Buyers Beware - Belkin

Belkin have added a firmware "feature" to their routers, that redirects
HTTP requests every few hours to THEIR website, and shows adverts for
their products as a popup on your PC.

I urge anyone considering buying a Belkin product (not just their
affected routers) to vote with their wallets and shop elsewhere.

We really need to make a stand against these companies and their
marketing departments who treat punters like gormless sheep who accept
anything they feed us...

You can read the story at the link below, and decide for yourself if you
think they are taking the piss. Personally, I am not passing any money
their way (not that I did anyway).

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/69/33858.html

If we don't fight, we are accepting this, and sending the message to
other companies that this is acceptable....

"Zapp Brannigan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:uPlsb.3321$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Belkin have added a firmware "feature" to their routers, that redirects
> HTTP requests every few hours to THEIR website, and shows adverts for
> their products as a popup on your PC.

Belkin have already announced plans to release new firmware which removes
this "feature".

Regards
Sunil

On Wed, 12 Nov 2003 08:03:43 +0000, Zapp Brannigan
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>You can read the story at the link below, and decide for yourself if you
>think they are taking the piss. Personally, I am not passing any money
>their way (not that I did anyway).
>
>http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/69/33858.html
>
>If we don't fight, we are accepting this, and sending the message to
>other companies that this is acceptable....

However the current status of this issue is here:-
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/33918.html

Which includes:-

"In an announcement on its home page, Belkin said: "In response to a
recent Usenet group posting stating that Belkin spams its customers
through its routers, Belkin Corporation apologizes for the concern
this has caused and is taking action to address the issue.

"To allay customers’ worries, Belkin will offer a firmware upgrade
that will be available via download from its website (www.belkin.com)
on November 17, 2003. This upgrade will rid the redirect completely so
that no additional browser windows will appear during the router’s
installation process. Questions can be directed to our dedicated
networking customer support line at 877-736-5771 or e-mailed to
(E-Mail Removed)," it added.

While we might question Belkin's initial thinking, the company
deserves credit for backing down gracefully in the face of widespread
public criticism."

--
Hiram Hackenbacker

x-no-archive: yes

scene at belkin hq-

'damn, they busted us!'

"Zapp Brannigan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:uPlsb.3321$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Belkin have added a firmware "feature" to their routers, that redirects
> HTTP requests every few hours to THEIR website, and shows adverts for
> their products as a popup on your PC.

<snip>

You forgot to mention that you can disable the reminder feature, or say "No
thanks" and it won't do it again.

Yes, its a little bad they did it, but its not much different to being taken
to a website once you've installed some software and given the option of
"No, I don't want this to happen again".

D

In article <bot7u6$slk$(E-Mail Removed)>,
David Hearn <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Yes, its a little bad they did it, but its not much different to being taken
>to a website once you've installed some software and given the option of
>"No, I don't want this to happen again".

How would you feel about a phone that sometimes called an advertising
number instead of the number you called?

-- Richard

--
Spam filter: to mail me from a .com/.net site, put my surname in the headers.

FreeBSD rules!

"Richard Tobin" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:bot706$121b$(E-Mail Removed)...
> In article <bot7u6$slk$(E-Mail Removed)>,
> David Hearn <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> >Yes, its a little bad they did it, but its not much different to being
taken
> >to a website once you've installed some software and given the option of
> >"No, I don't want this to happen again".
>
> How would you feel about a phone that sometimes called an advertising
> number instead of the number you called?

If it was a "freephone" number and I had the option, when installing the
phone, of saying "no" then why would it be a problem?

Gareth.

Zapp Brannigan wrote:
> Belkin have added a firmware "feature" to their routers, that
> redirects HTTP requests every few hours to THEIR website, and shows
> adverts for their products as a popup on your PC.

Nothing but nothing pops up on my PC anymore, the Google toolbar is most
effective.

"Sunil Sood" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>
>"Zapp Brannigan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:uPlsb.3321$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Belkin have added a firmware "feature" to their routers, that redirects
>> HTTP requests every few hours to THEIR website, and shows adverts for
>> their products as a popup on your PC.
>
>Belkin have already announced plans to release new firmware which removes
>this "feature".

Shame they didn't annouce they sacked the marketing twat responsible for
this great idea.

nospam wrote:
> "Sunil Sood" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>
>> "Zapp Brannigan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:uPlsb.3321$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> Belkin have added a firmware "feature" to their routers, that
>>> redirects HTTP requests every few hours to THEIR website, and shows
>>> adverts for their products as a popup on your PC.
>>
>> Belkin have already announced plans to release new firmware which
>> removes this "feature".
>
> Shame they didn't annouce they sacked the marketing twat responsible
> for this great idea.

It is actually a reasonable idea poorly implemented IMHO. A good deal of the
protest is ill informed bandwagon jumping.