July 14, 2000 - July 23, 2000

News - July 23,2000

ISPreview Weekly Update

By:mark @ 10:29:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Ah yes, despite the last few slow news days the week seems to be finally coming to an end. Its certainly been an interesting enough one as well, what with 24/7Freecall and RHA accidentally sending out viruses, BT getting hacked and numerous other things such as the RIP bill etc.

On the ISPreview side we've been busy behind the site working on some future reviews and articles, the first of which should make their way into town come next week. You can expect a new 'broadband provider listing' (by popular request), article looking at BTSurftime and one on the recent RIP Bill and our loss of privacy + a secret article. Reviews, well you'll just have to wait and see won't you =)

Alongside that we've been in talks to hopefully bring a reliable unmetered product to ISPreview readers, although this remains under wraps until we know more about FRIACO2. Also you can expect to see a mention of us in the September edition of '.Net Magazine' (my favoured read as it happens) when they cover freecall access.

Though mostly I've been preoccupied with real life work and something, which I may choose to reveal on Monday evening if all goes to plan. That tends to explain the reason I'm back in London this weekend and why my Online/Offline status has been firmly dead so far =).

A hint is that I'm starting several of my own (unrelated) online businesses. Anybody that’s ever had to start their own company from scratch knows just how much blood, sweat and stress goes into it.

That's one reason certain 'To Do' tasks haven't been 'Too Done' =). I get quite stressed at times so a none-profit/free site such as ISPreview is not top on my list right now, but I still try to make daily time for it.

On a final note, some of you have been wondering about the 'Visual Depth Investigation', well in general we haven't made much progress since the beginning of July. By the way things are going we'd say somebody has been silencing open mouths, ironically this isn't going to help the ISP. If no more comes of it by the end of August then we'll simply print the findings and evidence.

That’s all for this week, expect next week to be full of equally interesting surprises and new content – hurray.

Ezesurf's New Website

By:Daniel @ 3:08:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Ezesurf has had their website totally re-designed and it looks much better now. You can find it at http://www.ezesurf.net/indexie.htm.

News - July 22,2000

NTL Cable Modem Cache Problem

By:zeon @ 5:26:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Although this piece of news is quite old it might explain some problems that NTL cable modem users have been experiencing. This report is from Cablenews:uk:

Following on from our earlier report about ntl's transparent cache for cable modem users in the Guildford franchise, it would appear that the problem has escalated - and spread.

Reports in ntl.support.cablemodems, ntl's cable modem support newsgroup, reveal that caching servers across the network are disrupting web browsing services for people in the following franchises:

Surrey and Hampshire
Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire
Nottingham

The disruption caused by the caching servers is becoming more and more widespread. The servers do not update nearly as often as is necessary, and due to the way they are configured, do not properly forward the real IP address of a cable modem user. This is why some IP-detection systems will detect your IP as, for example, 62.252.0.4 (one of ntl's caching servers) instead of your real IP address.

As yet, there have been no updates from ntl as to when this problem will be resolved, and people have had to resort to using the '?x' workaround or even using the proxy servers of other internet service providers."

Thanks to Scarlett for pointing us to this.

News - July 21,2000

TheFreeInternet NOT TO CLOSE

By:mark @ 8:58:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

This is the first we've heard about it, but Net4Nowt is reporting that previous rumours concerning the closure of Excite 0800's The Free Internet are false. An official TFI response states:

"To put the record straight, TFI is open for business now and will still be open for business in September, October and beyond that.

Our business model has been carefully crafted and we have sufficient telecom lines and modems to cope with as many members as care to join our Service.

So, for all those Internet customers who have been disappointed by other ISPs that have withdrawn their 0800 services or continue to restrict access, we are here waiting and happy to take their business."

Mind you rumours may not always be correct, but sometimes they can point towards more unstable ground. Still, yes as you can see, I'm back in action but not fully set-up.

Reinstalled Win2000 and everything seems ok, just need another day to install all the apps and I'll be back 100%. Sorry if I can't reply to E-Mails today but its too late for me to bother checking now, will tomorrow.

Local Loop Legal Battle?

By:Ross14 @ 5:42:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

BT have been warned by the EC that if they don't open the local loop to other telecom providers, they may face a legal battle.

Last week, BT was ruled by the European Commission to open the local loop by the end of this year. Now in a report issued in The Times today, BT could be facing a court battle with Colt, Easynet and Energis:

John Docherty, director at Colt Telecommunications, said his company would be able to offer DSL services in the Netherlands and Germany by December. He could not "understand what was taking the UK so long".

"Our interpretation of what the EU has said is that unbundled access should be available at the end of this year. Clearly, legal action is an option we would consider," said Mr Docherty.

James Tyler, a spokesman for Level 3, which has an internet protocol network across the US, Asia and Europe, asked about possible legal action against BT, said: "We would welcome anything that increased competition."

Easynet managing director David Rowe said the EU directive had given his company legal grounds to pursue BT if it was obstructing the unbundling of the local loop.

So, what do you make of it? Are BT just holding off and trying to make as much as they can before local loop unbundling. Why is it that other telecom networks in the Netherlands and Germany can do it quicker than BT?

Source: Net4Nowt

BT Suffer DOS Attack

By:zeon @ 4:35:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The Register was contacted by a person claiming to have brought down 3 BT sites:

"We received an email at 10.20am this morning through a stoned.com account informing us that bt.com, btinternet.com and gameplay.com were all down.

The sender claimed credit for the denial of service attack and although he didn't leave an alias, he did give the reason behind his actions. "This is my payback to BT for ripping this country off. I'm tired of being cut off the net at 12 just because I have a cable line heres my payback :\," the email read.

