Ad Muncher

That's actually not true. Walmart has a refund policy, does that mean they don't have to adhere to truth in advertising? Every product advertised in a commercial on TV has a refund policy, does that exonerate them from honest advertising? Trust me, I have a case. But from this point I will take it directly to you for resolution, then depending on the response, to my credit card. Since I can prove fraudulent advertising, it's a done deal really.

Fact is, you've broken the law. (well not you, Hurps) The longer the false statements remain on your website, and within the forums, the more harm that will be done. My guess is you don't want to remove IE as listed as a supported browser because it would hurt sales. You don't want to display the fact that it has no HTTPS support, because it will hurt sales. That's dishonest. I'm done bringing this up, now it's up to individuals to decide if they still want to continue supporting abandonware.

Edit: Jeff I don't fault you. You've done an amazing job with the list updates. Murray is really the one to blame.

 

Think about this;

If you made a software that you depending on for your income, and were notified about this thread, and discontent within your customer base. Would you not at the very least make an appearance here to assuage anxiety? Every developer I have pointed to this forum has arrived in short order, and calmed issues, and/or presented development information.

Read into that what you will. I already have, and when combined with all of the other data we have - concluded AM is an abandoned project. Even their Facebook update stopped in Mid-2013. Murray hasn't visited his forum since early 2011. The product, nor website has been updated since early 2012. The last TWEET from Admuncher was in early 2012.

I've come to the realization that barring a chargeback for me, the best course of action is to publicize Admunchers failings, lack of development, and weaknesses so business declines sufficiently that Murray will 'take action'. Only through our pocketbooks will be get a change from him. Maybe with a significant, and vicious decline in sales will be lock himself and his programming buddies into a room, and smash out AMv5. Otherwise they will keep milking the cow (no pun intended) until there is no more milk left - unethically. Money is force, and the force is on our side. Spread the word - and let's enforce change through the power of the purse. Bad companies are motivated by nothing else.

 

Some users with IE11 will be disappointed to find the trial doesn't work with that version of Microsoft's browser. They shouldn't have to download a trial to find the current version doesn't actually work with all browsers as advertised. This is why we're suggesting a caveat should be placed on the website to save those users the trouble of downloading the trial in the first place.

 

Also note, the GZip issues won't be evident to many users at the outset, neither will the lack of HTTPS. They may not notice relevant ads on facebook suddenly, or understand why the product is not working.

These disclosures should be front and center. But they aren't. The website still lists Internet Explorer as 'covered', and with the masses of people moving to 8.1 every week - and more when it goes free, this will be a gigantic issue in a matter of months.

 

The last time Ad Muncher was updated was like 2 years ago! I wasted my money buying a lifetime license with a developer that only keeps promising. It's a small update to HTTPS and IE 11 yet he needs years to do it

 

Maybe rename it Super Ad Muncher ??

 

Ad Muncher is updated on a daily basis.

binary updates are not the only type of updates.

adding https and IE11 to the 4.x code base would be almost impossible hence the rewrite for v5.x which is being coded in ANSI C with all that we've learned over the past 15 years.

It's very modular and easy to maintain and extend, once it is complete we will never again be in the situation we are in now.

I do apologize for how long it is taking, but I assure you, we are working as hard as we can.

 

I am very glad of your response. I miss AdMuncher so much. I am not able to use IE anymore because of it and have switched to Pale Moon. Ill be so happy once you've completed the work on the new Ad Muncher so I can be your customer again

cheers man and good luck

 

Still promises. Unfulfilled, years on end.

Meanwhile, Murray chugs along with a half dozen other projects.

 

Hmmm was this guy paid to post?


