Belkingate - as new evidence turns up, the company keeps mum

We found out yesterday that there is something amiss with the ratings that Belkin products have been receiving on Amazon -- and while the company's president pleads ignorance, more evidence of wrongdoing continues to mount. According to The Daily Background, Amazon accounts with names like B. Ekim (whose nickname is listed as "mikebayard," same as the name of the employee that seems to have started this whole mess) exist with little to tie them to reality, aside from the fact that they enthusiastically rated Belkin products on sites like Amazon and PriceGrabber. When we asked a representative of the company point-blank whether or not anyone at Belkin has been offering money for positive reviews, we received this evasive reply:

Thanks for your email. We are still investigating the situation, and we hope to have a follow-up statement that will answer these questions later this week.

To be entirely honest, we don't know what's worse -- that someone would outsource fraudulent five star ratings for his company, or the fact that the alleged fraud was so painfully obvious. Looking back, it does seem suspicious that so many people were so psyched about TuneCast.