For those of you not in the know, NTP servers are a convenient way of keeping time. Your operating system or device can be configured via an NTP client to go and query one, then establish the correct time for your machine based on the response. Most people use a pool of ntp servers which spreads the requests over a large number of machines operated for the public good, lessening the impact on any one donor.
D-Link has hard-wired their devices to query a small number of NTP servers in a somewhat excessive manner and is being brought to task by the NTP server operators. D-Link has so far refused to reimburse the operators for their trouble, with the bill at one Dutch service running up to an estimated 8,800$ (or maybe Euros).
That hardly seems like a fair burden to lump on someone running a service for the public good because of poor software design.
