In reply to Carlos.

The theme hasn't been hacked. It is a deliberate cynical attempt at grabbing cash, and exerting control over the user's site admin.

From the initial data grab upon activating the theme, to the bait-and-switch banner and button in the admin which promises help with configuring and setup of the theme, but only serves to try and sell premium upgrades (there are no setup instructions whatsoever), and the external embedded content and payment forms directly in the user's site without any prior notification, this has the stink of being grubby, desperate and insecure. I say insecure as in both from a security standpoint and from the insecurity of the theme's authors.

The theme also contains functionality that fetches content from an external .xml file. This is explicitly not allowed in the .org theme requirements, and the theme authors would know this all too well.

What really made me concerned was when I went to activate another theme, only to be presented with a popup asking for information about why I was activating another theme. It is not immediately clear what data is being sent and where, and my main concern is that a new WordPress user may think this is normal behaviour and not question it, possibly assuming it to be an official part of WordPress.

To be clear, I have absolutely nothing against making money, but to attempt it using such dubious tactics is just not on. It is simply not needed. There are plenty of ways of making money that don't leave such a sour taste as what is being attempted here.

There is also an issue that was present in the initial version which I didn't notice. The wording of the theme name in the footer makes it appear as though the theme and it's creator has copyright of the user's site. Yes this can edited with template editing in block themes, but it should not appear like this even in the initial state. It's prefectly okay to mention the theme name in the footer but the theme should never give the impression that it is the copyright holder of the user's site.

Normally I would not have made any comment about this, and would have just made a mental note not to use this theme or recommend it to anyone, but I had previously publicly praised an earlier version of this theme in another comment here in the Tavern, so felt it only right to say something.