We contacted BT who initially denied any such attack but rang back to confirm that the three sites mentioned were under attack and its techie staff were on the job.

All three sites were inaccessible, but gradually bt.com came back into service with the line "We are currently upgrading this site and some of the features are unavailable. The full service will be restored shortly. (Try using Shift+Reload to make sure you are not looking at an old version of this page)" displayed in bold on the front page.

At 11.40, an hour and twenty minutes later, normal service resumed on all three sites. Interestingly, the sites are now running at breakneck speed”

Well if that’s one persons actions think what the other dissatisfied customers are going to do.

General Site Update

By:mark @ 8:15:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Milestone No.2 is about to be reached when we make 500,000 (half a million) unique hits, possibly today. That works out at around 1,700,000Million visitors (page impressions) according to our stat system. It wasn't long ago we had 250,000 and now the second hurdle is finally in sight.

No prizes for the first guy to reach 500,000 because the counter isn't so hot at dealing with multiple users, so it'll likely be that several people win =). Still if you do make it then give us a bell, just remember we'll be trying ourselves - hehehe.

Also, if you've noticed the odd banner pop-up (happens for a few minutes on the odd day) then don't worry. We try to make it known to our sponsors that we don't tolerate such things and so it should be sorted soon. Thanks to everybody for reading ISPreview and enjoying our relaxed nature, we'll give somebody a prize @ 1,000,000 =).

*Update*
Well we just passed 500,000 somewhat earlier than expected, but none the less welcome =). Sadly my system is playing up again, everything from the mouse to the core system files are causing serious instability and control issues, I'm going to have to do a total reinstall yet again (ugg). Not sure when I'll make a start as there's so much to backup this time around.

BT Forecasts Lower Profits

By:mark @ 8:06:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It's not in the least surprising that BT have today asked analysts to lower their profit forecasts for the year. Yahoo News reports that a further decline in its core UK business and rising interest costs are to blame:

"British Telecommunications has encouraged analysts to lower their profit forecasts again to reflect a further decline in its core UK business and rising interest costs.

Analysts have reduced their pre-tax profit figures for the current year by as much as 35 percent following discussions with the company in recent weeks.

They are now forecasting profits for the year to next March will fall to around 1.7 billion pounds from 2.9 billion pounds last year and 4.3 billion two years ago.

The downgrades on Thursday came after BT's investor relations department told analysts who phoned to check their forecasts before next week's first-quarter results that their numbers were too high, two of the analysts said on Thursday.

The number crunchers had already lowered their forecasts from 2.6-2.7 billion pounds following similar discussions with BT after its fourth-quarter results in May.

The latest downgrades are due in part to a change in the way BT accounts for its Concert joint venture with AT&T Corp and the fact that analysts had been tardy in factoring in the costs of acquisitions and third-generation mobile licences."

The article goes on to sight several key issues that are likely to be the catalysts for this latest downfall. We were quite surprised to see that unmetered/freecall Internet access didn't factor into the equation, nor did future local loop unbundling (because it's future, doh).

I'd have to say that personally I pay 80% less (per month) for the net now then I did four years ago and I also used it more. There are hundreds of thousands that have switched to unmetered ISPs and so this must have an obvious effect.

News - July 20,2000

Another New FreeCall ISP

By:mark @ 7:48:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Now please excuse us if we have already mentioned these guys, we do so much news that it's not surprising we sometimes loose track of bits here and there =).

Anyway they are called 'NoCallFee' and offer some quite unique services for business people, you'll soon see why it's not one for your average Joe:

"We are aware that there have been plenty of FREE Internet connections and super special offers from all sorts of providers but as usual once the number of connections sold increases the service decreases leaving users stressed and looking for yet another ISP to connect to!

To ensure that this can NEVER happens to you, nocallfee.com has created two services which will guarantee a non-decreasing service with all new Business Internet connections all for a fixed monthly fee with no other charges whatsoever (existing BT rental charges apply).

The nocallfee.com Service is created through a huge network, with 65 points of entry within the UK. Each of these points is connected to our Hub via a 155MB Line. Each connection into our hub is carried on a 1 to 1 ratio thereby guaranteeing an Internet Connection every time to your businesses (Leased Line Option)."

Take note that the 1:1 ratio is for the leased line option and leased lines tend to cost around £4,000 a year for 64Kbps ISDN minimum! However this ISP seems to have found a cheaper way:

Package 1:
64k Internet Connection

Auto IP Address
Guaranteed Connection
No Banner Adverts
True 64k Connection Speeds

64k ISDN=£30/m
128k ISDN=£60/m
PER MONTH

Package 2:
64k Internet Connection
Fixed IP Address
Firewall Protection
Domain Name Registration
Email Service
Unlimited Web Space
Guaranteed Connection
Guaranteed Speed

64k ISDN=£60/m
128k ISDN=£120/m
PER MONTH

Package two works out at around £1,500 for a whole year, ISDN may be going out of date (for leased lines anyway), but in comparison to what others are charging - it's not that bad. The service is due to go live on the 14th August and if you register before the 1st August then they'll waver the set-up fee.

Take note that you can ONLY pay by cheque; we'd urge some caution with this ISP as they don't seem to be known in the usual circles. Now remember, in the past some of the ISPs we've pushed a 'caution' mark over have gone the way of native Americans =).

RedHotAnt - Virus

By:zeon @ 6:48:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

A RHA director was sending out the KAK virus according to this report on The Register:

We can only assume that RedHotAnt is living by the adage "All publicity is good publicity." There can surely be no other explanation for the latest balls-up to emerge from the ISP, even if the balls-up is purely accidental.

