Posted: 11th Jul, 2007 By: MarkJ
UK ISP Tiscali has come in for criticism from its customers after it began redirecting mistyped URL (website) addresses to a page containing sponsored links:
The ISP started rerouting DNS errors to a page plastered with advertising yesterday. An irate customer has
started a thread on the firm's forums criticising Tiscali allowing a third party to pump ads for ringtones and dating sites.
A company rep, "
Mr Tibbs" (who we last met during Tiscali's marathon email debacle earlier this year), replied that the ads (pictured) were "
aimed at helping the customer on his/her journey rather than getting an error page."
The customer writes: "
I urge you to withdraw the service. Meanwhile, enjoy the bad publicity, and enjoy running a business based on a pathetic, seedy business model that was proven not to work back in the 1990s." In response, Mr Tibbs, says the "
service" will be opt-out, but does not provide details.
The Register notes that hijacking error pages is in contravention of Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standards, though sadly it does happen. We highly recommend using the increasingly wonderful
OpenDNS as a temporary solution.