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Articles for Category Tag - Politics

Foreign Police Forces Also Allowed to Snoop on UK Internet Users

5th July, 2012 (0 Comments)

The Home Office’s revived Communications Data Bill, which seeks to expand the country’s existing internet snooping laws (data retention) and force ISPs into logging a much bigger slice of everybody’s online activity, is in trouble yet again after it was confirmed that foreign authorities will also be granted access to the data. But how much?

European Commission Stalls UK Superfast Broadband Rollout Plans

4th July, 2012 (36 Comments)

The government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) plan to roll-out superfast broadband (24Mbps+) services to 90% of the UK by 2015, which after spending £3m on consultants has left itself with a choice of just two firms (BT or Fujitsu), appears to have stalled after the European Commission (EC) expressed concern over the allocation of state aid.

CLA Expects UK Government to Miss its 2015 Superfast Broadband Target

3rd July, 2012 (13 Comments)

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA), a land owners lobby group for England and Wales, has warned that the UK governments plan to help roll-out superfast broadband (24-30Mbps+) services to 90% of the country by 2015 (the last 10% will get at least 2Mbps) could be missed because of a “slow funding process” and “reliance on fibre optic networks“.

AAISP Boss Fears Costly Technical Nightmare of UK Internet Snooping Law

2nd July, 2012 (10 Comments)

The boss of broadband ISP Andrews & Arnold (AAISP), Adrian Kennard, has warned that the UK governments new Communications Data Bill, which will expand existing internet snooping laws and force ISPs into monitoring a much bigger slice of everybody’s online activity, is “technically a nightmare” and will require providers to introduce “stupidly expensive black boxes“.

MP Claims Ofcom Slow to Save 2Million UK Freeview Homes from 4G Woe

30th June, 2012 (5 Comments)

The Shadow Minister for Media, Helen Goodman MP (Labour), has today warned that both the UK government and Ofcom are “running out of time” to find a solution for the “4G” (LTE) Mobile Broadband interference problem, which could leave up to 2 million UK households without a full ability to watch Freeview based Digital TV (DTV) services.

Google and Bing Help Children to Bypass UK ISP Based Adult Website Blocks

29th June, 2012 (4 Comments)

As the UK government consults on whether or not to force broadband ISPs into imposing default censorship of adult websites (here), it’s worth remembering just how ineffective such measures can be. One of the biggest problems is with internet search engines, such as Google and Microsoft’s Bing, which often maintain cached copies of related images and sometimes even videos.

Government Approves Two More UK Superfast Broadband Rollout Plans

27th June, 2012 (15 Comments)

The UK governments Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt MP, appears to have confirmed to this week’s annual reception of the All-Party Parliamentary Media Group (APPMG) that he has now approved a further 2 local authorities that failed to get their Local Broadband Plans (LBP) done before the original deadline in April.

Scotland Allocates GBP120m for BT Highlands Superfast Broadband

25th June, 2012 (2 Comments)

The Scottish Government has today allocated £120 million to help the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) roll-out superfast broadband (40-80Mbps) services to 85-90% of homes and businesses by 2015, with an aim of reaching 100% with “world-class digital connectivity” in 2020.

ISPreview Survey Finds Most UK Readers Oppose Internet Snooping Law

25th June, 2012 (1 Comment)

The results from 1107 respondents to our latest monthly survey has revealed that the majority (72.8%) of UK readers are opposed to government plans that would expand existing internet snooping laws and log a much bigger slice of your online activity (e.g. Skype access etc.); regardless of whether or not you ever committed a crime.

GBP0.89 Trillion Global Tax Revenue Lost Without Broadband Investment

22nd June, 2012 (4 Comments)

The CEO of Telecoms analyst firm Point Topic UK, Oliver Johnson, has claimed that political leaders, such as Ex-PM Tony Blair, who “are not brave” or knowledgeable enough to invest in a better broadband infrastructure, could be costing the world economy an estimated £0.89 Trillion (annually) in lost tax revenue.

Suffolk UK Expect Superfast Broadband to Boost Local Economy by GBP5bn

19th June, 2012 (9 Comments)

The Suffolk County Council (SCC) has optimistically predicted that its local plan, which aims to make superfast broadband ISP speeds of 100Mbps available to everyone in the region by 2020 (shared EU target), could result in a £5bn boost to the local economy.

2012 Digital Agenda Scoreboard Finds UK Trails EU for Superfast Broadband

19th June, 2012 (15 Comments)

The European Commission (EC) has released its annual 2012 Digital Agenda Scoreboard, which assesses the progress towards Europe’s broadband delivery targets. It found that just 5.5% of UK lines have adopted a superfast broadband ISP service that can deliver download speeds of 30Mbps+ (EU average 8.5%).

Hyperoptic Attacks BT Opposition to National UK Fibre Broadband Rollout

18th June, 2012 (28 Comments)

The boss of urban fibre optic broadband ISP Hyperoptic, Dana Pressman-Tobak, has warned that last week’s comments by BT’s Strategy Director (here), Sean Williams, whom suggested that there was “no business case to support” a full UK roll-out of true fibre broadband (e.g. FTTP) services, could be “very dangerous“.

Jeremy Hunt MP to Support Rural B4RN Broadband Network in Lancashire UK

16th June, 2012 (31 Comments)

The UK governments somewhat embattled Secretary of State for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Jeremy Hunt MP, has surprisingly agreed to visit and “support” the B4RN (Broadband 4 Rural North) project in northern Lancashire UK.

Chi Onwurah MP Accuses EU of Bias in Favour of Ultrafast Fibre Broadband

15th June, 2012 (17 Comments)

The local MP for Newcastle Central and Labour’s shadow minister for innovation and digital infrastructure, Chi Onwurah, has criticised the European Commission (EC) for having a “bias in favour of fibre” and switching its EU state aid rules (here) to focus more on “ultra-fast” (100Mbps+) fibre optic FTTH style broadband networks.

UPD UK Government Publishes Details of its Draft ISP Internet Snooping Law

14th June, 2012 (8 Comments)

The government has today published a first draft of the Home Office’s revived Communications Data Bill, which seeks to expand the United Kingdom’s existing internet snooping laws (data retention) and force ISPs into logging a much bigger slice of everybody’s online activity (e.g. Skype access); irrespective of whether or not you’ve committed a crime.

UPD2 BT Claim Ofcom Rules Hamper UK Superfast Broadband Investment

13th June, 2012 (27 Comments)

BT has told the Lords Select Committee Inquiry into the UK governments superfast broadband strategy that its new fibre optic based network (FTTC , FTTP) will need more freedom from Ofcom’s changing regulation and price controls if it is to make a bigger “long-term investment” in related services.