Airlines test new fees by announcing them and hoping that other airlines follow. If they don't, the airline stops the new fee. But in the software industry, companies start policies like this and hope the people paying the fees don't notice. If they succeed, other companies pick up the policy. That's why we cannot let this policy stand.

I'd love to see the Federal Trade Commission look into this opt-out policy, but I frankly don't hold out much hope. The FTC has so far been largely detached from outrages in the computer industry. A better hope is for a class-action lawsuit or prosecution by other states' attorneys general. Or people who are charged the fees could all start calling up to cancel the renewal. That might be a harsher financial hit for the companies than the New York fine, since the companies have to pay people to answer the calls.

The greatest irony about this situation is that I actually endorse automatic renewal for security software -- as long as you realize that you are signing up for it. Too many people just let their licenses lapse. What's more, I otherwise respect McAfee's and Symantec's products and especially their people. My issue is that the automatic renewal clause was hidden and required an opt out. Frankly, I expect a security company to exercise better ethics than the typical software company might. If they keep pulling stunts like this, more people are going to believe them capable of writing and releasing viruses to drum up business.

Almost three years ago, . And as I predicted, few people did anything about it, and the policy still stands, and other ISPs have implemented similar policies. I have a little more hope in this case because people are more inclined to ask for their money back than to demand their rights.

Security essentially means trust. Security vendors sell trust. Business practices like this compromise the impression that the security industry is deserving of trust. This is a black mark on the security industry. Two of the most well-known companies in the industry have been caught behaving like stereotypical used car dealers. One unintended consequence may be an uptick in people failing to renew their security software licenses out of retaliation for questionable business practices. And even though I couldn't find other examples of this practice, I'm sure they do exist. We all must be more careful than ever in reading agreements. We must also hope that the general public doesn't hold the actions of these two vendors against the entire industry. Sadly, unlike the rumors of antivirus companies distributing viruses, this rumor is very true.