Belkin Responds to Customers’ Concerns Regarding Routers Belkin offers firmware upgrade to eliminate browser redirect from all its routers (Compton, CA) – November 10, 2003 – In response to a 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. Belkin acknowledges that the Parental Control sign-up window could be construed as spam and wants to reassure the public that it has never been Belkin policy to intentionally spam its customers. “In our efforts to make home networking easier and less intimidating, we unintentionally overlooked the effect that this Parental Control sign-up issue would have,” states Eric Tong, Director of Marketing & Product Management. “We never intended to compromise the trust of our customers nor has it ever been our policy to deliberately spam our customers.” The Parental Control sign-up option currently in question appears during the router installation process. When the user clicks “No” to decline the feature, the option never appears again. However, if the user clicks the “X” to close the window without answering “Yes” or “No” to the option, the sign-up will periodically continue to reappear. With the new firmware upgrade, the Parental Control sign- - More - Belkin Response – p. 2 up feature will not appear as a separate browser window. The Parental Control feature itself will not be eliminated from the Router completely; rather, the way in which the sign-up process is presented will be removed. Belkin has recently focused its efforts to create a user-friendly networking experience by offering features such as Easy-Install software, simple user manuals, and dedicated 24/7 networking technical support line. Parental Control content filtering is designed to help parents monitor what their children view on the Internet and block them from viewing objectionable websites. Belkin has been offering the Parental Control feature on its Routers since February 2003. To date, the company has sold tens of thousands of units and had not received any complaints from consumers about the browser redirect until last week. Belkin Corporation, the global leader in connectivity solutions, offers a range of innovations for the computer, electronics, and mobile consumer. With a diverse and far-reaching product mix consisting of home and enterprise networking, KVM (keyboard/video/mouse) and peripheral sharing, power protection and cabling, as well as USB and FireWire devices, Belkin extends its reach also to Bluetooth™, cellular, PDA, iPod, and other solutions for mobile computing. Belkin products are available through www.belkin.com as well as through a network of major distributors, resellers, and superstores. _______________________________________________ Politech mailing list Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/)
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