Broadband ISP Eclipse Internet has warned that 54% of Britons risk causing "computer chaos" by going online to watch this summer's World Cup 2010 while at work. Eclipse fears that such activity could play havoc by slowing down – or in extreme cases – even crashing office computer systems.

A survey of 2,000 workers nationwide by Eclipse found that 58% had not given any thought to the possible consequences of such activity on their own workplace IT networks. Similarly 56% did not know whether their organisation had any restrictions or guidelines in place to stop them accessing related internet video sites.


Some 37% thought that watching World Cup matches would not affect their work productivity and a quarter believed there would be no impact on the speed of applications if all employees watched games online at work via online streaming sites.

The remarks could also be interpreted to suggest that some ISPs might not be able to cope with the added strain on their networks. Indeed Murphy issued a note of caution saying there could be a potentially disruptive surge in broadband traffic, especially on Wednesday, June 23rd, when England plays Slovenia at 3pm.


In reality this isn't the first major event to test broadband ISPs and office networks. The recent General Election caused huge interest among internet users and sent online video traffic into the sky, although we don't know any offices that crashed because of it. Most providers are intelligent enough to be prepared for such activity spikes.