you should know that we added that this morning, it was built by the the guys at idiomag.com, as is the javascript. Once we realised that it could potentially confuse or "trick" people we removed it.
I'm not buying this feigned innocence. It's like listening to Zynga say giving Farmville credits for users to sign up for trial offers is perfectly legitimate. They know perfectly well the revenue generated by getting thousands of users to sign up for free trials of stuff that is impossible to stop before the bill gets charged to your card is generating more money than legitimate ads/networks.
You're using illegitimate ad networks because it pays a higher CPM period. Just admit to it so we can blackhole your domain without bullshitting us.
And no, we didn't review the javascript bar that was placed at the top of all our pages but as soon as we saw what it looked like, we removed it.
And what illegitimate ad networks?? We use Google Adwords and Federated Media!
Don't go making accusations like that until you've got your facts straight.
And seriously, where did you get such distrust and anger? Ridiculous.
Separate issue then, the 'Next Article' module that flys-in on the bottom of the page has a huge resemblance to that of the NYT:
http://web9.twitpic.com/img/129290515-1749ba53a25d83649eeb9b...
The idea/functionality is one thing, but the design elements seem to be a direct lift (border, shading, text language and style).
It's got a new look now, whadya think? :)
Can I just say again, how impressed I am at how quickly you responded to all this and took appropriate measures. I could see this locked up in processes and such for days at other organizations.