On Sat, 14 Oct 1995, Dr. Frederick B. Cohen wrote:
The idea that Netscape (like Microsoft) thinks they can get free testing services from all over the net by real experts just by offerring a tee shirt is down right offensive.
THE NETSCAPE BUGS BOUNTY (major snip) And if the security bug you find is severe as defined by Netscape, and hasn't been previously found, and can be reproduced by us, we'll write you a check for $1000. "Previously Found" means that either an internal tester or someone else who doesn't work for Netscape has already reported a bug that causes the same defect. That's a bit more than just a t-shirt. Since they're being open about bug finding, it would be reasonable and helpful for them to publish all discovered bugs to prevent duplication and give people a forum for concentrating efforts. As for the t-shirts, it'd real nice at job interviews to show up with personalized "(insert your name here) cracked netscape, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt" signed with netscape's pgp key (and verifiable at their soon to appear (hint, hint) "Bug tester's Hall of Fame"). Looks nice on CV's too.