Well, this piece is actually about blogging and web publishing in general. I just needed to get the word "dog" in the title somewhere, as these headlines get syndicated to several online news outlets and pet websites.

If you've been wondering where I've been the past several days, I've been spending a lot of time discussing the future of the web publishing business. Several of my friends and colleagues have been talking on the phone, trading e-mails, chatting, about problems we face in this market, and developing ideas to get ahead. It was a discussion that snowballed and grew into a big affair.

As a result, this June I'll be heading to Nashville, TN to meet with other bloggers and web publishers to hash out the same discussion in person, and come up with a concensus on how to move forward.

I'm sure many of you have heard about "spyware". It's been the buzz word on the Internet for quite some time, and it seems to be getting discussed more and more.

The problem is that the word "spyware" is being used to describe so many things now. The real definition of spyware, is a computer program that spoofs the built-in security features on your browser, runs on your computer without your knowledge, reports personally identifying information, and studies your browsing habits.

But spyware is also being used to describe "cookies". It's also being used to describe "adware".

At stake is a very large piece of business in the form of anti-spyware software. Companies like Symantec, Lavasoft, Network Associates, et al, all produce software that claim to scan your computer for spyware, and removes them. It's the hottest business in software today. Even Microsoft entered the fray with a beta version of its own entry.

In order for these companies to sell more anti-spyware software, they have to make you worried about your privacy. The more worried you become, the more likely you will purchase their product. Hence, they tell you that cookies are a threat to your privacy and security, and tell you several horror stories.

And that's the problem web publishers and e-commerce companies are facing.

Cookies are not spyware. First, they are not computer programs. They don't run on your computer, and they don't monitor your browsing activity.

Some people think that cookies are like parasites; if you have them, then your computer is "infected", and that soon you will be deluged with telemarketers and junk mail. Not true.

Cookies are primarily used to reimburse web publishers for advertising. That's why it's important to me, I'm a web publisher.

In addition to DoggieNews.com, I publish several other websites. They attract lots of people, and each one attracts people with a specific interest. Those websites have advertisements on them, that match the same interests. When people click those ads, cookies get placed on their computers, identifying my website as the "referrer".

If anyone ends up buying something from the advertiser, whether immediately, or months later, the advertiser will check to see if it has a cookie on that person's computer. If it finds one, it checks to see which website originally referred that customer. That website gets credited with the sale.

But now, anti-spyware companies are trying to make people believe that cookies are equivalent to "spyware". And that you need to buy their sofware so that you can remove cookies. Ironically, many of these anti-spyware companies advertise their software on other websites, and use cookies themselves to track sales and referrals!

These companies will have you believe that cookies are being used to track your Internet activities. But that's really stretching the truth. Businesses that use cookies, only want to know what website referred you to them, whether one minute ago, or one year ago, so that can they give proper credit. They really don't care where you've been the past month, or what you've been doing.

I wanted to explain this to all of you, to help diffuse the paranoia the anti-spyware companies are spreading around.

Internet Explorer, by default, already blocks cookies from websites that don't have a privacy policy, along with those that use personally identifying information without your consent. It's already blocking out any bad cookies that try to land on your computer. If there is anything to concerned about it's spyware. Cookies, however, are not spyware.