" registered March 2014, post count 3"

 

Part of me feels a little bad for Jeff. From the vague posts about v5 and the fact that he's still trading arguments back and forth with people who obviously stopped believing him or are angry, it looks more and more like the guy really has been left to fend for himself and is in "maintenance mode" while awaiting his partner. At the same time, if that is actually true, then Jeff at this point really needs to say something about it. If the project is on hiatus, it's less damaging to say so than to keep making assurances that you might not be sure of. The one thing done right was not giving a date. However, eventually users start demanding dates, which is what is happening now. They get tired of throwing money to a project that may or may not be dead/on life support, and they definitely deserve updates on the website relaying important information about loss of function such as the case with IE 11. NOT in some random forum on the web and not just in a random post in your own forum. It should be under News..which hasn't been updated since July of 2012.

It may not be his fault that IE 11 screwed things up (and I of course know that it isn't), but you can only use the "Use a different browser until version 5" response for so long. Especially when you don't even know when you'll release it. I think at this point Murray needs to chime in, if he even cares.

 

At this point nothing is going to change until people start demanding refunds. It's pretty obvious that there are some serious problems when they won't even burn a calorie to update a couple words on their own web site. If they won't put out the effort to update their web site then how believable is it that they are putting all this supposedly incredible effort 'behind the scenes' in upgrading the program to work with HTTPS and fix all the other problems??

 

What do you expect Murray to say that I haven't?

Everything I say comes straight from him.

I speak for the company...

 

Don't be silly.

What don't you understand about us working as fast as we possibly can?

If what I say is true then such actions would needlessly harm us or our image.

You guys are making stuff up and choose to ignore what I tell you...

Armchair quarterbacking at its finest.

 

I feel this is accurate. Simply because if you are 'enthusiastic' and 'working hard' on a project, you want to share the stories, you want people to share in the excitement. It's pretty obvious v5 isn't being worked on, otherwise they'd be sharing data, updating news, and excited about it. Murray shares a LOT about his current projects - a lot of posts, updates, and enthusiasm. But he's quiet about Admuncher. So good thinking, logical people are generally all going to assume it's abandoned - given the evidence we have to go by.

It doesn't work with IE anymore because MS doesn't use mswsock32.dll for IE. Adguard works around this by using it's own firewall type of driver. WPF driver in Adguard means *ALL* of Windows 8X is filtered, even the apps. As more applications/browsers move away from mswsock32.dll, Admuncher will continue to lose functionality - Adguard will continue to function as they use their own drivers.

Adguard has released 5 beta versions in the last 14 days. The last one 'dramatically' reduced I/O, processor, and Memory Usage. Two of my last complaints about the product. Now when you hit a massive ad laden, tracker loaded website, Adguard consumes AT MOST 0.2% of your CPU for a split second. Adguard is actively developed, and it's pretty ridiculous to have Jeff say Admuncher is '10 times' more powerful than Adguard.. Admuncher - Jeff claims a 'feature/bugfix' lock on it due to v5, however he's been saying that for 5 years. How long can you bugfix and feature lock a product before it is considered abandoned?

 

This is absolutely false.

maybe that's how YOU would run Ad Muncher but we aren't you.

Stop spreading FUD.

 

Got news for you - you are harming your reputation by selling a half baked product, and a misleading, outright fraudulent claims on your web page. Honesty harms reputation? I think many of us appreciate honesty, rather than penalize it. We aren't making anything up. Everything cited here is based on fact. It's pretty easy to see the last updates on your product, website, and blogs. It's pretty easy to see posts where you claim v5 is 'right around the corner' - and that was 3 years ago. What exactly are we making up? If you think telling the truth would harm your reputation, wait for these threads to start popping up everywhere, reviews and blogs, and comment sections. I suspect once your revenue starts to decline measurably from Admuncher v5 will news will 'start appearing', and progress will be made.

Did you know it only takes one person to contact their local attorney general to file a fraud in advertising, and wire fraud against you for your web page? According to USC1343 you are in violation of Federal Law. My guess - you don't want to harm business by telling people Internet Explorer is non-functional with Admuncher, as such - it falls under Federal law. My advice to you is to begin offering refunds to those that request them, and to immediately fix your web pages, and all declarations of your product to reflect the true nature of the product.