Responding to a query about a service issue, Bob Garrioch, an RHA director, sent his reply complete with an attached virus. The only reason the recipient did not have any problems was that he was running Linux on his machine, and the "Kak" virus is designed to mess around with Windows.

The mail then ended up being sent out to a Linux user group post, stuffed full of RHA subscribers. Since most were running Linux, the virus caused much consternation, but little damage. Had these guys been running Microsoft Outlook, it would have been bad. Very bad.

Another source, also an RHA subscriber, said that it was the nuts and bolts issues of security and redundancy that were being ignored. He commented: "Basic security principles are not being adhered to. It seems as though they have neither the clue nor the knowledge to be secure. I am especially alarmed at the number of virtual domains they are hosting on their network."

A basic security mesaure for all ISPs should be a virus checker on every machine. We wouldn't be suprised if there is another blunder from RHA in the next few days.

The RIP Bill Has Passed

By:mark @ 3:06:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

If you've been reading ISPreview or any number of other Internet news sites over the past few months then you can't have failed to noticed he RIP (Regulation of Investigatory Powers) Bill. This is a new law/legislation that will allow the police access to confidential E-Mails from anyway and possibly more.

Well some bad news, despite the LORDs asking for there to be some amendments, it has still passed:

"The Lords forced a fresh set of concessions on the government yesterday before passing its email snooping bill.

But industry figures are far from happy with the way the bill stands, saying it will still harm human rights and business confidence.

Under last night's amendments, companies will have the right to sue law enforcement agencies if they cock-up and leak confidential information. But the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill (RIP) still gives the police and other bodies the power to order businesses to surrender decryption keys on private client information.

Another move involves a higher level of monitoring such powers. Police or the relevant agency will have to inform the new interception of communications commissioner - who will be a senior judge - within seven days of serving such an order on a company.

This commissioner has now been given powers to report to the prime minister whenever they feel like it - not just once a year as was previously proposed."

The full article, which can be found @ The Register, goes on to point out two key errors with the bill that are cause for more concern:

"First, it is all well and good to sue law enforcement agencies over mismanagement of private information, but this will happen after the damage has already been done to the company and its reputation.

Second, it is difficult to trust any organisation that cannot even protect its own private documents and information. There have been two memo leakages from Number 10 so far this week - whether through error or deliberate actions. This doesn't exactly instill confidence."

All that remains is for the bill to go before commons, generally a place where we aren't likely to see it turned down (conservatives will object, naturally). So could this be it, the first true step towards our eventually loss of privacy? Who knows?

One thing is for sure, known hackers and those involved in illegal online trades should look overseas for an ISP =). Oh and one last humorous interlude:

"top-secret material seized under RIP will be held at MI5's high-security building in London."

Oh yes that's wonderful, these are our top-secret operatives for the UK, but they also have a habit of loosing laptops - James Bond would NOT approve.

Internet Access will be everywhere!

By:Ross14 @ 11:35:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

An interesting article over @ Yahoo! is revealing some results of a survey that was carried out recently showing that by 2002, there will be more than 60,000 net access terminals across the country in various outlets such as pubs, airports, shops, etc. Read on:

"Within a couple of years, finding an Internet terminal in Britain will be almost as easy as finding a phone box, a survey predicted on Thursday.

By the end of 2002 there will be more than 60,000 terminals attracting 320 million visits a year in Net cafes, free-standing Net kiosks and terminals in libraries, shops and pubs, Allegra Strategies consultants said.

But by then, almost a third of the population -- some 18.5 million people -- will be carrying their own mobile Internet on a device in the pocket or bag.

The Internet will be increasingly available on planes and trains, in cars, on games consoles, digital personal stereos and even wrist watches.

"By December 2003 the total number of UK Internet access terminals, both in and out of the home, is projected to surpass the UK population," Allegra said."

Quite an astonishing figure! But, will net access through these kiosks come cheap? Something seems to tell us 'No.'

What's Wrong With BT- I?

By:zeon @ 9:59:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

BTI still seems to suffer problems nearly every day. In there usual arrogant way BT don't seem to want to do anything about it. When I spoke to BTI they claimed they were the largest ISP to offer unmetered (it is only off-peak). They say they have 440,000 customers but as ISPs don't tend to reveal numbers its hard to tell. To sort out the problems BT need to add more modem racks, but offering an off-peak service causes problems as they will experience a rush of logins at 6:00pm when the number goes live. This causes engaged tones at the local exchange(s) because the network is too busy.

BT needs to take action to stop these daily problems if they want any customers by the end of the year. Lineone uses the BT Click hardware, which might also explain some of the problems Lineone have had in the past.

The current uncertainty in the ISP market makes it very difficult to tell what is going on day by day. A lot of the problems with engaged tones on Freeserve, Ezesurf, BTI, RedHotAnt and World Online can be put down to the routing of calls from BT to the networks that these ISP's operate on. A large part of the problem is with BT being slow to upgrade local exchanges and improve the switching on the telephone network. It’s hard to see how things will improve until the IP network is fully integrated.

LineOne Refunds Update

By:mark @ 9:00:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Our friends @ Net4Nowt have done and interesting update on refunds from the recently thrown away LineOne freecall deal:

"We have been flooded with angry emails since LineOne announced on Sunday that they were ending their current unmetered access and replacing it in September with BT Surftime.

Existing customers were told that they were getting their Quip! account reimbursed with £20, supposedly to cover the cost of the adaptor. Now we have received an email from a visitor pointing out that he may be entitled to a refund.

The email pointed out that if you have had adaptor for seven days or less and have not used it, or have not even received one yet, then under their terms and conditions you are entitled to a refund.

