That One Privacy Site and AIRVPN, listed as "SHADY"

[Weasel 16]

Was reading many forum posts here and came across the one that linked to That One Privacy Site.  In it that site states that AIRVPN get a red 'bad' mark for "BAD, SHADY" and when I looked that up they say "BAD, SHADY" means "Shady – Has more than 4 ethics “violations” on the comparison chart.  Company engages in affiliate marketing without limits".  His definition of "Ethics" is:  "Ethics – ...if service has an affiliate program, terms must require ethical behavior, appears to actively support good causes and promote good business practices."

 

So what exactly is he saying here and why is he giving AIRVPN a bad rap?

 

I have emailed the owner and await his response.

[zhang888 1066]

Unfortunately it seems like the owner of this site is incapable of having a conversation, and instead

answering direct questions he is going round and round while changing topics and providing new theories.

 

I don't think he has an explanation of what is exactly wrong with having affiliate links and not monitoring

the signups. Instead, real ethics from providers should be in case someone felt misled or didn't see

the value for the money he could always ask for a full refund. And that's the case here.

 

You can read this thread where the author attempted to make his point:

 

https://airvpn.org/topic/19586-a-review-on-another-site/

[LZ1 671]

Hello!

 

Air Staff pretty much destroyed that guys arguments when he came to the site, as zhang linked to. If you do get a reply, it would be interesting if you shared them with us of course. Do make sure to diversify your review sources ^__^. To me it seems like, if he can say Air is shady, then he has also invalidated either most of or the entire VPN industry, as few (if any) VPNs approach Airs standards currently lmao. It was nice of you to post about what you found as well, in case we hadn't heard of it. Thank you

[Weasel 16]

That link and exchange of views was interesting.  I am happy with AIR, don't get me wrong or else I would not have been a member for 4 years now I guess (and exchange rate is a bitch).  I found his site interesting and informative and really he gives AIR great marks except for the SHADY thing which now that I read both sides I don't find a big deal myself.  Now if he found that you were keeping logs when you say you don't that would be different.

 

TOPS did respond to my emails and I asked if I could quote on here but he referred me to the exchange you linked too and stated there is no sense in me causing trouble and I agree since that isn't my intention, I was just confused by what exactly he was calling SHADY.

 

For my part this is what I emailed to him:

 

 

"Hi;  I Just discovered your site and am impressed by your level of detail, well done.  I am a long time user of AIRVPN and noted that you list them as “BAD-SHADY” for ethics violations and marketing.  I am not sure what you mean here and whether it is something I should be concerned about.  The definition of both is unclear to me since I am not a real computer tech type of guy and although I read your glossary I am still not sure.  Can you explain further (Google search failed)?  I always thought AIR was one of the best."

 

Just on a side note here I looked up what exactly an AFFILIATE LINK is and found this:  In affiliate programs, it's a special URL that contains the ID or username of the affiliate. This URL is used by the advertiser to track all traffic the affiliate sends to the advertiser's site as a part of the affiliate program.

 

So is this what AIR is doing?  If so, so what, everybody advertises to generate revenue eh.

[zhang888 1066]

So is this what AIR is doing?  If so, so what, everybody advertises to generate revenue eh.

 

Air is not doing that. Members do.

Any member that promotes new signups using his special member signup link,

can earn some % from the total subscription cost of the members who signed

up using their links. Like a pyramid.

There is nothing wrong in that, and every member can know who referred him,

because the affiliate signup ID is the same as the forum ID, and it's open for

everyone to look up using:

https://airvpn.org/index.php?app=core&module=search&do=user_activity&mid=[iD]

[OpenSourcerer 1432]

Air is so shady, they drop France due to problems with the laws. How could they!?!?!?!?!

[Khariz 109]

I used to respect That One Privacy Guy, but he's turned into a tool.  

[cm0s 118]

yeah not sure why he posted 'shady'
 on his site