I went to what Google said was the "SETI Institute" website, and found out
some things that raised a few eyebrows.

1) The news features were not all about SETI-related stories... there were
stories about one of the SETI Institute's members visiting Barrows, Alaska
("It's about as close to Mars as you get on Earth," the article headline
proclaims), a story about a woman who makes highly realistic paintings of
stars and planets for a living, and some assorted other astronomy stories.
Contrast these with the stories on the official SETI@Home website and you'll
see why this seeemed odd.

2) When investigating the "Join TeamSETI" page, trusty Mozilla Firefox
warned me that the site I was being redirected to a site that had a security
certificate registered not to www.seti.org but to www.kintera.com, which is
owned by Kintera, Inc. This is on Kintera's website.

"Kintera is dedicated to helping nonprofit organizations fulfill their
mission by providing Knowledge Interaction technology to build vibrant
communities of supporters, beneficiaries and staff. By sharing a set of
dynamic data and content, organizations can motivate and engage community
members to achieve marketing, programming and fundraising success. With
leading edge technology and innovative leadership, Kintera is committed to
making a difference in the nonprofit sector."

Also, membership in "TeamSETI" ranges anywhere from $250-$5,000, depending
on the level of membership that you want.  Why would the Search For
Exterrestrial Intelligence program offer discounts on educational materials
and "official" club cards?

I'm not saying that www.seti.org is a fraud, but it does seem suspicious.
Also, I doubt that if SETI wished to mail us about becoming paying members,
it would be mailed as bulk.

Anyone else have anything to offer/opinionate?