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Open Source and the Fear of Failure
,----[ Quote ]
| Yesterday I took part in an interesting event
| organised by BT called "Accelerating Enterprise
| adoption of Open Source Software" (disclaimer:
| filthy lucre was involved.) One topic that
| elicited much comment was why the public sector
| has singularly failed to deploy open source. As
| well as political issues (Tony Blair was and
| presumably still is manifestly in awe of (Sir)
| Bill Gates), there's another important issue to
| do with a fear of failure.
`----
http://opendotdotdot.blogspot.com/2009/10/open-source-and-fear-of-failure.html
For a start, they dumped the criminals of Phorm...
Recent:
Phorm shares fall as BT opts out
,----[ Quote ]
| Shares in the online ad firm Phorm have fallen by more than 40% after BT said
| it had no immediate plans to use the service that tracks online behaviour.
`----
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8135850.stm
Phorm incinerates $50m in 12 months
,----[ Quote ]
| Phorm was forced into deep cost-cutting after its controversial battle to
| monitor and profile web users burned through an average of more than $4m per
| month last year, its financial results today reveal.
|
| [....]
|
| On Tuesday the Commission in London said it had received a response from the
| government to its formal letter in April and was considering its next move.
| The government told privacy campaigners it would not make public the content
| of the response
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/18/phorm_results/
Phorm gets Â15m lifeline
,----[ Quote ]
| It'll use the cash to cover its operating costs while ISPs continue to mull
| its web monitoring and profiling system.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/10/phorm_fundraising/
Meet Phorm's PR genius
,----[ Quote ]
| Well, Phorm's public image has had a bit of bother from the European
| Commission, so it would sort of make sense.
|
| And this couldn't be the same "PR guru" Patrick Robertson who orchestrated
| the Â200,000 campaign by Tory grandees against the extradition of ex-Chilean
| dictator General Augusto Pinochet, could it?
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/30/phorm_patrick_robertson/
Using the Internet To Subvert Democracy
,----[ Quote ]
| All the recent talk about various polls and elections being pranked or
| hijacked, serious and silly alike, prompted me to write an article about the
| technical realities behind online polling, and the political fallout of ever
| becoming subject to online voting for serious elections
`----
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/28/2355257
Related:
Brits Back Away From 'Big Brother' Data Storage Plan
,----[ Quote ]
| The government said in October it was considering a central database of phone
| and Internet traffic as part of a high-tech strategy to fight terrorism and
| crime.
|
| However, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said Monday the plan had been dropped.
`----
http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/66917.html
Foolish Phorm
,----[ Quote ]
| Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. âSmear campaignâ - not much constructive
| engagement there with your critics there, is there? And what on earth
| are âprivacy piratesâ? People who steal privacy? Er, wouldn't that be Phorm?
|
| And if you have any doubt that Phorm is totally clueless about how to deal
| with the criticism it is receiving over its activities, you only have to
| notice the âGet the Factsâ button attached to the alleged instances
| of âsmearsâ: didn't they notice the blanket ridicule that was poured on
| Microsoft's similar attempt to spin?
|
| And what might those âsmearsâ be?
`----
http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=2144&blogid=14
Phorm and the Home Office: cold comfort to citizens
,----[ Quote ]
| Youâll probably have read today that leaked emails have shown that the Home
| Office worked with Phorm to offer advice that would give âcomfortâ to their
| investors. We condemn this approach to law enforcement: the Home Officeâs job
| is to uphold the law: not to reinterpret it for commercial interests.
`----
http://www.openrightsgroup.org/2009/04/28/phorm-and-the-home-office/
Home Office 'colluded with Phorm'
,----[ Quote ]
| The Home Office has been accused of colluding with online ad firm Phorm
| on "informal guidance" to the public on whether the company's service is
| legal.
|
| E-mails between the ministry and Phorm show the department asking if the firm
| would be "comforted" by its position.
|
| The messages show Phorm making changes to the guidance sought by the
| ministry.
`----
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8021661.stm
Plan to monitor all internet use
,----[ Quote ]
| Communications firms are being asked to record all internet contacts between
| people as part of a modernisation in UK police surveillance tactics.
`----
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8020039.stm
Britain in the dock over secret tracking of internet accounts
,----[ Quote ]
| Fears that Britain is slipping into a surveillance society have been
| heightened by Brussels initiating legal action after declaring that UK laws
| guaranteeing data protection were âstructurally flawedâ and well below the
| European standard.
`----
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article6097384.ece
EC starts legal action over Phorm
,----[ Quote ]
| The European Commission has started legal action against Britain over the
| online advertising technology Phorm.
|
| It follows complaints to the EC over how the behavioural advertising service
| was tested on BT's broadband network without the consent of users.
`----
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7998009.stm
EU slaps UK over Phorm fiasco
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/760/1051760/eu-slaps-uk-phorm-fiasco
Brussels to sue UK over Phorm failures
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/14/eu_phorm_formal/
EU Probes UK Over Internet Privacy
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/04/14/eu-probes-uk-over-internet-privacy
Wikimedia becomes latest to ban Phorm
,----[ Quote ]
| The Wikimedia Foundation has asked Phorm to exclude all its domains and
| websites - including Wikipedia - from Phorm's BT trials, because it considers
| such scanning to be an infringement of its users' privacy.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/17/wikimedia_phorm/
Wikimedia Foundation opting out of Phorm
http://techblog.wikimedia.org/2009/04/wikimedia-opting-out-of-phorm/
Amazon blocks Phorm adverts scan
,----[ Quote ]
| Amazon has said it will not allow online advertising system Phorm to scan its
| web pages to produce targeted ads.
