July 7, 2000 - July 14, 2000

News - July 14,2000

New Stuff @ ISPreview

By:mark @ 6:44:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

These days it's as though we make some big changes or add in new sections every few days. Well no change today then as we showcase the new layout for our articles and give you something interesting to go with it.

We decided to question one of the managers at http://www.btinternet.com about the slew of problems that have been around for such a long time. Originally intended to be a big news update, the details we received were simply too big to publish in that form. As such we've slapped it all together in a 'printer friendly' new articles layout (to be used in reviews soon):

"The next item to be discussed was the problem connecting to BTI, there are two issues here, the first is a small problem with connecting to ISPs at a local level in the exchanges. This problem is affecting nearly all of the major ISPs, yet should be solved when DLE is introduced into the exchanges, this will mean Internet calls will be routed over an IP network, which will ease congestion. Most exchanges will be DLE enabled by October'2000."

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/articles/bti/

*Update*
This is only a single page article, I'll make that more obvious on the 'Next Page' bit at the bottom next time.

Supasurf with Supanet

By:zeon @ 1:51:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Supanet have a range of unmetered packages called Supasurf. They range from the cheaper call costs to totally unmetered plans. Supasurf 15 costs 2p per minute at all times and costs £4.99/month and Supasurf 20 costs 1p per minute at all times and costs £8.99/month. These packages will be available in a couple of days.

Supasurf 200 offers unmetered off-peak for £5.99 per month and Supasurf 300 offers unmetered 24/7 for £19.99 per month. These packages will be available on 1st September.

More details on the Supasurf and SupaADSL can be found HERE

BT Under Fire

By:mark @ 1:41:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

You may remember back just before I went on holiday that we printed a damning article on the behaviour of BT towards its associates. The article focused on how BT was withholding supply of needed hardware for ISPs wanting to make use of ADSL or Surftime.

The key point being that BT themselves made sure their own use of the services was fine and that they could give no credible reason for the delay. Well it would seem yesterdays Daily Telegraph has picked up on the same thing which can be found in the dotcom.telegraph section - page2:

"Internet service providers (ISPs), such as AOL and AltaVista, have been forced to wait six weeks for BT to provide the telecoms links which they need to offer unmetered access services.

At the end of May, the telecoms regulator Oftel, ruled that BT should provide a wholesale unmetered access product to telecoms companies "within a reasonable time".
"

The article goes on to explain about Surftime and ADSL issues as well as more on the withholding of telecoms equipment for other unmetered ISPs. If you haven't already looked then do, it's an extremely interesting piece and one, which reflects the general opinions very well.

T-Online Bids For Freeserve?

By:mark @ 1:33:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

You may remember that only three weeks ago T-Online decided to slow down the bidding process for the UK Freeserve ISP. Today http://www.theregister.co.uk is reporting that the bidding could have started yet again:

"Takeover talks between Freeserve and Deutsche Telekom's T-Online seem to be back on. Rumours of the deal sent the share price to 335.5 pence. Analysts at Credit Suisse First Boston have put a 496p target on the shares according to the Daily Express. Looks like the Freeserve management's concerns about their share options are being sorted."

These are obviously only rumours for the moment, could it be marketing spin to get Freeserves share prices up or is a deal really looming? Wait and see.

System Problems

By:mark @ 10:40:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Just when I thought things would go smooth on my first official day back, they didn't. Something unusual is happening in IE, and Microsoft DUN that's causing redial crashing, unclickable window layers and god loads of other problems.

Obviously if I can't redial more than three times then Internet access becomes extremely difficult to achieve on these ISPs and impossible in the evenings through just about all of them. As such I'm going to perform a radical reinstall of everything for the second time inside two months, not good.

So a note to the staff, cover me whilst I do this as it might not work since I'm going to install WindowsME OEM that has arrived in the office since I've been away.

News - July 13,2000

Madasafish Delay Unmetered

By:zeon @ 10:26:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Net4Nowt have picked up an e-mail sent to one of Madasafishes customers:

"We thought that we should keep you informed about the imminent launch of our unmetered access services. You will recall that we had aimed to launch these yesterday on the 10th of July. Unfortunately, this date has slipped by a few days as we finalise the service. We now expect to have the service ready for launch by the end of this month, so not too far away.

