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

[Bonglet]

Dont belive anything bt says phorm will be working for another 60+ years to work out all the nessecary filters required for 100% non profilled net usage, just dont touch the kit at all is safer.

[Wildie]

Originally Posted by R Jones

There is still wriggle room. She's said "because with the exception of msn no OTHER bots are allowed". She hasn't said - "the only thing we look at is whether googlebot is allowed".

It's like trying to wrestle with a mud covered eel.

you read the other post he had here http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/34...-post6398.html

its a all a bit funny msnbot no phorm googlebot phorm

confused i am

[NTLVictim]

Silly question, but after Ms Sandersons performance on TV, why would anyone even want to speak to her, let alone try and get the truth out of her?

[jelv]

An email I sent to Ben V. was passed on to her to handle - I've continued corresponding with her since - I think the several hours I've seen between her reading the email and responding each time (I request read receipts) indicates that I am not getting off-the-cuff replies and I think we can rely on them being official statements.

[Phormic Acid]

Originally Posted by jelv

I now have absolute confirmation that it is googlebot and googlebot only that Phorm looks for in robots.txt:

That’s perverse. If correct and there’s no way to specify Phorm and Phorm alone, I predict the matter will go to court. It’s like going to the Mailing Preference Service and being told the only way you can say you don’t want junk mail is by telling your bank to stop sending you your credit card statements.

While Phorm have said webmasters can exclude their sites by sending a written request to Phorm, that’s slow and not in keeping with the speed of the Internet. How long is it going to take Phorm to act on a request and ensure that it’s propagated to all their interception hardware in different ISPs across the country? Phorm aren’t supposed to have that sort of remote access to the layer-seven switches.

[OF1975]

"A source claiming to have spoken to a Virgin Media director has suggested to me that Virgin Media, one of the three ISPs (along with BT and TalkTalk) that were considering implementing Phorm's server-side adware system in the UK, has now decided not to go with it."

More here:

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/technolo...hun_phorm.html

[mark777]

Originally Posted by OF1975

"A source claiming to have spoken to a Virgin Media director has suggested to me that Virgin Media, one of the three ISPs (along with BT and TalkTalk) that were considering implementing Phorm's server-side adware system in the UK, has now decided not to go with it."

More here:

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/technolo...hun_phorm.html

I don't think he would publish this unless he had confidence in the source.

Could be a big day tomorrow.

[OF1975]

Originally Posted by mark777

I don't think he would publish this unless he had confidence in the source.

Could be a big day tomorrow.

I sure hope you are right. I really do. It would be fantastic if it is true.

On another note, though, I picked up on the fact than another american ISP seems to be about to launch a "service" *cough, cough, bull...* very similar to Phorms and they have 6million customers. I have posted the information and link to an american forum I frequent.

[lucevans]

Originally Posted by OF1975

"A source claiming to have spoken to a Virgin Media director has suggested to me that Virgin Media, one of the three ISPs (along with BT and TalkTalk) that were considering implementing Phorm's server-side adware system in the UK, has now decided not to go with it."

More here:

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/technolo...hun_phorm.html

To Virgin Media:

Do yourselves and your customers a favour and confirm that this rumour is, in fact, true.
If you decide to go ahead with Phorm, you will lose a significant number of customers, and, perhaps more importantly from your perspective, brand integrity.

However, you now have the opportunity to really steal a march on your (bigger) rival BT and state that you will not integrate Phorm into your network, resulting in a mass influx of disgruntled BT customers and the kind of publicity and reputation enhancement that no amount of advertising budget could achieve....

Look at it as a loss-leader: you'll lose what little revenue you might have gained from Phorm royalties (and I suspect that once systems had been developed to defeat Phorm, you'd have made sod-all from it anyway), but you stand to gain a hefty chunk of your largest rival's customer base.

YOU CAN'T LOSE!!

[dav]

Yep, it's time to trade the pounds for kudos.

Go on VM, you know it makes sense.

Give us all a nice warm glow and prove we can start to trust you again.

[AlexanderHanff]

Originally Posted by OF1975

"A source claiming to have spoken to a Virgin Media director has suggested to me that Virgin Media, one of the three ISPs (along with BT and TalkTalk) that were considering implementing Phorm's server-side adware system in the UK, has now decided not to go with it."

More here:

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/technolo...hun_phorm.html

I think I just peed a little.

Alexander Hanff

[Rchivist]

Originally Posted by NTLVictim

Silly question, but after Ms Sandersons performance on TV, why would anyone even want to speak to her, let alone try and get the truth out of her?

It's well worth the effort - and what they put in writing they are stuck with, especially when it comes from management. Believe me - its been a most helpful correspondence. I even like to think it has delayed the trials a bit.

[davethejag]

I'll second that!!

davethejag

[mark777]

Originally Posted by dav

Yep, it's time to trade the pounds for kudos.

Go on VM, you know it makes sense.

Give us all a nice warm glow and prove we can start to trust you again.

Particularly if they go national with the new service mentioned at the bottom of this article.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008...ginmedia.bskyb

Just as BT start their trials.

[NTLVictim]

What's the best site to look at to watch their shares tank in realtime if the rumour is true?