If you are eligible and already have the adaptor then send it to the address below. Ensure you enclose a covering note saying that you wish to cancel that includes your name, telephone number and Quip! account number.

EEscape Ltd
2 Matrix House
North Fourth Street
Milton Keynes
MK9 1NJ"

There's a whole lot more where that came from so we suggest you pile on over to N4N like a train, well if you're ex-lineone anyway. It's certainly not the best of things an ISP could do, if N4N is being flooded by mails then imagine what LineOne must be like =)

News - July 19,2000

FRIACO II

By:zeon @ 7:04:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

ZDNet have an exclusive article on FRIACO II, which is an improved version of FRIACO. It corrects some of the technical issues. Here is some of the article:

"The source explained: "The initial Friaco was simply not good enough... there were far too many technical issues for ISPs wanting to deliver product based on it. In effect it stopped users getting online cheaply because no organisation would sign up to it."

According to the source, BT had little choice but to accept WorldCom's demands or once again face the wrath of an increasingly impatient European Commission. The EC recently stepped into the fray by instructing Oftel to force BT to release a wholesale unmetered package for ISPs.

BT denies that Friaco has been obstructive, although it concedes it has never been a popular offering. A spokesman said: "We are a simple purveyor of the world's finest communications and you need to understand that ISPs are out for their own interests. Which is right. But we have to insist that we are able to make a profit. ISPs always want something more, something cheaper."

Friaco II remains top secret -- BT will not discuss its existence and Oftel says it is a commercial dealing with WorldCom and therefore has nothing to do with the regulator.

Read the full article HERE

FRIACO II should be out in about a month. Hopefully this offering will make it more profitable for ISPs to operate unmetered schemes and they all won't go the way of Lineone\Quip.

RedHotAnt Double Standards

By:zeon @ 6:26:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

After we posted the last news item we had an e-mail from another reader about how he got a small refund from RHA:

"I also went through the online refund routine and got the same reply except my time online was 18 hours 34 mins. I then composed a letter to Trading Standards and some computer mags telling of my problems with the service and sent these to JAK saying how displeased I was at their reply and if i didn't get a favourable response within 48 hours I would send the emails.

lo and behold 2 days later, a letter arrived from JAK headed " without prejudice" enclosing a cheque for 25 pounds "as part payment for the cost of registration. This is a gesture of goodwill on the part of JAK"

At this point in time I am unsure as to weather my account is still active as on the rare occasions I get a connection I get the error message 691. I would have thought this payment was just for the inconvience and not to close my account. I await a response to my query on their virtual support system."

It seems that the only way to get any kind of refund out of RHA is to threaten them with sending letters to various people. In the previous news item the RHA customer didn't get any money from them even though they had been on the Internet less. If that’s not double standards what is?

We contacted Trading Standards who tell us that they are still in communication with RHA and if the situation doesn't improve and more customers complain they will take the matter to the OFT (Office of Fair Trading) who should be able to force RHA to act.

Trading Standards also say if RedHotAnt won't give you a refund threaten them with legal action and letters.

RedHotAnt refuse to talk to us by phone and as yet haven't replied to our e-mail.

Comments.........

RedHotAnt In Security Scuffle No.3

By:mark @ 4:36:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Poor old RedHotAnt, sometimes you can't help but feel sorry for them and all the problems. That aside and The Register has uncovered yet another security issue with the fatally ill ISP:

"RedHotAnt has clearly never heard of social engineering as a hacking technique. The Register has been informed that the company's tech support team seems to have no qualms about revealing a user's password to a caller without confirming his or her identity.

Upon calling RHA tech support to make an enquiry about the company's web site, RHA user, and Register reader, Simon Cooper was asked for his user ID and password. Being a security conscious fellow, he declined to give his password out over the phone.

Standard telephone security procedure at RHA is to ask for a user ID, the first line of the address and a post code to confirm identity.

Simon was thus astonished when, without requesting any information other than his user ID, the RHA employee proceeded to read his password back to him and asked him to confirm it.

He wasn't impressed with this, but was reassured by her response - 'I should not worry as there is no harm that people with access to my password could do.'

"Outside accessing my website, my e-mails, assuming my identity and causing widespread fraud under my name I guess she's right," says Simon."

In RHAs defence, they aren't the only ISP that does this and if you really wanted to get somebody's password then it wouldn't be that hard to do so. In fact you could even get the details asked for by normal procedures via numerous methods, no way is foolproof.

However in this case RHA didn't even exercise the most fundamental of measures, we won't say anymore but I certainly hope they don't make the same mistake again. Now it's out in the open, potentially everybody is at risk.

24-7Freecall Virus Response

By:mark @ 1:31:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Yesterday we reported that a rather nasty 'Kak.Worm' e-mail virus managed to infest one or more of 24-7Freecall's support computers. Today they have issued a response:

"24-7Freecall would like to apologise to any Internet user who may have been affected by the KAK Worm virus that was unwittingly sent to some users.

Sadly, it was sent to us by a subscriber, also unwittingly. Only one computer was affected by the virus. Unfortunately this computer was used to send replies to a number of people. We would advise that if anyone received any email from us yesterday (18th July) they should delete it without opening it.

We have now eradicated the KAK Worm virus from our computer and have undertaken a thorough inspection of the whole system to ensure that it is not present anywhere else. Although our systems are protected by anti-virus software it is prudent that we recheck all of the hardware. The system has now been given the all clear. As an extra precaution we will not be sending out any emails for the next 24 hours.

Any user unsure of what to do should call our Technical Support on 0870 0777247 or visit these sites for step by step instructions on how to delete any potential virus and to download anti-virus software:

www.villagenet.co.uk/merlinscave/kak.html

www.pchell.com

www.antivirus.com/pc-cillin/

In closing we would like to thank ISP Review and Net4Nowt for bringing this to our notice quickly so that we could act immediately."

