Helio charging Ocean users for free content.
Posted by Greg Kumparak on June 21st, 2007 at 02:40 AM
Update: Helio listened.
Hey - We made the front page of Digg. Digg This.
As of sometime last night, visiting Youtube Mobile prompts you to subscribe to a new package: “Video Virus”. 6 dollars a month.
Wait a second - m.youtube.com is a free service. We’ve been able to access it for a few days. Heck, you can still view it on pretty much any browser.
More after the depressing jump.
With that, Helio is now picking and choosing what you can access on the internet on your “Unlimited” plan. Check out Helio’s own service outline, visible here.
They forgot to add “Except Youtube Mobile (and any other site we see fit in the future.)” after that first line. Ignoring the fact that the “web” here is defined as anything they can stuff down Google Mobilizer, and the fact that other sites (i.e Facebook Mobile Update: As of just a few minutes ago, Facebook mobile now works. Compensation, or just a coincidence?) suspiciously refuse to load - now they’re charging for something that we know is free, and works with our devices.
It’s quite obvious why the change happened: With the launch of Youtube Mobile, there was little to no reason for anyone to subscribe to their “TV Set” program. This program cost a few bucks a month and provided users with short clips of TV shows. Someone else is offering a similar service for free when you’ve been charging for it - What are you to do? Charge for access to the other guy’s service, of course!
Up until this point, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Helio’s services, as have most people I’ve talked to. Sure, it had its quirks. A few bugs here and there, almost zero response of any sort from the company save one in-touch representative - but overall, they’ve made us happy. Happy enough to start this site and community.
However - this is just disgusting. I sincerely hope this was a mistake by someone who was a bit too jumpy with a plan that slipped into the “Do this next!” pile rather than the trash bin. Hopefully it miraculously undoes it self by the time you read this post. If not, we’ll be looking for the fire escape sooner than later.
Annoyed as we are? Let Helio know at: talk@helio.com. We did (Link to Letter). Done it? Still wanna rant? Come talk about it in our forums.
Note: As noted around the internet, there is an unofficial workaround. Helio is just standing at the front door trying to get a cover charge. Type in http://m.youtube.com/?blah (or pretty much anything after that ?), and you should be able to access Youtube Mobile. In other words: as long as you don’t go to the main page (which most people would), they haven’t blocked it (yet?). Hopefully this was intentional - we’re still waiting for any sort of word from Helio.
June 21st, 2007 at 5:51 am
Ugh! I REALLY wanted to get a helio Ocean partly because of mobile youtube but this is just messed up. Charging for usage of another service that’s free? What the hell man? We should digg this
June 21st, 2007 at 6:01 am
Everyone ready to send emails to Helio? Do it now.
June 21st, 2007 at 7:24 am
B.S. I’ve been planning in getting the ocean when my contract finishes up in July, but I am growing increasingly worried that they think they have a finished product out there. No MS Exchange? A shitty browser (compared to Opera Mini)? No Gmail push? Everyone keeps saying (hoping) this will be fixed in a release, but I haven’t seen one yet. And now this. Bad Form Helio.
June 21st, 2007 at 8:28 am
They cannot block u from visiting there site. they only redirect u to the subcribe button so the data will not be so much for them to pay out to sprint. you can bypass paying them by typing in this.
http://m.youtube.com/?warned=yes
June 21st, 2007 at 8:35 am
The solution is simple. Contact YouTube and inform them of a Copyright infringement. Unless YouTube agreed to Helio charging for access to their website, Helio is infringing on their copyright by charging for access to their content.
June 21st, 2007 at 9:18 am
yes seriously guys…. send them billions of hate mails… I was enjoying youtube
June 21st, 2007 at 9:37 am
I just sent an angry email to helio. Great timing. I think there’s this phone coming out on the 29th that let’s you access the web. I mean, really “access” the web. Not “access” just parts of it that helio let’s you access for free. Instead of my 6 bucks, they may just collect my early termination fee.
June 21st, 2007 at 10:03 am
This certanly doesn’t make Helio look good when it needs it the most. I’ve been a proud owner of an Ocean since it came out; but this $6 dollars for YouTube isn’t going to do them any good.
Let’s hope it really was a mistake, I like my Ocean very much!
June 21st, 2007 at 10:05 am
I was enjoying the ability to watch the videos, and can’t wait until more of them are converted for mobile viewing, but charging for the access to a free service is ridiculous.