As you are no doubt aware, the provision of unmetered services are more problematic than would appear at first pass. We are determined not to fall into the same problems that other ISPs have encountered in terms of capacity and service levels and we are confident that you want to ensure this too."


Hopefully we will see Madasafish become the first to have a problem free unmetered service.

24-7 Freecall Update No.2

By:mark @ 7:25:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Whoops, just a quick apology out to 24-7 Freecall for incorrectly stating earlier that they didn't support ISDN when clearly they do. My comment was based on a glance over their FAQ's when they first went Online and as such didn't support ISDN.

So far 24-7 Freecall is really taking onboard customer comments and is managing to enhance the service from those. Not to mention they are the 'Readers Top 50' (don't look at me, it's your vote hehe) No.1 choice still no are not in our Top 10 yet.

Why aren't they in our own Top 10 when they are No.1 in the readers list? Simple, because all the ones in our Top 10 have actually been tried by us and most were also reviewed. We will be reviewing 24-7 Freecall just as soon as we have enough cash to do so, you guys know how much it costs to review unmetered ISPs =)?

General ISPreview Update

By:mark @ 2:51:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Well I'll be 100% back tomorrow but since you can update websites like this off-line and then simply upload the changes, I decided to do just that. First up we have the worst ISP for July which, has now been given to none other than http://www.redhotant.com .

Following that our ISP Top 10 has been updated seeing Games-World.Net jump into first place and AOL drop down. ClaraNet has managed to climb thanks to the recent 'AnyTime' announcement and Vispa.Net entered back into the fray for similar reasons.

Our new poll asks the question, "What's most important to you in a web site?" and no longer suffers from the invisible results bug. You can see the results for the last poll in the usual place down the right hand side. This months ISP is Care4Free because they took our advice and have made improvements to an already top quality service.

You may also have noticed that we added two new news pages, one for European Internet news and the other for general Internet news. They are moulded into the ISPreview layout and can be access at the top of the main pages news.

That's it for now, watch for this weeks Sunday update as it will contain details about the changes some of you wanted the most.

24-7 Freecall Press Release

By:mark @ 2:15:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

You may have already heard the unofficial news that http://www.24-7freecall.net was to drop its subscription charge to £19.99 per month. Well today we have the official press release and some additional news for you:

"July 12 - 24-7Freecall have thrown down the gauntlet to BT Surftime and priced their Internet access service at just £19.99, lower than any combined Surftime product. BT Surftime requires the user to choose an ISP who may levy an additional monthly fee on top of the Surftime charge.

24-7Freecall launched last month and has received a tremendous response from Internet users.

"Our first month has been quite dramatic and the scale of economies now available to the company allows us to offer 24/7 unmetered access for just £19.99 a month" said Commercial Director Sal Abdin "Although we're determined to be price competitive we won't do it at the expense of service. We'll be maintaining the levels of quality and speed that our subscribers have come to expect."

Since launch the service has been acclaimed for its reliability, its 'no conditions' edge and for its speed. The service is open to anyone with a BT line and requires no phone number change, needs no dialler, no minimum spend and offers an 'eat as much as you like' service with no enforced cut-off times, no pop-up adverts, no minimum contract periods and, of course, no call charges.
"

They also have big plans for ADSL support (if BT can ever let it go live to all but themselves) and WAP access. However the press release doesn't end there, take a look at this:

"On the 24th day of the 7th month (July 24) 24-7Freecall will draw out at random 100 emails from existing subscribers FOR WHOM THE COMPANY WILL WAIVE THE SUBSCRIPTION FEE FOR LIFE!

This group of people will receive TOTALLY FREE INTERNET ACCESS while they are a 24-7Freecall member. No subscription, no call charges, nothing!

Anyone is eligible for the draw but you must be a paid up subscriber before 23rd July 2000. New accounts are now available and Internet users can join at http://www.24-7freecall.net .

Winners will be notified within 24 hours by email.
"

Considering 24-7 Freecall isn't an awesomely sized ISP that draw actually looks pretty good. It also says there that they are finally open to new subscriptions, it'll be interesting to see how the future of this ISP pans out.