Good, so no more virus worries, at least for now. Another thing worth pointing out is that our good friend 'Fluke' from NinjaMicros suggests the same virus has also come in support replies from RedHotAnt - you've been warned.

RHA Refunds

By:zeon @ 10:02:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We have had a number of people complaining because they were unable to get a refund from RHA. You can apply for a refund online HERE. Here is one customers experience:

"Briefly, in March they contacted me offering me a 3 tiered service, and I subscribed to the 'superior' service for £60, offering unmetered internet access, free UK domain name, web space, emails, etc. Unfortunately, what I had is far from what was offered, connection is rare, the line is nearly always engaged, and when I did connect I kept being cut off, I was unable to use my password to access the webspace, emails are unavailable and there were problems with my having a domain name. So what had I paid for?

For 2 months I emailed, these were never answered, I phoned and phoned, and when I could get put through to a person instead of a voicemail, I was told there were problems with the linux database back up and my password couldn't be used until this had been sorted out, apparently a job card had been made out and someone would contact me. They didn't and I gave up phoning after 2 months.

I then tried to get my money back, I was told on the phone that I could and to put it in writing, but when I did they sent me a letter refusing saying that I had been on line for 10 hours, 44 minutes and 44 secs. I wrote and said that I did not pay £60 for 10 hours, 44 mins on line for 5 months (this would work out at about £5.80 per hour!), and that it was unacceptable. In return they then sent me an identical letter to the previous letter sent to me."

If there is anyone who has got a refund from RHA we would like to know how you got it or if you were refused. What was the reason they gave?

News - July 18,2000

24-7Freecall Virus Scare

By:mark @ 7:51:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We've had reports from three separate individuals that the newly opened ISP 24-7Freecall is unwittingly sending out an E-Mail virus with its support replies:

"Well Gents, would you believe it. Some members of the 24-7Freecall support department are sending out the WScript.Kak worm virus when they respond to support e-mail messages. Not exactly the sort of thing you expect to find in your in-box from an ISP." - Andrew

So if you do happen to get a support reply from them and it includes an attachment/file of which you weren't expecting, then be warned, it could be a virus.

24-7Freecall is by no means the first to fall foul of such a thing; the ILOVEYOU virus infected several ISPs in a similar way. Here's hoping they sort it out pronto.

*Update*
Thanks to LenK for pointing this out:
"Beware!! The KAK worm is NOT in an attachment. It is in the signature and therefore activates as soon as the message is opened.... unless of course you have the proper protection."

New Stuff @ ISPreview

By:mark @ 12:49:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Following on from our article on the troubles at BTInternet, which showcased our new article layout, we've now done one for the reviews. Since some people requested it, we re-reviewed EzeSurf and used the new reviews template.

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/reviews/ezesurf/

As with the new article layout, reviews are now also printable by simply clicking the link at the bottom of the page. The overall score for EzeSurf hasn't changed though, still not quite able to push above a good 7.5 (can get to 8 by sorting support out).

International Networks Border Dispute

By:mark @ 9:30:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Most people that login to the modern day Net don't realise quite how turmoil its very existence is. At least that's what U.S. lawyers said yesterday as they presented a two-year report into preventing global online chaos. At current, because the Internet passes through multiple countries it is subject to total confusion over laws, business and tax regulations among many more, for example:

"If a French customer buys a rug from Turkey via a Web site hosted in the United States and with a Swiss credit card, for example, there are risks all round -- the rug might be a dud, the payment might be faulty and taxes might not be paid -- but where should such matters be settled?"

The report itself is urging for some kind of global standards to be set-up so that the Internet can be properly governed. However sometimes the simplest answers aren't always the best:

"Many courts currently rule that jurisdiction in any Internet dispute belongs to the country of destination, where the buyer or Websurfer lives -- but this means a business or Web site can be liable to the laws of every country on earth, an impossible burden."

Other ways have been suggested, an opposite of the above is one, but then that also leaves consumers with the task of finding out if they are protected by the laws of a far-off land or not. As such the report has suggested a radical change, 'Cyber Borders', which is just as it sounds.

Whether the boarders will be for individual countries, continents or perhaps even differing economical regions, is not yet known. You can read the rest over @ Yahoo news but one thing is for sure, consumers could stand to loose while business gains. More freedom lost?

Hostile Assaults on LineOne

By:mark @ 9:14:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Anybody who read our LineOne news, and then went on the read the comments, knows that there is a large portion of hostility being directed at them and rightly so. This article at The Register is just another one highlighting the issue:

"LineOne and its telco sidekick Quip! have stoked a vicious response from customers who feel they've been cheated by the service provider's decision to dump 24/7 unmetered Net access.

The Register has been flooded with e-mails from angry users.

One reader wrote: "What a joke. They advertise this for months as '24/7 unmetered' then they just pull the plug."

Others have written to the BBC's hard-nosed consumer-rights programme, Watchdog in the hope that the company might have second thoughts if some hard-nosed journo sniffs around."

Sadly because the issue comes down to the usual 'lack of funds', it means that there simply isn't likely to be a reversal on the situation no matter what happens. Perhaps LineOne users only comfort is that we all feel just as cheated and angry.

News - July 17,2000

General Complaints Update

By:mark @ 9:12:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Just to let you know that I've decided to remove the individual 'No. of complaints' for each complaint in our Complaints section.

This is because it takes far to long to tally everything we get, instead it'd be easier to just put a kind of colour code. Red for 'LOTS OF COMPLAINTS' and along that sort of line, thus saving us time and making it quicker to be updated.

