August 17th, 2004
BofA VC seeks "polite" adware investments
In a contributed commentary, Bank of America Venture Partners Director Sharon Wienbar goes to great lengths to list the defining characteristics of spyware and impolite adware and then carefully positions BA as an investor that steers clear of anything that fits the description. "At BA Venture Partners, we would not consider any application that uses pop-ups, is distributed through file sharing such as Kazaa or is not removable" says Wienbar.
Wienbar’s commentary made me if wonder if she was simply venting about highly objectionable behavior or buttering up a potentially controversial investment for public consumption. So, I called her. "I believe that ad-supported software like the ad-supported version of Eudora, ad-supported emoticons or screen-savers, and ad-supported games are fine" said Wienbar. "And, as long as the adware fully discloses what it does, I have no moral objection to it. And, I wrote the story to get deals. [BA Venture Partners] wants to be in that category. But I want people to know that I’m informed on the topic, that I have an opinion and that I’m not interested if their adware is of the nefarious sort that can’t be uninstalled through the control panel, that spawns new versions of itself when removed, or is the kind of adware that requires the purchase of other software [anti-spyware] just to get rid of it." Wienbar basically drew a line that divided spyware/adware into two types: polite and impolite. Then she made it clear which side of the line she’s on. I’m down with that. Are you?