My emails have already been sent to Helio and YouTube.
June 21st, 2007 at 10:50 am
the m.youtube.com/?warned=yes works. thanks i’ll be curious to hear the what and why for of this blunder…
June 21st, 2007 at 12:44 pm
This is really troubleing
I don’t want to have to check with helio everytime a new service like this goes online
I am glad that the link worked to get around this but if helio wanted to push this on us they could …i just hope they reconsider or there might not be much of a service left for those of us that stay with helio after its all said and done
June 21st, 2007 at 1:33 pm
WTF!!??? is up with Helio! I mean they haven’t fixed any bugs and now they want to charge us for Youtube? BS man…the direction they are going is for an early termination of my contract!
June 21st, 2007 at 3:04 pm
They didn’t build a wall but they built a toll booth with a six dollar fee. They were really going somewhere with their previous ideology. Helio used to be the one Mobile Service that stood out from all the other companies. But now they are becoming the other companies such as Sprint or Verizon.
June 21st, 2007 at 5:53 pm
The solution is simple. Contact YouTube and inform them of a Copyright infringement. Unless YouTube agreed to Helio charging for access to their website, Helio is infringing on their copyright by charging for access to their content.
http://www.ebooksbay.org
June 21st, 2007 at 6:00 pm
I think this falls under the material change in contract that allows you to cancel without an early termination fee. Check out consumerist.com. They have a lot of info on mobile providers.
June 21st, 2007 at 6:40 pm
I called helio this morning when I tried to go to youtube and got that screen. At first they were saying that the Virus Video was for the devices other than the Ocean that do not have a html web browser. After explaining that youtube mobile is free and how can they charge for it, the customer service rep told me she would follow up and get me back to me. She did get back to me, that was good, but she told me that the reason for the $6 charge is because youtube charges helio a license fee for the mobile site, I thought this was BS right after it came out of the reps mouth. Also I was offered a $50 credit to apply toward Virus Video, I did not take it. I got off the phone because I know that I would not be able to change anything there. So I researched and I was able to get someone on the phone from youtube and they sent an internal email on my behalf to the appropiate department. I have gotten an email back indicating that youtube is looking in to this. Hopefully it will go all the way to helio and youtube will call them out about this licensing fee BS. I am not a lawyer but I think I am going to talk to one about this matter.
June 21st, 2007 at 7:28 pm
as a helio rep, I’m appalled at the actions this company has been taking as of late. Helio seems to want to go belly up. Well this is one rep thats fed up and is calling it quits in a week, which is a shame since I’m the top rep in the chicago market. As Syed mentioned earlier.. Helio is becoming like verizon and thats a very very bad thing.
June 21st, 2007 at 7:45 pm
Earthlink, the owner of Helio, is a joke. Helio has been sucking money from Earthlink for at least 2 quarters now. This is not surprising in the LEAST.
June 21st, 2007 at 8:05 pm
CS Rep that activated my line today took about an hour in doing so…and he couldnt figure out how to port my old # =/
Class action suit anyone?
June 21st, 2007 at 11:47 pm
This is just wrong!! I’m already hooked on watching YouTube from my ocean!!! If the workaround stops working i dont think I could handle the withdrawls… I’d have to pay!… That’s BS!
June 22nd, 2007 at 3:33 am
I was just thinking of getting the ocean because unlimited internet and 500 minutes for 65 bucks a month is way better than my current cingular contract…. but now I am thinking twice…. the internet is a public service and should be free to all like getting a public library card…
I want to keep my 6 bucks
June 22nd, 2007 at 5:03 am
I just got a response from youtube about the licensing fee:
Hi there,
Thanks for your email! YouTube is a free to access and free to use site.
The issue which you have stated will have to be sorted out by you with the
cell phone ISP provider.
Thank you for your interest in our site and hope you will have fun using
the site.
Hope this helps,
Malyaban
June 22nd, 2007 at 5:26 am
More developments, I just got off the phone with Helio. I called in and explained that I was told that the $6 Virus Video fee was due to a licensing fee that youtube charges. I then explained that I have an email from youtube that indicates that they do not charge any fees for their sites (email posted above). The rep stepped away for a minute to ask about this and now they are claiming that, “due to FCC regulations about the amount of data that is being streamed over the airwaves is the reason for the subscription fee.” I asked for the FCC regulation number and was told that I would have to contact the corporate office (via online email form: http://www.helio.com/page?p=support_contact) and they would be able to give me the FCC regulation number.