As for the complaints themselves, well BTInternet is still right up there and so is RedHotAnt and of course, 4UNet with EzeSurf now starting to trail close behind. Take note that RedHotAnt seems to have improved over the weekend, yet I could be mistaken, so we'll watch them like a hawk today.

As for EzeSurf, engaged tones seem to be on the up at peak hours, or as one guy said:

"I don't know about anyone else but at peak times (approx 6.00pm to 11.00pm) I am now getting constant engaged tones on both Surfsaver and the 24/7 Freeserve accounts." - Richard

We've noticed this as well and sometimes you can login to find TCP/IP connections are totally dead and then have to re-dial again. This is strange because EzeSurf have always been one of the best, although we STILL can't get any reply out of Richard or Keri @ EzeSurf on other matters - PLEASE CONTACT US.

Still we have to say that Unmetered ISP complaints have actually shown a drop, we are now getting 20-30% less and any we do get are about particular ISPs (BTInternet anybody?). Signs that the networks are finally catching up with demand? Could be.

BT:ADSL Security Scare & Release Dates

By:mark @ 8:52:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The latest problem in the whole BT:ADSL affair is not delays or lack of actual working services, no it's security. The Register is reporting that there is a serious security hole with BT's ADSL services:

"The head of broadband services at BT has acknowledged that its implementation of ADSL lacks security and it will be up to third parties to ensure customers' data is unhackable.

Chris Gibbs, who is masterminding the introduction of ADSL in the UK for BT, said that the use of a fixed IP address in the implementation it expects to roll out early next year, meant that unless steps were taken by its third party resellers, data on users' PCs could be accessed by hackers.

"IP always on means you are open to hacking and will need a firewall," he said. "All of the big ISPs have been part of our trials and between 60 to 80 have bought the IP central core." It would be up to ISPs to protect their customers' data."

For your regular net user this isn't actually anything new and it was an issue we highlighted awhile back in our 'Internet Safety & Security' article. Consumer firewalls are already in abundant use and some (ZoneLabs) are very easy to set-up. That's not all though:

"According to sources close to BT's plans, ADSL will be rolled out for end users early next year at a price of between £610 and £840 per annum, with the contention rate running at ratios of between 20:1 to 50:1.

But pricing, according to the same source, is "likely to be a nightmare", with the ISPs bundling different services, and in one or two cases, free PCs as well, with the BT service.

Further, next year, BT is set to introduce an SDSL service which will allow people to effectively host Web sites without the bandwidth problems associated with ADSL. That, when it happens, could upset BT's apple-cart in the leased line business, as firms rush to free themselves of the heavy fees associated with that service. ®

*ADSLoid 222. After re-unification of Germany, Deutsche Telekom ripped out the old infrastructure and replaced it with fibre optic cable. There is now a discussion whether or not to re-install copper so that customers there can have the benefit of ADSL..."

Early next year? We thought it had only been delayed another month or two? Personally we don't see the problem, ISDN has advantages over ADSL and Cable Modems in terms of stability, making it perfect for Online play. Why is it so difficult to simply reduce the price and make ISDN to ADSL what Modems are to ISDN now?

BIG BROTHER

By:Daniel @ 2:16:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We just thought we'd remind you that Big Brother started a couple of days a go and starting from next week you can see short clips of it on channel 4.

OR

If you goto http://www.channel4.com/bigbrother and you can watch them when you want.

If you are unsure what Big Brother is check out the webpage above.

News - July 16,2000

ISPreview Weekly Update

By:mark @ 10:12:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Ah I'm back in good old England, a place yet again being made the bad guy thanks to Mel Gibsons new film, go Mel! Still away from the crazy slaughters of the past and onto a somewhat tamer future. Its certainly been a turbulent week, what with Demons 'iffy' unmetered package, Lineone throwing in the towel and major newspapers slamming BT over targeted delays.

Thankfully ISPreview has kept a cool head and is managing to get on with the tiresome job of reporting on them all. Firstly I'd like to say a big '!Thanks!' to all the ISPr staff for covering while I was away and sorry to the new staff, whom I kinder forgot (be in touch soon) =).

ISPr itself has been having some changes, namely in the articles and reviews layout. Our previous one was criticised because it was difficult to print, little uneasy on the eyes and generally failed to impress. The new one is actually more 'code complicated', yet looks better, is easier to read and can be printed with a single click.

We're currently doing some new reviews with the ISP Reviews version of the layout (different to articles). Other than that everything else such as 'The Array' is internal and we'll tell you all about those next week. Oh one last thing, review and article reader comments and a petition system are now both under development (give it a couple of months).

Also we're now recommending the paid to surf program 'Cash Fiesta' (Click to join under us) over 'AllAdvantage'. This is because AA has ceased the accounts of anybody who has a ref on their list that's cheating - totally unfair (one of you is cheating hehe). Also those under us on Getpounds, they'll be filtering out the system properly any day.

The Array (It's not Startrek, just fact)

By:mark @ 9:42:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

After Net4Nowt's post yesterday, some of you were a bit confused by our involvement. Well yes we are helping to put out the content for it along with N4N. The idea is that you download a local piece of software, run it and can then see the headlines from both of us.

N4N has explained it the best, so give them a visit. There is a limit of 100 Beta testers and thus it might be too late now, still head over HERE to get the software. The next beta stage will be open to all.

Lineone to WITHDRAW Unmetered

By:zeon @ 8:34:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Lineone have decided to withdraw unmetered Internet access. This is being sent to all customers:

"Since we introduced the LineOne free Internet calls offer with Quip! the response has been overwhelming. Usage of this service is now much more than our original expectations - something we could not have anticipated.

