Phew! Take a few hours off to do domestics and look what happens...
I'd love to see Phorm get its backside kicked up to its neck from as many angles as possible. I'd love to see BT get dragged through the courts and crucified (yes, there is a degree of maliciousness there but I've already briefly mentioned why and nothing will change that - karma will repay BT for what it's done to me) and I'd love to see Virgin Media do what The Guardian did and reject Phorm with a really bitchslapping (can I say that mod?) statement. Then for the investigatory powers to tell Phorm they are illegal under RIPA.
The only way things like that are going to happen is if we keep on target with the facts and the issues. If things get personal we don't help ourselves. Keep it professional, respectful and on target. The most successful backside kicking I've achieved has come not when I've gone nuclear but when I've kept it professional. There's a lesson there. Annoying when there are people out there who deserve nothing less than a darn good kicking but the result is more important.
I'd like to thank Simon for coming to CF and engaging us in discussion. He didn't have to. He could have just said "See you on Tuesday" and left it at that. It's Phorm and the ISPs that should be our targets here. Yes, 80/20T have been commissioned to do a PIA. So let's input into that process rather than start slating people involved in it. If you're going to win the game you've got to play by the rules. Remember, Simon has come here with a background that's nothing like Phorm has and 80/20T has a published code of ethics to which they must surely expect to be held to account.
These little factoids about strategic companies are all very interesting but if you set your scopes too wide you pull in too much information to analyse and lose focus. We know some of the circumstances surrounding the PIA. Perhaps more will come to light on Tuesday (full Terms Of Reference would be nice). Let's read the PIA closely, highlight the areas which seem questionable and ask why those conclusions were reached when the PIA is published.
We all believe in our message. Tuesday is an opportunity to get that message across to media outlets and to push it into the PIA even more by asking the questions Phorm don't want to answer. I personally don't think the two bods phrom Phorm will be all that interested in what those opposing them have to say. When Ahmedinajad spoke at Columbia University did he listen to what the Chancellor of the University had to say? Did he take it seriously? No, he didn't. He was never going to. Same with Mugabe and Gordon Brown's demanding the Zimbabwe election results are published.
Generally I've got a short temper. A real illegitimate sort of temper, if you know what I mean. One very respected leader in his sector I was working for took me to one side and we talked for a while about work stuff. "It's how you get the message across as much as the message itself," he said. "Keeping your lid on, staying professional is always the better way, even when it's an issue you believe so passionately in, as I know you do here. I think you are right but you need to get the right message across." Of course, he could say that because he had a huge and disarming smile
Something I do not. He was also 6ft 5in tall and built like a wing forward, something I am not.
On a slightly humorous note, anyone who wants really serious personal abuse should head on over to rec.arts.drwho and say how much you love Sylvester McCoy's portrayal of The Doctor. Then sit back and watch your mailbox melt with the flames. Not a course of action I'd recommend, mind...
On another side note, has anybody thought of contacting The Sun or The News Of The World about this? They've done a good job humiliating Max Mosley, after all...
Goodnight all, see you anon.