I am going to try that email form, but I don’t think I will get a response. I am going to try and contact the FCC next. I think that this is all BS because if I create a web server and put *.3g2 videos on it and people access it and helio does not know about it then they would not do anything. I think that they all of a sudden saw that everyone has an all data plan and that they are going to stream the videos and that Sprint (who is the backbone to the network) is going to charge them money for this and they are trying to recoup their losses by charging us $6 a month. Also does anyone know what else you get with the Virus Video subscription other than youtube mobile?
June 22nd, 2007 at 6:51 am
[...] Apparently Helio charges $6 to access to YouTube But with this method described above you can get away with [...]
June 22nd, 2007 at 9:56 am
If you just go to http://www.bbb.org , you can get helio’s coporate offices number.
June 22nd, 2007 at 11:26 am
The email from Helocity to Helio looks great! I hope something productive comes out of our persistence. Strength in numbers, you know.
June 22nd, 2007 at 1:37 pm
I wrote my own letter to them off of the template of Heliocity. Thanks for putting the letter up. I would encourage EVERYONE to write a protest letter to let them know how upset everyone is.
Don’t hold back. Give em hell. It’s the only way this will get through. This is totally rotten!~
June 22nd, 2007 at 2:25 pm
*Update*
I called the main phone line on the BBB page:
Primary Phone: (310) 445-7000
This is Helio’s Corporate Office. I called and ask to talk to someone and they put me through to customer service instantly.
Once in customer service I asked to talk to someone concerning the packages. They said that since Drift and Heat did not cover the internet that they created the subscription to allow them access.
I then stated that since I have full access to the internet by contract why would I have to pay six dollars extra to access certain sites on the net if that is already included in the premium price I pay.
Silence. No answer. Finally came the ‘I don’t know, I’m just a customer service representative.’
I said:
‘Listen, I knwo you can’t really do anything but who do I need to talk to about this to find out what’s going on?’
He replied:
‘You can call corporate offices in Florida and talk to the CEO.’
Me:
‘I have to talk to the CEO? There’s no one else to call about this?’
Him:
‘I dunno. I’ just sitting here…’ (verbatim what he said)
Me:
‘I know you can’t do anything about this personally so please the least you can do is take this information forward and inform someone- anyone about how bad this is.’
Him:
‘Yeah, it’s a really bad practice.’
So there you have it. No answers at all (as expected) but at least I tried to be heard. I would encourage anyone to call and ask for the CEO or whoever they can get on the phone to find out why this is happening.
June 22nd, 2007 at 7:09 pm
the “m.youtube.com/?warned=yes” isn’t working for mine!!! I love my ocean…now i’m really looking else where for service..I really hoped helio was going the route of being the super hero company to change things around, the other services out there suck! DAMMIT!
June 23rd, 2007 at 2:16 pm
[...] Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments [...]
June 23rd, 2007 at 2:21 pm
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June 23rd, 2007 at 2:25 pm
[...] Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments [...]
June 23rd, 2007 at 2:55 pm
[...] Follow the link for a workaround that appears to be working for some folks.[Thanks, Jacob C.] Read | Permalink | Email [...]
June 23rd, 2007 at 2:57 pm
[...] Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments [...]
June 23rd, 2007 at 6:36 pm
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June 24th, 2007 at 9:54 am
looks like they just lost a future subscriber. Forget helio, I’m sticking with T-mobile and buy one of those Nokia Internet Tablets straight from Nokia.
June 24th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
thaty link is workin out great. thanks. remember i think ur gonna have im the link to ur self. i did it with yahoo and the link got me to youtube without a problem. now i’m checking out videos. but yea i agree Helio is on some bull man. >:(
June 25th, 2007 at 7:24 am
[...] Fresh off an exclusive with Verizon Wireles, YouTube has recently announced not only a mobile version but also the special iPhone app. It seems just about everyone that can get web access would be able to freely enjoy some funny videos, except maybe for Helio customers. A normally media friendly phone service has decided to charge their customers for access to YouTube. Later this year they will begin to offer a premium service called “Video Virus” for $5.99 a month and will include access to YouTube, eBaum’s World and some others. The new service will also include some extra perks such as 2-click uploads to YouTube. Just in case you are a Helio customer and need to get that mobile YouTube fix, here is a workaround. [...]