As our primary long term aim is, and always has been, to provide high quality content and services for all our members, continuing to support this free Internet calls offer would inhibit future investment in the LineOne product.

LineOne and Quip! have therefore decided to withdraw the free Internet calls offer.

The good news is that this will not affect you in the short term, so you do not have to do anything at the moment, just carry on using the free Internet service as normal.

As an existing LineOne/Quip! member we have arranged for you to continue to receive unlimited Internet calls (at the minimum £5 per month charge) until 30th September 2000. Also, at the end of September Quip! will automatically credit your Quip! account with £20 worth of phone calls.

LineOne will be introducing an alternative Internet calls package for all members. From the beginning of September we will be offering LineOne Surftime from BT, which is an off-peak Internet calls package. We will contact you in due course via email to your lineone.net account with more information about this exciting new offer.

Alternatively, you can choose to access LineOne using the local call rate number. We will send you details nearer the time with instructions on how to do this. Your Quip! account will remain active so you can continue to benefit from discounted phone calls.

We have put a list of Frequently Asked Questions online at http://www.lineone.net/information/quipofferfaqs.html which should answer any queries you may have about the end of free unlimited calls offer. However, if you cannot find your answer here you can email quipoffer@lineone.net any time or call 01438 345087 between the hours of 8am - 12 midnight.

Please note: For Quip! billing queries go to the 'help and advice' section at http://www.quip.co.uk. For LineOne technical support queries call 0906 30 20 100*).

We hope you understand our reasons for having to close the offer, and trust you will continue enjoying the LineOne service.

Yours faithfully

Shelley Mackereth
Marketing Manger
LineOne"

The price of this offer meant that there was little or no profit to be made from offering unmetered access but with BT Surftime Lineone should be able to make some money. The other factor in this decision is BT who have a large share of Lineone and Quip!. We hope to get some official comment from either company soon.

More information is available from Quip and Lineone.

Lineone will loose a huge amount of customers to this as many of them will want 24/7 unmetered and not an off-peak offer. Now that they will use BT Surftime people with cable will be unable to get any unmetered from Lineone. Comments.......

Some useful links:
Watchdog - Take your complaint to them.
Lineone BBS - Lots of discussion in the Lineone section.

News - July 15,2000

EXCLUSIVE !Demon Unmetered Details!

By:mark @ 4:18:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We received a rather strange and secretive E-Mail about Demon Internet just now. It contains details about their unmetered service costs and offerings (finally!), the details were a little confusing so instead we'll quote from the website:

"The two Demon Premier Connect packages are specifically designed to benefit the vast majority of Internet users. Customers can even use Premier Connect in conjunction with the new BT Surftime schemes for free Internet calls during evenings and weekends, or throughout the day. The packages - Premier Connect and Premier Connect Plus - are explained in more detail below.

PREMIER CONNECT
Demon Premier Connect provides a significant discount on all your evening and weekend Internet calls. By paying the standard Demon subscription fee of £11.75 per month (inc. VAT), your call costs from a BT line will be charged at:

-2.0p per minute daytime (Mon - Fri, 8am - 6pm)
-0.6p per minute evenings and nights (Mon - Fri, 6pm - midnight, midnight- 8am)
-0.5p per minute weekends (midnight Friday - midnight Sunday)

By making an additional Surftime payment of £5.99 per month (inc. VAT) to BT, you can receive 100% discount on all your evening and weekend calls. In other words, all of these calls will become free. Please note that Surftime is not yet available on all BT lines, but should be available nationwide by December 2000.

PREMIER CONNECT PLUS
Demon Premier Connect Plus provides the same evening and weekend call discounts as the Demon Premier Connect package, along with a substantial discount on all daytime calls to the Internet. By paying a Demon subscription fee of £19.99 per month (inc. VAT), your call costs from a BT line will be charged at:

-1.0p per minute daytime (Mon - Fri, 8am - 6pm)
-0.6p per minute evenings and nights (Mon - Fri, 6pm - midnight, midnight - 8am)
-0.5p per minute weekends (midnight Friday - midnight Sunday)

For an additional Surftime payment to BT of £19.99 per month (inc. VAT), you can receive 100% discount on your Internet calls, daytime and evening - making all calls free in effect. As with the Premier Connect package, there is also the option of paying a monthly £5.99 fee to cover your evening and weekend Internet calls only. Please note that Surftime is not yet available on all BT lines, but should be available nation-wide by December 2000."

However that's not all, the E-Mail we had stated the following extremely interesting information:

*No cut-offs.
*No bandwidth limitations.
*128k [unofficial] access.
*NDU + BDU dialups get the 19.99 (Premier connect plus) for free.

So technically for around £40 Per Month you can have 128Kbps ISDN, No cut-offs and no bandwidth limits! It may seem expensive but this is exactly the package a lot of us have been waiting for, Demon look to be bouncing back. Of course only time can tell whether the service is as good as the offer, Demon are known for various troubles here and there.

Package goes live in August and cheers to David for the heads-up.

EasyNet Go Business ADSL

By:mark @ 10:22:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

EasyNet have informed us via mail that they have launched their ADSL package for businesses:

"Easynet, a leading pan-European commercial Internet Service Provider and telecommunications company, announced today the full release of their ADSL service for business users, EasyDSL. EasyDSL is a fully routed multi-user service for the business user who requires high broadband connectivity, with speeds of up to 2mb per second.

Easynet's future DSL strategy will make full use of the de-regulation of the 'local loop' and as one of the selected participating trialists for 'Unbundled Local Loops' intends to launch it's own end to end DSL service as soon as the industry permits. Recent changes in BT's license allow Easynet to colocate equipment in BT Local Exchanges and "own" the copper lines that connect customers directly with Easynet's network. This will allow Easynet to bypass BT and offer innovative products that will further benefit its customers during 2001.

