the latest idiocy from Cablevision

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Ritholtz Capital <ritholtzcapital () optonline net>
Date: January 17, 2009 4:05:17 PM EST
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: the latest idiocy from Cablevision

Hey Dave,

For IP

Back in September, my internet provider (Cablevision) implemented a  
system wide DNS redirect. Typos or bad addresses took you to an  
Optimum OnLine by Cable Vision: DNS Redirect.  It was apparently their  
attempt to capture (steal, really)  some search advertising revenue.   
(I posted on it here: http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/09/cablevision-dns-redirect-nonsense/)

It wasn't the typos that were so bothersome, but rather, the way it  
defeated simple Firefox URLS. For the Wall Street Journal or the New  
York Times, I ordinarily need only type 3 letter (WSJ or NYT). No "dot  
com" necessary.  Now, I get hijacked to the Optimum On-Line search  
assistance page.

If you hunt a bit, you can find an "About this Page" button that  
eventually leads you to an opt out selection.  I had done that in  
September, and -- apparently -- Cable-vision and I have very different  
definitions of what "Opting-out" means, because this morning, the  
redirect was back (I opted out AGAIN, and within moments, the  
redirects stopped.

Dave, are there any agencies  (state or FCC) to complain about this  
to? Other than canceling Cablevision, are there any other options to ?








Barry L. Ritholtz
Fusion IQ
535 Fifth Avenue, Suite 612
New York, NY 10017
212-661-2022
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Big Picture: Macro perspectives on the Capital Markets, Economy,  
and Geopolitics
http://www.ritholtz.com/







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