`----
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7999635.stm
Phorm director advises UK.gov broadband minister
,----[ Quote ]
| The Commission yesterday began infringement proceedings against the UK over
| the lack of a regulatory response to BT and Phorm's secret trials of internet
| interception and profiling technology in 2006 and 2007. The Department for
| Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) is coordinating the
| government's response, which if unsatisfactory could lead to heavy fines from
| the European Court of Justice.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/15/kip_meek_berr/
Phorm eyes launch after hard year
,----[ Quote ]
| Online advertising firm Phorm is pressing ahead with plans to launch more
| than a year after it first drew criticism from some privacy advocates.
`----
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7988154.stm
Big websites urged to avoid Phorm
,----[ Quote ]
| Seven of the UK's biggest web firms have been urged to opt out of a
| controversial ad-serving system.
|
| Phorm - aka Webwise - profiles users' browsing habits and serves up adverts
| based on which sites they visit.
`----
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7959099.stm
Phorm CEO clashes with Berners-Lee at Parliament
,----[ Quote ]
| Berners-Lee gave a passionate explanation of why he does not believe ISPs
| should on principle be allowed to intercept and profile their customers'
| internet usage. "It is very important that when click we click without a
| thought that a third party knows what we're clicking on," he said. "I have
| come here to defend the internet as a medium."
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/11/phorm_berners_lee_westminster/
Uh oh, Google goes all Phorm on your ass
,----[ Quote ]
| Of course Phorm is not alone in the behavioral advertising space, but it has
| pretty much dominated the media coverage of the market since it started. The
| British police even got involved after British Telecom conducted secret Phorm
| trials.
|
| Now Phorm can probably breathe a sigh of relief as someone more headline
| worthy enters the 'we will track your browsing patterns and throw adverts at
| you that are the best fit' market. That someone, unfortunately, being Google.
|
| Google has kind of quietly announced, via the official blog, that it will
| be 'making ads more interesting.' I can only assume that was a display of
| irony on the part of the writer at Google, one Susan Wojcicki, VP of Product
| Management.
`----
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/23766/1054/
Phorm Phorces Which? To Retract Critical Survey, Uses Defamation Threat
,----[ Quote ]
| The retraction came in so quick, we hadnât even seen the original press
| release. Under legal pressure, consumer mag Which? on Wednesday hastily
| called back a survey it issued indicating public opposition to on-ISP
| behavioural ad targeter Phorm. Which? sent the following statementâ
|
| âUrgent withdrawal of press release from Which? - Internet users say: donât
| sell my surfing habits. Which? has received further information and
| representations from Phorm about the proposed Webwise service, and it has
| agreed to withdraw the above press release, issued under embargo on 24
| February 2008, while we consider them. Some of the information in the press
| release and related article is said to be inaccurate and as a consequence may
| be defamatory. You are strongly urged not to write an article based on the
| press release or the related article âOnline privacy mattersâ in Which?
| magazine.â
`----
http://www.paidcontent.co.uk/entry/419-phorm-phorces-which-to-retract-critical-survey-uses-defamation-threat/
More execs quit Phorm
,----[ Quote ]
| When half of Phorm's board quit earlier this month, it was spun as a strategy
| disagreement between the US and UK operations. But now the firm's
| London-based UK chief executive has quit too, along with its chief
| beancounter.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/18/phorm_departures/
Bad Phorm: UK Police give green light to Internet spying
,----[ Quote ]
| The email is quoted by El Reg and states that "it has been decided that no
| Criminal Offence has been committed" and there was a "lack of Criminal Intent
| on behalf of BT and Phorm Inc in relation to the tests."
|
| The best bit, though, is the revelation that BT customers would have given
| implied consent to being spied upon without their knowledge because the aim
| of the tests was to enhance product quality.
`----
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/20759/1054/
Police close file on BT's trials
,----[ Quote ]
| The City of London Police have said there will be no formal investigation of
| BT over its secret trials of an ad monitoring system.
`----
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7634210.stm
Phorm secretly tracked Americans too
,----[ Quote ]
| of British Telecom customers as part of its grand scheme to target online ads
| from inside the world's ISPs, it was "operating a number of public commercial
| services" on various stateside networks.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/13/phorm_us_tests/
Spy fear over e-mail check plan
,----[ Quote ]
| Plans to give local councils and other public bodies the power to monitor
| e-mail and internet traffic have been branded a "snoopers' charter".
|
| The government wants to make it mandatory for phone and internet companies to
| store all information on personal web use for 12 months.
`----
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7557963.stm
Bad Phorm: EU demands UK Government response on intrusive web ad tracking
technology
,----[ Quote ]
| Controversial behavioral advertising targeting outfit Phorm, whose Webwise ad
| technology monitors user browsing habits to serve appropriate advertising
| messages, might have dragged the UK Government into a slugfest with the
| European Union over a possible breach of strict Euro data laws...
`----
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/19884/1054/
Controversial Ad Network Caught Editing Wikipedia
,----[ Quote ]
| Phorm has been beset by controversy for years over its business model and
| quietly-run trials on British Telecom's (BT) broadband service.
`----
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/04/08/controversial-ad-network-caught-editing-wikipedia
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