David Rowe, Easynet Group Chairman and CEO said; "Having pioneered DSL services in France and Belgium, we are pleased to announce our initial offering in the U.K market. DSL promises the customer fast, low cost access from their Local Area Networks, and once we are able to bypass BT in the UK and other incumbent operators elsewhere in Europe we expect even greater benefits to our customers in terms of speed, service, and value for money" "

At current the prices for the EasyDSL service start at £79 per month (excluding VAT and installation) for the 500Kb/250KB circuit and rise to £119 per month for 2Mb/250Kb (excluding VAT and installation).

It's slightly cheaper than some of the others and remember, the business packages use a far lower contention ratio (usually 10:1 instead of 50:1). This could drop in price and contention when BTs loop is finally unbundled and they don't have to use them.

Hay, aren't we still waiting for BT to actually supply the needed hardware/Telco stuff for ADSL to work on anything but BTopenworld? Hmmm.

Buzzline Refunds - Or NOT

By:mark @ 8:00:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Every now and then somebody asks us just when they are going to get a refund from Buzzline, which is now seriously overdue. We can't seem to get a reply out of them and so our advice would be to start a 'small claims' proceeding against them:

"Has anyone yet received a refund from buzzline. I am still waiting for mine. When I joined them I received an email from them that because of the delay in setting up the service I could cancel, which I did but the £40.00 was still taken from my debit card."

Can ANYBODY tell us whether they HAVE or have NOT received a refund and this is quite important. To be honest we can't see how everybody who signed up could possibly all get one, most should though, but when?

24-7Freecall is a happy ISP

By:mark @ 7:55:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Well it's not often that an ISP chooses to jump for joy and tell everybody about it, especially if it's actually true, but never let anybody say that this hasn't been a week for firsts. 24-7Freecall have just posted us an E-Mail which does just that:

"As you know 24-7Freecall launched an 'unconditional, unmetered, unlimited' service on 12th June to anyone with a BT line and over the last 3 weeks the response has been quite phenomenal.

We congratulate everyone who has joined and hope that they continue to enjoy the quality and speed of our Internet access service.

We appreciate the fact that the 24-7Freecall service is not for everyone, especially when there is a choice of 'free, free' offers out in the market. However our aim has always been to offer you a fast and reliable access point without any frustrating conditions being imposed on you.

Judging from the comments posted on the Internet chat rooms and Bulletin Boards, we believe we are providing a high quality service that is consistent and dependable. Subscribers appear to favour the extremely fast speeds of the service. We're working to improve on this by adding new features about which we'll keep you posted on as we go.

24-7Freecall and technology partner Telia UK have been delighted with the subscriber response over the last three weeks and are proud to announce a new unmetered price of just £19.99 per month. This move is designed to establish 24-7Freecall as the only viable alternative to BT Surftime whilst still retaining our levels of quality and our 'unconditional' edge.

All new AND existing subscribers to 24-7Freecall will pay £19.99 from 12th July for unmetered and unlimited access at any time of day or night. Existing subscribers need do nothing as your accounts will be updated automatically.

In addition we have increased the capacity for this month so that new
subscribers will not be disappointed."

I was going to say something about counting your chickens before they've grown up and start biting you in the ass, however I won't =). So to sum things up, 24-7Freecall are still on their winning streak and if you haven't signed up yet then now is your time to do so before they close the registrations again.

We'll wait until the dialup authentication method is less tedious =), good service so far though.

RIP Update

By:Daniel @ 1:41:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Unfortunately I have not had time to update lately so here is an update on RIP:

"The House of Lords refused to pass the governments Regulatory and Investigatory Powers (RIP) Bill this week.

At present, a large number of ISPs have condemned the Bill, announcing their intent to base core elements of their services overseas in order to take advantage of the more liberal laws in other European countries.

ISPs condemning the Bill include Poptel, Claranet, Direct Connection, Wellance, UUNet, Greennet and the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA).

Government and critics are now discussing the possibility of shelving the Bill for a short time in order to amend it."

Is this the news we have all been waiting for. Lets hope if they do make amendments they will be less strict towards ISP customers.

Read the full article over @ Yahoo News

News - July 14,2000

Virgin Net Delays Unmetered

By:Ross14 @ 11:29:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Virgin Net have decided to delay their unmetered rollout so that they can be sure of a problem-free launch, reports Vnunet.

You may remember that they launched their Stop-the-Clock service in April of this year for 10,000 of their existing Virgin Net subscribers. They had scheduled a national rollout for this July, but they have now delayed this until September. They want all problems rectified so that it doesn't "Spoil there reputation." Read On:

"A Virgin Net spokesman said the service has been delayed because of a "cross section" of issues which need to be refined. "The trial has thrown up a number of areas to be looked at, which was precisely the purpose of the trial. We don't think we are ready to offer a full service yet," he said.

Areas that will need 'refining' include technical and customer support issues, said the spokesman, adding that the trial itself has not suffered any real difficulties.

"The trial has been a success and we have been able to monitor the usage patterns of customers. But other brands have failed miserably and Virgin can't afford to do that. There is no point launching a service if you can't deliver all aspects."

Alex Heath, Virgin Net managing director, said in April that the service would offer free internet access all day, every day for a flat monthly fee of £15, but restricted the offering to 10,000 existing subscribers. It is not clear whether Virgin will limit how many new users can sign up to Stop-The-Clock in September."

It's good to see such a large ISP delay the launch of their unmetered plans to make sure that the appropriate services are available for registraints. A good move by Virgin Net.