# Problem with "Support SOTW"



## AltoRuth (Nov 19, 2006)

A few weeks ago I clicked on the "Support SOTW" link, and then on "Paypal".
I immediately got a warning from ZoneAlarm that the site "tinyurl.com" was suspect for sending spyware to the unwary. I tried to bypass the warning, but could not do so. I tried it again this AM, but received the same message. I have no idea what "tinyurl.com" has to do with either Paypal or with SOTW. Can anyone shed light on what's going on here?

Thanks.
Ruth


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## Enviroguy (Sep 1, 2006)

TinyURL is a web service that provides short aliases for redirection of long URLs. The service was launched in January 2002 so that costumers would be able to link directly to newsgroup postings which frequently had long and cumbersome addresses.

Maybe SOTW is using this service to shorten some cumbersome long URLs?


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## spartacus (Jan 2, 2007)

Turn off Zone Alarm in the tray by clicking "Exit"
Go to Start > Settings > Control Panel > and click on Windows firewall
Make your donation to SOTW
Start Zone Alarm again

From Wikipedia
"TinyURL obscures the original address, and as a result it's sometimes used to redirect to an unexpected site. Examples of this are rickrolling, redirecting to scam and affiliate websites, or shock sites; ZoneAlarm has given the warning "TinyURL may be unsafe. This website has been known to distribute spyware." TinyURL has countered this problem by offering an option to present a link when using TinyURL, instead of redirection.[2] In addition, even if the link does not include a preview, the preview may still be accessed by simply prefixing the word "preview" to the front of the URL (Ex: "tinyurl.com/8kmfp" could be retyped as "preview.tinyurl.com/8kmfp") to see where the link will lead. Opaqueness is also leveraged by spammers, who use such links in spam to bypass URL blacklists. TinyURL, in turn, disables spam related links from redirecting.[3]"


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## Harri Rautiainen (Jan 24, 2003)

Enviroguy said:


> TinyURL is a web service that provides short aliases for redirection of long URLs. The service was launched in January 2002 so that costumers would be able to link directly to newsgroup postings which frequently had long and cumbersome addresses.
> 
> Maybe SOTW is using this service to shorten some cumbersome long URLs?


You are right, the PayPal URL with all parameters is quite long and not suitable for all purposes.







 However, now we have "PayPal donate button" next to your Welcome message on upper right. It does not utilize the shortened tinyurl.

I will review the "Support SOTW" link, too.
Thanks for raising an important topic, AltoRuth.


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