And the gold medal for spyware goes to. . .

[Jason Spaceman]

Chris Jenkins
February 18, 2006

PRESSURE is mounting on gold medal skier Dale Begg-Smith to detail the origins of his internet fortune, which increasingly appears to have been built on developing spyware that diverts users to advertisements and porn sites.

Begg-Smith's manager David Malina said last night he hoped Begg-Smith would issue a statement clarifying his business interests, after his gold medal performance in Turin brought his internet whizz-kid reputation back into the spotlight.

Mr Malina said Begg-Smith "would prefer the media to focus on that".

"He has minimised his involvement in the business and he'd really like to focus on his skiing," he said.

"He runs a legitimate business. He's just won a gold medal for Australia and everyone wants to cut him down."

Begg-Smith, 21, could not be contacted yesterday.

His companies CPM Media and AdsCPM have been identified as the origin of "spyware" programs that can redirect a computer to porn sites or install software that floods the computer with pop-up ads.

Read it here. (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18184735%255E2702,00.html)

[Jason Spaceman]

Also see 'Spam man' wins gold (http://www.theage.com.au/news/breaking/olympic-champ-made-big-bucks-in-popup-ads/2006/02/16/1140037817825.html):


By Stephen Hutcheon and Jacquelin Magnay
February 16, 2006

According to the International Olympic Committee's website, Australia's gold medallist Dale Begg-Smith, runs an internet pop-up advertising company that he describes as the third largest of its type.

But that's about as much detail as you'll get out of the Lamborghini-driving Canadian-turned-Australian moguls skier who is reluctant to talk about his dealings which remain shrouded in secrecy.

Speaking on Monday at a pre-race press conference, the 21-year-old said he had wound down his multimillion-dollar internet business to concentrate on his Olympic ambitions.

He refused to reveal the name of his business, nor details of its operations or size. He did say it had "two or three" employees and that it wasn't really an issue with skiing because it had been wound down.

"I haven't spent much time on it, I've let it taper off during the ski season," Begg-Smith said when pressed about his work. "There's not much to say. We design technology and stuff like that, some advertising stuff, too."

But the companies that he and brother Jason Begg-Smith are involved with are some of the most annoying aspects of the web.

Two main companies - called AdsCPM and CPM Media - make money by skimming a small percentage each time an ad scores a hit or is directed to a client's site.