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Asus UK PR believes it is ‘legal to buy positive reviews’

kitguru.net

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Re: Asus UK PR believes it is ‘legal to buy positive reviews’

#11

Post by jeroenhd »

necovek wrote: post #2

But it is legal. The obligation is on the reviewer to highlight they've been paid for a review, otherwise they are illegally misleading their readers. Whether that's moral is another thing.

I'm not so sure about that:

> Don’t commission third parties to write fake reviews – you may be liable for their actions

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/online-reviews-an...

With proper disclosure there may be some leeway, but I wouldn't just assume paying someone for a fake review is legal. UK advertising laws can be very strict in some cases (and rightfully so, in my opinion).

Re: Asus UK PR believes it is ‘legal to buy positive reviews’

#12

Post by mnd999 »

orra wrote: post #9
NoZebra120vClip wrote: post #3

As a corollary, then, is it legal to buy negative reviews on competing products?

That's a pertinent question.

It almost certainly (in the UK at least) would carry a high risk of a defamation claim for the people writing (or generating) them.

Re: Asus UK PR believes it is ‘legal to buy positive reviews’

#13

Post by blagie »

so-and-so wrote: post #10

Asus used to be a great company run by great engineers, but in the last couple of years their motherboards have become terrible. By far the worst of the big 4.

Who is considered good right now? Asus was my go-to brand for quality, but I haven't looked in a decade or more.

I'm glad to pay a modest premium for reliability. I'd like parts which are well-tested, use high-quality capacitors, and have basic safety features (like over-current / over-voltage protection on power supplies).

What I'd really like is a review site which steps through the engineering of things like motherboards and power supplies, tests things like short circuits on the output, and checks which passives are used and quality of things like solder joints.

Most of this stuff isn't expensive.

Re: Asus UK PR believes it is ‘legal to buy positive reviews’

#14

Post by doikor »

MrGilbert wrote: post #8

Asus is currently in a bad spot, as they released a BIOS update as Beta, which should address an issue where their boards would cause a CPU to explode. They did, however, leave the usual "this is beta, install on your own risk, this will void your warranty" disclaimer on, which currently backfires, as it seems as if Asus does not want to take responsibility. It is unknown if the statement was intentional , or just th…

There is an earlier non beta BIOS that has the voltage limit correctly applied. The beta one has a buggy AGESA version that AMD already withdrew.

(Well at least for my tuf gaming x670e-plus wifi)

Re: Asus UK PR believes it is ‘legal to buy positive reviews’

#15

Post by c0m »

bgidley wrote: post #4
necovek wrote: post #2

But it is legal. The obligation is on the reviewer to highlight they've been paid for a review, otherwise they are illegally misleading their readers. Whether that's moral is another thing.

It may not be legal depending on how it’s done - this was Asus UK and the rules are on https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/online-reviews-an... The UK Government are also in processing tightening this up…

I suspect the CSA’s new ‘rip-off tip-off’ campaign would be interested in this!

https://ripoff-tipoff.campaign.gov.uk/

Re: Asus UK PR believes it is ‘legal to buy positive reviews’

#16

Post by MrGilbert »

doikor wrote: post #14
MrGilbert wrote: post #8

Asus is currently in a bad spot, as they released a BIOS update as Beta, which should address an issue where their boards would cause a CPU to explode. They did, however, leave the usual "this is beta, install on your own risk, this will void your warranty" disclaimer on, which currently backfires, as it seems as if Asus does not want to take responsibility. It is unknown if the statement was intentional , or just th…

There is an earlier non beta BIOS that has the voltage limit correctly applied. The beta one has a buggy AGESA version that AMD already withdrew. (Well at least for my tuf gaming x670e-plus wifi)

I have been out of the hardware loop for quite a while now. The referenced Beta BIOS in the GN video (the first link) is from May 2nd, and Steve claims that the voltage is still too high, as it is the boards task to set the correct VSOC setpoint, as the EXPO profile doesn’t have one per definition.

(Only half valid knowledge, just reiterating what I saw)

Re: Asus UK PR believes it is ‘legal to buy positive reviews’

#17

Post by 2OEH8eoCRo0 »

mnd999 wrote: post #12
orra wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a pertinent question.

It almost certainly (in the UK at least) would carry a high risk of a defamation claim for the people writing (or generating) them.

Defamation means lying. You can buy negative reviews of your competition where nobody lies.

There are certainly a lot of interesting subtleties and implications here though.

Re: Asus UK PR believes it is ‘legal to buy positive reviews’

#18

Post by kiririn »

blagie wrote: post #13
so-and-so wrote: post #10

Asus used to be a great company run by great engineers, but in the last couple of years their motherboards have become terrible. By far the worst of the big 4.

Who is considered good right now? Asus was my go-to brand for quality, but I haven't looked in a decade or more. I'm glad to pay a modest premium for reliability. I'd like parts which are well-tested, use high-quality capacitors, and have basic safety features (like over-current / over-voltage protection on power supplies). What I'd really like is a review site which steps through the engineering of things like mothe…

Supermicro if you can find anywhere stocking their boards

Re: Asus UK PR believes it is ‘legal to buy positive reviews’

#19

Post by 3np »

so-and-so wrote: post #10

Asus used to be a great company run by great engineers, but in the last couple of years their motherboards have become terrible. By far the worst of the big 4.

So who's better? Shopped around for ITX system and it seemed that if I wanted half-responsible firmware updates I'd have to get a SuperMicro and they don't really have what I had in mind.
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