Complaint: Norton Renewal "Suggestion" as EMERGENT ERROR is a BAD move!

OK, first off, I'm sure there will be pleanty of folks that will suggest not using norton at all for internet security and a/v. But, whatever! Fine, sure there are lots of options out there, this happens to be one that has worked for me in the past, and I've never had problems before on machines running Norton...

That aside, this issue that I'm going to rant about has less to do with software functionality, than it does with underhanded tactics to ensure on-going income from customers.

Let me first establish a few assumptions I have about security software.

1) any warning from the system that shows in RED should ONLY mean that there is an error or situation that actually means that your security is, in fact, compromised. out of date virus definitions, ok, anti-virus turned off, ok... those are valid reasons to show RED on the task bar.

2) the task bar icon for system status should NEVER show subscription information, EVEN if it is completely expired and out of date. it is SO EASY to show an additional icon in the status area to indicate that your subscription is out of date - or coming due.

The fact that Symantec thinks it's ok to display a visibly similar status color for SUBSCRIPTiON immenent expiration, for the last 30 days of my subscription that I paid for, is ridiculous. in the past they allowed you to at least snooze the warning for 1 or 15 days. But the only solution to change the status is RENEW NOW! BLEEP YOU NORTON!!!

And with the fact that I have 30 days left, I'm not even confident that the process will honor the remaining 30 days - they don't assure me on the purchase page that they will. Not to mention, they offer "Subscription" renewal, which in the past meant sure, you're getting updates to the virus data base etc, but not an upgrade to the latest engines and etc that come with the new version... I digress.

So I open the status window and everything is secure, except the status button reads, what?
Security Status
Attention
"Fix Now"

so for the last 30 days I have to put up with a system that appears, psychologically, to be compromised... haha, that's sounds funnier than it did when I was originally writing this.

Now when I go to glance at my status, I'm at first met with what FEELS like - oh no, I'm compromised, oh, wait, no that's just norton being annoying - or is it???? wait, ok I'll open up the status window, everything looks ok and secure... sure but is it? the fact that virii out there can compromise the system and turn OFF virus software and hide the status icons means that I can't trust things to begin with, but when anything isn't all green, it means I have to spend time thinking about my security system all the time - or consequently, put it out of my mind and ignore it. Which is worse?

This is a horrible practice and I can't even fathom the idea that they aren't completely aware of what they've done. I'm sure it meant $M more in revenue from less technical folks that just want to believe that they're "safe".

Since they already lost a lawsuit where they'd STOLEN days from users who renewed before the end of an OEM subscription, I wouldn't put it past them to think this is a valid marketing technique.

Unfortuneately for them, there will be backlash from this behaviour. It undermined my faith and trust in them, and regardless of their ability to keep me relatively safe online, it makes me question if it's worth it if they are going to stoop so low.

Oh well. Dumb behaviour on their part may hurt them in the end, but I doubt it. Probably they have enough people who just don't know any better and will just renew that any of us that pay attention and are upset by this, just simply don't impact their bottom line.

Should we make a stand?