June 25th, 2007 at 11:04 am
This is what the borg sent back when I complained…
“Thank you for contacting Helio. I apologize for the difficulty you seem to be experiencing
regarding accessing YouTube on your device. While Youtube is a free online service,
it delivered as part of a premium video content package called the Video Virus which
contains other programs like Atomic Wedgie, eBaums World and DMGI. Viewing Youtube
requires subscription to the Video Virus.”
June 27th, 2007 at 10:17 am
“it is delivered as part of a premium video content package called the Video Virus”
= song and dance.
IT’S NOT DELIVERED- IT’S THE FREE INTERNET, HELIO. I CAN ALREADY GO THERE ON MY PHONE. WHY ARE YOU BLOCKING THE MAIN PAGE?
If you want to make a gateway advertising your content and selling- fine, I don’t care. But blocking a free site on the internet is WRONG and goes AGAINST the marketing that SELLS Helio phones, the contracts, etc.
THIS IS FALSE ADVERTISING.
June 27th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
hey everyone i am upset to here this as well. i was planning to get an ocean when my contract expires in the next few months now im second guessing it… so out of curiosity i went to helios site and went to terms and conditions. check out chapter 10 of the terms and conditions.
June 28th, 2007 at 4:59 am
OK, here’s the extended response I just got - I imagine it’s the official Helio stance…
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts on our premium video service “Video Virus” and the subscription charges for accessing You Tube content through Video Virus
As you may be able to imagine, streaming content from sites such as YouTube and eBaums World requires a huge amount of bandwidth to create a great delivery experience. While we do our best to offer truly unlimited access, there are some sites that, by design, make it difficult to do so while maintaining a great delivery experience.
Helio’s vision is to find innovative ways to deliver html content and maintain a great user experience. As technology has improved, we’ve been able to deliver a great user experience only available previously from a PC through Premium Video services such as “The T.V. Set” and “Video Virus.” With achieving delivery of this content with a great user experience comes additional cost. Rather than increase service plan costs to bring this video service to all members, whether they desire it or not, we offer it as a premium service for those who elect to view it.
We think Video Virus is a great deal for members. They get access to thousands of videos on YouTube along with some of the best viral videos on the web from sites like eBaum’s World and Atomic Wedgie all streamed over our 3G network. Helio worked directly with YouTube to ensure compatibility of this service with Helio handsets and we will continue to work together to improve the experience. We also still offer a considerable amount of video content for free for members who don’t wish to pay for premium video content.
In addition, we will soon be announcing that we are collaborating with YouTube to develop a downloadable YouTube application, which we are confident will deliver the best mobile YouTube experience possible. Although this is still a few months away, this will be made available as part of the Video Virus package at no additional cost to all Ocean users.
We understand your disappointment with having to pay additional charges for access to this content and will take your comments into consideration when making future decisions regarding additional services.
I hope we answered your question. If we didn’t answer your question or if you have additional questions, please send us another e-mail at the address below.
Helio Member Care
Membercare@helio.com
June 28th, 2007 at 8:53 am
I like you all am concerned about this recent decision by Helio. I thought about it and realized that only a handful of people actually care about how this decision affects the business. One of these people is Sky Dayton the CEO of Earthlink and Helio. So i sent him an email asking him about it. If i get any response at all i’ll let you guys know.
P.S. lets hope this gets fixed, i really like the direction helio was headed in.
June 29th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Imran, I receieved the same email.
July 1st, 2007 at 1:13 am
[...] few days ago, we mentioned that Helio had began charging for access to (the otherwise free) Mobile Youtube with their “Video Virus” package option. The package was an additional 7 dollars on top [...]
July 4th, 2007 at 10:14 pm
no more charges. Youtube is freee once again! we don’t need to use the /?=whatever hack anymore. helio finally came to their senses again.
July 5th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
thats good…..because helio wants to still be heading in the right direction…
July 9th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
awesome! this adds fuel to the fire, my idea that helio is the up and coming rebel cell provider is looking better and better! and now i have some real jaw flapping to do with friends to sway their opinion and get more people on helio. the more people that move over, the more features they can include in their services. it’s an upward spiral if they keep this up! jagermonsta@adelphia.net
July 23rd, 2007 at 12:20 pm
so its free, for real for real?
