Editor's note: WeatherBug and its CTO Christopher Sloop came under fire recently from 'Net Buzz columnist Paul McNamara, as well as readers of that column . Today we offer Sloop an opportunity to respond.

Most questions about WeatherBug involve the issues of spyware, adware, resource consumption and interaction with other applications. I will address each here.

Spyware and adware concerns: The simple truth is that WeatherBug is not spyware. No major anti-spyware vendor classifies WeatherBug as spyware.

One reason people may associate WeatherBug with spyware is a brief six-month business relationship we had with Gator more than four years ago. We moved quickly to end that relationship when it became clear Gator's business practices were not in line with ours. We deserve credit for being proactive in ending this relationship before adware and spyware became hot topics.

Another way to understand why WeatherBug is not spyware or adware is to appreciate how the application works from a technical standpoint. WeatherBug is simply a Web browser customized for smaller Web pages that fit within the application. The WeatherBug application uses an Internet Explorer COM component to display Web pages. The remaining functionality is to deliver live, local temperatures from the WeatherBug network and National Weather Service severe weather alerts to the system tray.

All calls WeatherBug makes in the background are simple HTTP requests and are for the following purposes: 1) checking for weather and forecast information; 2) checking for National Weather Service severe weather warnings; and 3) checking for application "look and feel" settings for fonts, background graphics and URL locations.

Nor is WeatherBug adware. We're not an advertising or marketing company - we're an information company. The network of 8,000 professional-grade WeatherBug Tracking Stations that make up the WeatherBug network generate live information you cannot get from any other weather source. Data from the WeatherBug network is used not only by consumers but also by TV meteorologists, energy traders, emergency managers, the federal government and schools.

My hope is that the public can move past this issue and focus on the future of WeatherBug. We are focused on providing more ways to access WeatherBug information via open formats such as RSS, podcasts and APIs.