18 U.S.C. § 1343 provides:
Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, transmits or causes to be transmitted by means of wire, radio, or television communication in interstate or foreign commerce, any writings, signs, signals, pictures, or sounds for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. If the violation affects a financial institution, such person shall be fined not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned not more than 30 years, or both.[2]

At least Admuncher is still buying a nice office, a good life, and fancy gadgets for Murray.. I feel like a major sucker right now.

Murray Hurps ‏@Murray Feb 1
If life were a video game, I'd be hitting ESC and clicking Save at this point. Life is good.

Meanwhile, in Admuncher land;

Postby Murray » Mon Nov 09, 2009 12:36 am
No pressure to purchase of course, but just posting in case anyone would like to renew before v5.x comes out We've also committed to not releasing v5.0 until late 2010.

Postby Jeff » Fri Feb 17, 2012 6:21 pm
We should have a new beta(v5) out soon though.

 

There is no false anything going on.

Ad Muncher v4.93 and the site were both released before IE11 existed.

full stop.

Not to mention Ad Muncher is an australian company...

 

So because you think you are 'shielded' from US Law in AU, you think that justifies your position?

I'd advise consulting a lawyer. I'm not a lawyer, but I happen to know a good deal about legal compliance in the IT field. (having to take the necessary law courses for compliance engineering) I can tell you if you accept customers (and payments) from the US, you are obligated to adhere to our regulations. (Paypal is US-Based - by the way) Specifically to use Paypal as your processor (which you do, you agreed to) 14.2 Applicable Law. You agree that the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to principles of conflict of laws, will govern your paypal use. Also, it doesn't matter what version you are selling, if you are selling it based on specific conditions (such as compatibility with IE), then those conditions much be accurate. They are not accurate on the website. The data of a site doesn't exonerate you from responsible, and accurate marketing/sales, this is why sites are updated to reflect changes! I cannot believe you don't understand this.

Nevertheless, AM would also fall under the Australian Advertising Code of Ethics, which requires advertisements/web pages to be 'truthful', and 'completely accurate'.
http://www.adstandards.com.au

Paypal as your payment processor has a code of ethics as well. AM clearly violates this, and as such should likely be reported to Paypal's Oversite Team.

https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/ua/useragreement-full
Violate any law, statute, ordinance, or regulation (for example, those governing financial services, consumer protections, unfair competition, anti-discrimination or false advertising);

Provide false, inaccurate or misleading information;

Further, Paypal provides additional protections for buyers, in the case of;

You received an item you paid for with PayPal but it is “Significantly Not as Described” (SNAD)

 

DoctorPC,

As you know, we do have similar consumer laws in Australia. Apple is currently in trouble for bending our laws.

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/...r-australian-consumer-law-20131218-2zkkr.html

 

you ignored the rest of my comment.

 

I read your posts in this thread and no offence but only one (#32) has any value. While I tend to agree with most of your arguments stated therein I don't understand what is sense of your subsequent posts and foremost what is your prime aim. You're throwing sections of the US and AU laws as if you would want to take legal action towards Hurps. Sure it's your right and you can do this whenever you think you are in the right but if not you should stop all the fuss you have unleashed moreover if you thought "With respect" truthfully. I am also upset that v5 is not coming already for years ... that Jeff is mysterious about v5 ... that Murray is silent and so on. I bought the unlimited license a few years ago believing v5 is just around the corner. Honestly my worst assumption ever. Anyhow I know that I have always a choice to go elsewhere and ask a refund if I am unsatisfied and convinced that I am treated fraudulently. Believe you have these options as well.

 

I also bought the product a few years ago and was looking forward to v5. I've since left the product and won't look back; it isn't worth the time or effort. Additionally, they've lost my trust as a customer and will never see another penny from me (too bad, because it "was" a good product).

 

Yeah, I am full of temptations to do that too but I will try to resist for a while and will give them (AM folks) some time yet.

 

Exactly how I feel.