Free Virgin Net appliances don't pay off

The 10,000 Web users who agreed to let Virgin Entertainment track their every click in return for a free Web-surfing device and three years of cheap, unlimited service will be facing a blank screen next week.

Internet Appliance Network, the closely held Boxborough, Mass., concern that provided the Web appliances and Internet service for Virgin, is abandoning the direct-to-customer portion of its business, leaving Virgin users without an Internet connection as of next Wednesday, only six months after the program began. Full story -- Wall Street Journal