(Just catching up a bit)
Alexanders question about demographic targeting is a good one - though not one likely to be answered by Phorm. As a prospective OIX client it would be one of the questions at the top of my list. Many products are region specific and so is the marketing. I can see only two ways to do it, IP geolocation or send the wire-tapped exchange ID along with the rest of the "anonymous" package. Of course, depending on the size of the exchange, this begins to look remarkably like an IP address itself <ISP>.<exchange>.<user>. Take my VM address - 192.168.1.1 : 192.168(Phorm VM block) .1(Phorm exchange ID) .1(Phorm user id). This option seems just a short hop from having my real IP address - perhaps I should RFC my new found PIP address?
I was very disappointed to read the Amazon reply. I really don't see what Amazon get from the deal. They obviously get "targeted" advertising but, given that anyone that has been anywhere near the Inter-tubes knows Amazon anyway, is it worth it? Phorm on the other hand get to watch everything I do on Amazon short of the actual (https) purchase. All that Amazon deliver (searches, also viewed, reviews, shopping cart ... etc) is now available to Phorm to distill and sell me similar products from a competitor. Perhaps I have missed something crucial - I just don't get it.
080423phormlegal : Dynamite. I am only part way through it but it condenses our entire argument, in legal terms at least, into 16 pages. Alexander you are right to look at moving yourself into this area - you certainly have a gift and what BTPhorm and the like fear most - a man with a library card
(apologies to avid viewers of "The Wire")
I have been thinking about the issue of "Search engines" (read Google) as outlined in (21). If we view the connection between me and Google as a transaction between two machines (or customer and service) - that is to say remove the internal complexities of the Internet. We end up with a situation where Phorm, with their "man in the middle" attack, get to use Google, and everything that lies behind it, to enhance their own product at no cost. Why develop and build your own search engine when you can simply steal the "end product" of a competitor? Whatever the internal complexities of Google, the "end product" is what matters and if Phorm can simply steal that "end product" directly from "the wires" and, worse still, use it to compete against you why would you ever entertain the idea? Perhaps if Phorm were caught digging up the road outside "Google" in order to install a wire-tap then the "jury" would have a clear view of what is proposed here.
par·a·site
1. Biology An organism that grows, feeds, and is sheltered on or in a different organism while contributing nothing to the survival of its host.
Alexander :
"This is a significant change in my original academic plans" Like I said in an earlier post (to paraphrase) - I'm here on a Friday night reading RIPA when I could be "down the pub" (thanks BTPhorm). I'm more used to reading up on the internals of a particular IC or hammering out an FPGA - strangely, law now looks easy. As an aside, care to give us the e-mail address(es) of the lecturer(s) that will be dealing with your dissertation? I'm sure they will appreciate the full impact of your work once our comments start to fill their in-boxes.
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At the risk of being throttled (again), any idea why we've not heard from Simon of late? Contrary to opinion, I rather enjoyed his frank contributions to this thread.
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I have to say that although Phorm is a big (4600+ postings) issue here that I seem to remember Simon pointing out that he (always) has other issues to deal with. Issues, in some cases, that may result in far worse than "targeted advertising" for some poor soul(s). Give the man a chance, he has to prioritise. He may be out there (in the - not in the UK - sense) dealing with something else ATM. If he never comes back to this thread then by all means e-mail him asking why. Just pointing out that just because <xyz> from (for example) Amnesty International can't be here to deal with the "Birmigham one" doesn't mean anything - <xyz> could be in Somalia dealing with the "Mogadishu 10,000".
Anyways - time for bed - can't wait to watch Phorm's share price tomorrow. Even the shorters will be thinking twice now.
Hey that reminds me ....