August 24th, 2007 at 5:53 am
Does anyone know what the physical mailing address for Helio’s corporate office is?. I am pissed as hell because they have done some shady shit regarding my account.My account was automatically put on auto-pay without my knowledge. money was then deducted from my bank account for a bill that had already been paid and I have had to fight tooth and nail for them to refund me my money. This past week I have spoken with over 8 people who claim that they can help me resolve this problem. Before this, I had raved about Helio and the service it provides, I never had a problem until now. People, please go back and check your Helio account infomation and see if you are on auto-pay. They do not state on the website that if you buy your phone from the site with your credit card and the card info stays on there that they will put your account on auto-pay without your knowledge or consent. We as consumers have the right to know every nook and cranny about the billing process and how we are being treated is ABSOLUTELY UNEXCEPTABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 26th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
Yolanda:
When you sign up with Helio, if you read the agreements, which obviously you didn’t, it states that auto-pay is automatically turned on
September 21st, 2007 at 2:33 am
[...] This community, barely 6 months old, has already amassed a list of outstanding accomplishments We rallied together and had our voices heard. We put our brains together and brought homebrew to Helio devices. [...]
December 10th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
wow..i must say im only reading all of this now because im considering the ocean…and just…way to freaking go…i wasnt going to get the phone than i got to the bottom of the page…maybe helio will try to be that company if they know how loyal we all can be if were not F***ed with
congrats all!!
July 10th, 2008 at 11:17 am
I had the Helio Ocean for a few weeks and I have to say there are a lot of things about hte Helio Phone, Network and Business model. Closed software ont he phone makes it so that all of the development is dependent on Helio’s willingness to develop content.
After having the phone for a few weeks and finding ways to hack it for free tethering and other features i found it just was not work the work or effort to be able to use the phone the way the manufacturer intended. While Verizon has similar proprietary software that charges for content that would normally be free. YouTube is not the only thing that concerns me… for example $0.99 for an entire song how ever you have to pay an additional $1.99 for a 30 second clip of that same song to use as a ringtone.
It is up to the users to educate them selves to avoid being continually raped by these over priced telco’s. These same bastards who wil lturn around and sell you out to any government agency or advertising monster that pays for it. Soon they will be charging every time you call in to complain about bad service.
I was able to get out of my Helio contract by citing Illinois Law on Contracts and rather than goto court wit me Helio decided it was cheaper to let me out of my commitment. (Cost $15.00 in ocurt costs versus $175.00 cancellation fee). I urge everyone to keep this in mind as most cell providers are in breach of their terms at least once during the contract giving you grounds to terminate as the consumer under breach of contract. — If you are obligat4ed to pay for breaching the contract they should have some liability as well.
I am anticipating the release of the New Android from google. This phone promises to have an open platform allowing the community to develop USEFUL and FREE applications from day one. FOSS standards for the phone are the main reason EVDO/CDMA/TDMA services will most likely not pick up these phones for their network.
I have found that T-Mobile has by far the best support for devices NOT intended for their network. The down side is GPRS is terribly slow so you will need to get a phone with WIFI capability if you are a serious mobile internet user.
However until the android is available i have been very content with the Apple iPhone. I was never an Apple person int he past but i must say this is a superior piece of technology. Aside from the bells and whistles of touch this and touch that… the iPhone is a darwin based mobile linux computer and all that it entails. I have so far installed a proxy server to use the phone as a tethered modem for my laptop to do REAL web surfing and for a time I was getting high speeds for free until T-Mobile found out i was exploiting an open port on their network (now i pay 19.99 for internet). - thats right im not on AT&T.
Community sources make it possible to do things the iPhone was never originally designed ot do therefore making it extremely versatile and flexible. Video ringtones custom themes and a Terminal Console to connect via SSH or to manual type in commands like a Linux Console on your PC. With so many sources SDKs and librarys already available, developing a program to work on the iPhone is easier and more seemless than ever.
Considering the closed platform of the iPhone and the availibility of software I am excited to see what the Android will do on an Open platform.
all in all Helio has a great deal if you are just using the Phone and the Phones they have are very nice However if you want flexability and not be hosed on charges because the telcos are too stupid to reinvest profits to build their infrastructure… Stay away from closed networks like Sprint/Helio/Virgin and Verizon. If you truly need reliable high speed data get AT&T if you want exceptional pricing and Customer Service go with T-Mobile. (however if you dont have those as options and you dont mind the high price in Canada Rogers Comm. is suppose to be a reliable but expensive network.)
THANKS!