Below-the-board marketing tactics

I hate it when a box pops up on my computer screen that won't let me get do anything (like get rid of it) other than do what it tells me to do. Remember when Microsoft first introduced that incredibly annoying dancing paper clip? I wanted to buy a gun and shoot the thing.

It's the not-being-given-a-choice that drives me crazy. I wrote a rant about this on BlogforBusiness this morning, and I asked local software vendor Andrew Holland (EYEMG) what he thought and he's at least as, if not more PO'd than I am. Says it's one way vendors dupe us into spending more than we need to..

After reading what Andrew says, how do you feel about this sort of dishonest marketing trick?