Virgin Media Phorm Webwise Adverts [Updated: See Post No. 1, 77, 102 & 797]

[Ravenheart]

Wonder if the new Phorm company feem toon is "Don't like Mondays" by the Boomtown Rats

[CaptJamieHunter]

Originally Posted by JackSon

Who runs a PR company confident enough to take on Sir Tim Berners-Lee regarding the internet and the FIPR regarding information policies? If you do, expect a call from Phorm tonight!

I've put a reply together to Ian Woodham and I've mentioned Sir Tim, something along the lines of "Can Virgin Media show me someone more eminent than Sir Tim Berners-Lee who is arguing in favour of Phorm?"

Phorm isn't dead yet though, there's still some way to go before it's finished.

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[popper]

Originally Posted by Toto

I suspect its a brand issue. Brand placement is absolutely paramount to Virgin Companies, its almost a religion. I suspect that they have requested the removal of the logo until a firm agreement is made to adopt the system.

I'll stick my neck out further and suggest that they may well duck out of this for now. Customer feeling is running high, most of the feedback from here, DS and their own newsgroups would suggest that VM have underestimated the bad feeling this system has given birth to.

The fact that Neil Burkett was quoted in the Register as saying that he was revisiting this plan means that the wave of complaint has washed into the Directors field of view, and as the newly installed CEO he can't afford a small rebellion of BB customers heading to insugnificant ADSL rivals...it just isn't good for business.

Revenue from adverts on their portal sites will continue, they may even look at another up-coming alternative to Phorm. Sky are already doing this with their email accounts migrated to the Google (Gmail) system, one reason why Sky may well not get on board if their webmail platform brings in the bucks. I seem to remember VM trialling google mail on a limited basis, perhaps this may see fruition.

its truely amazing that VM have infact missed most of the flac ....

if neil was clever, he'd find a way out of the contract, that shouldnt be hard, after all you cant be held to a contract if its deemed to include illegal practices can you.

neil comes out with a statement we will not be taking this or any other profiling initative EVER,then the VM marketing monkeys can then hype up cable as the place to be.

you know it makes sense , and he might even make a reasonable profit this quarter if he opens up the uptake with free installs, no deposit and first month free.

and dont forget to remove the one cable modem per account rule if you want even more profits

OC you might also think BT phone might do something along the same lines while Phorms hot, and introduce half price phone line rental.

forget half price re-connection ,make re-connection free, to get all those cable users onto your books to profit from later.

if they play it right it might even turn out good for the end users choice.

[Sirius]

Bt are in a perfect situation. They know that all those cable customers will need a BT line to be able to sign up with that PHORM free ADSL ISP

[popper]

Originally Posted by CaptJamieHunter

I've put a reply together to Ian Woodham and I've mentioned Sir Tim, something along the lines of "Can Virgin Media show me someone more eminent than Sir Tim Berners-Lee who is arguing in favour of Phorm?"

Phorm isn't dead yet though, there's still some way to go before it's finished.

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make sure you resend your DPA notice as a seperate bit of paper,in the evelope, and make the first line
THIS IS A DATA PROTECTION ACT NOTICE

also put that i reserve the right to republish ..... in the other letter etc.

[Woodgar]

I saw a little bit of breakfast news this morning on the BBC where they covered this.

They played a short interview with Sir Tim desparaging the whole phorm scam and followed it up with a quick chat with a person introduced as a "technical correspondent". On the whole, I thought he gave a good, none-technical overview of how the system was going to harvest all your personal surfing habbits and target you with adverts under the guise of offering phishing protecion. He gave some good examples of how this could easily affect your privacy, even though phorm claim otherwise, especially for those using a shared connection/pc. He pretty much said that he trusted neither phorm nor any isp that implemented the system.

The best bit came at the end, though, when he stated flat out that if BT introduced the system then he would change his isp immediately.

[popper]

is that online anywere, a direct URL would be good.

---------- Post added at 20:22 ---------- Previous post was at 19:52 ----------

hmm, what do you make of these posts
http://www.beta.bt.com/bta/forums/th...t=210&tstart=0

http://www.beta.bt.com/bta/forums/me...ID=14445#14445
"john livingston:
I have been trying to understand just how a company like Phorm could gain such an apparent foothold in BT.
...
It appears that Scleparis may have been the Retail CTO during last year's covert trials of the interception technology, on live customer data. There was no customer permission obtained for these.

Adam - please confirm (or deny) that Mr. Scleparis held his BT post during the period in which the trials took place. From the records which will certainly exist, will you confirm that these were authorised by him?
...
"
and http://www.beta.bt.com/bta/forums/me...ID=14459#14459
"L deAblow:
See http://www.computing.co.uk/vnunet/ne...ed-spam-buster dated 13/10/2006 so I would say yes Scleparis was

It looks like PHORM has been getting it teath into UK ISPs for a while and with Pat Hewitt MP joining the board, into the goverment as well"

is Pat Hewitt MP, now or ever been on the Phorm or related board of directors?

perhaps this ones for the specialist MP followers to track down and comment on, is there any paper trail to any MP infact?

[mogodon]

Don't know if this is the same interview, but BBC have an interview at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7299875.stm

3/4 of the way down the article is an embedded player.

[Ravenheart]

interesting link on the BT forum to a comment from Lavasoft makers of Ad-Aware

http://www.lavasoft.com/support/secu...p=203#more-203

[mogodon]

By the way, don't know if this has been posted before, but who's this guy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=did1DpWsaXA

I have rarely known something to cause the stink this has and a company to be so completely bereft of comment. Sorry i don't expect to have to write to VM about this it is something they are doing to ME without asking me a thing about it i damn well want them to start talking and telling us what the hell is going on not hiding in their offcies obviously waiting to see how it goes before growing a pair and talking to us. This has to be defeated now if it manages to gain even the smallest foothold in the uk isp market it will grow and eventually all isp's regardless of what they might say now will adopt it if everyone else is. If i am to be treated as a damn commodity for the profit of VM then give me my share of the profit from your invasion of my privacy i am sick of paying good money to be totally taken for granted in the way that VM are.

[Tezcatlipoca]

Originally Posted by popper

is Pat Hewitt MP, now or ever been on the Phorm or related board of directors?

She's joining BT (not Phorm) as a non-executive director.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03...witt_joins_bt/

[popper]

thanks Matt, reading that link doesnt really make me feel any happyer about PH getting that position though .

[davidb24v]

Originally Posted by Matt D

She's joining BT (not Phorm) as a non-executive director.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03...witt_joins_bt/

So what chance does a citizen of a third-world, worse than banana-republic, fake-american, clone country, have of a having a voice when the nest-feathering self-serving numpties have already filled their boots. Several times over

Personally I would burn all politicians (well, I'm joking... only after they've been turned into bio-diesel, obviously) but that would be bad for teh planet, hey

I will never, ever, vote for anyone who wants to be elected. Are any of you pollies watching this Phorm "Phiasco" - no? Thought not. You're not used to lifting your heads from the trough, are you

Dave

[aMIGA_dUDE]

Originally Posted by mogodon

Don't know if this is the same interview, but BBC have an interview at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7299875.stm

3/4 of the way down the article is an embedded player.

At about 12:27-15:40