish that a publisher is not using spyware inventory or that the spyware issue has been effectively addressed to the point where we are comfortable reactivating that account.

We'll be in touch with you as we continue to address this important issue. If you haven't already, you may want to read the blog post that Right Media CEO Michael Walrath wrote on this issue at http://blog.rightmedia.com/2007/03/15/work-to-be-done.

Thanks in advance for helping us to stop spyware and protect the Exchange.

Please let us know if you have any questions.