Investors Chronicle
Few bits from the article for you all:
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BEAR POINTS:
• Significant privacy concerns facing Phorm's product
• Formidable competitors
• Not forecast to make profits until 2010
• Reputational issues could affect sentiment
BULL POINTS:
• Agreements with three major internet service providers
• Internet advertising spend is growing fast
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You can see this summary on
Investors Chronicle
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Phorm announced that it had signed agreements with three of the UK’s biggest ISPs - BT, Carphone Warehouse and Virgin Media - which between them account for 70 per cent of the UK broadband market. But it's not so clear what these agreements comprise. Phorm's relationship with BT, the UK’s biggest broadband provider, has progressed the furthest. However, in April, it emerged that BT and Phorm had conducted trials of the software without informing its customers. This caused outrage among privacy groups who have conducted a wide-ranging attack on the company, alleging breaches of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) and the Data Protection Act.
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The extensive media coverage has led to the issue being discussed in both houses of parliament . Now, influential lobby group, the Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR), is pushing the Home Office and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) to act.
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But the consensus is that customer consent must be explicitly obtained - an opt-in model - rather than including everyone unless they opt out.
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Virgin Media says it has only "signed a preliminary agreement with Phorm to understand in more detail if this technology works" and hasn't yet decided if it will be introduced.
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They [Google, AOL and Yahoo] are unlikely to allow Phorm to steal the show.
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Phorm may lack the firepower and commercial might to win this
struggle, but early success could mark it down as a takeover target.
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Obviously I couldn't type the entire article for copyright reasons but I have picked out the most relevant points. There really wasn't anything which could be read as positive for Phorm in the article with the exception of the hint that it might become target for a takeover.
Alexander Hanff