RIP Bill - Complaints "ill founded"

By:mark @ 10:28:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The Register is reporting on how a senior government minister has labelled the storm of complaints regarding the RIP bill as "ill founded". In case you've been sitting in a cave these past few months, that's the bill that gives police the right to read your E-Mails and possibly more, without hassle:

"Home Office Minister Charles Clarke has labelled concerns over the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) bill from an alliance of 50 UK organisations "ill founded".

In the ongoing daily media circus that RIP seems to have become, the Home Office Minister has written to The Daily Telegraph denying that the authorisation measures the bill would bring with it would be inadequate.

Clarke's comments, expected to appear in tomorrow's edition of the Telegraph, include: "The Bill is an important one which does not substantially increase the powers available to the law enforcement and security agencies but will make the UK a better and safer place to live for all."

The letter continues: "Particularly, the allegation that the oversight and authorisation measures are wholly inadequate is badly wrong. The Bill is drafted tightly specifically to ensure that the use of all the powers is controlled and regulated with full regard to the European Convention on Human Rights. That is one of the primary drivers of the Bill."

Clarke's correspondence was a response to an open letter signed by around 50 UK organisations that was delivered to the House of Lords today - in time to catch the final discussion stage on RIP.
"

Ill founded or not, 50 complaints from major UK businesses and organisations should NEVER be shrugged off in such a way. Why on earth is it ill founded to be worried about the security of a person's private information on the Internet? Time will tell.

Blueyonder Drops To £33pm

By:mark @ 10:15:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Thanks to those that pointed us in the direction of the CableNews UK page where they have an exclusive rumour regarding the possible price drop for Cable Modem ISP Blueyonder (Telewest):

"A previously reliable source at Telewest has revealed to cablenews:uk that the company could be about to reduce the price of the Blueyonder cable modem service to only £33/month from 24th July. The £50 installation charge will also be dropped.

The service currently costs £50 per month, more than rival services from ntl and BTopenworld priced at around £40/month. The move to a cheaper price point is bound to cause a stir in the fledging broadband Internet market, especially considering the recent delays and pricing controversies surrounding BT's ADSL services (for which Openworld is just one ISP).

The service has been dogged by delays recently, but the move to a more aggressive pricing strategy is good news for everyone, as the competition should drive prices down for other similar services.
"

That's quite a cut and instantly puts Cable Modems ahead of the game against the likes of ADSL, which still hasn't officially gone live. Now if only somebody would offer these services on the south coast, we country foke are always the last =).

RedHotAnt Multi-Logins

By:zeon @ 8:32:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Another explanation from RHA on the multi-login problem:

"Fortunately we were already aware of this situation, which only materialised very recently. There was a bug in the 3 Com authentication server which intermittently allowed multiple connections.

Due to the seriousness of this issue we spared no energy to remove the bug by changing the server concerned. Our technical team were up all last night to resolve this issue and are pleased to announce that our immediate action was totally successful.

This is just another example of how a small ISP can resolve a major issue very quickly.

On the subject of connectivity issues we have got assurances that the
promised lines are due in very shortly and as soon as we receive a snip of information from our backbone provider regarding the upgrade we will inform all of our users."


This multi-login problem has been around for a long time and RHA have never noticed before. It seems they will only take action when they are pointed to the problem.

The latest update on the status page:

"12th July 2000 18:15
Some users are experiencing intermittent line faults and connectivity issues while trying to connect to RedHotAnt. This is primarily due to a switching issue involving our telecommunications provider MCI WorldCom.

MCI WorldCom’s engineers are currently urgently investigating this issue and have raised a fault ticket regarding this issue (Ticket number: 177616). If you require evidence of the above-mentioned ticket please telephone MCI’s fault line on 0800 570570."

News - July 12,2000

Open Road from Sniff Out

By:zeon @ 4:38:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Sniff Out today announced a range of packages coming under the collective name 'Open Road'. The unmetered packages all use Surftime and carry and added subscription charge from Sniff Out. Off-Peak access is £10/month and 24/7 is £25/month, price includes BT Surftime charge.

The service will start in August and more information can be found HERE

Internet Freedom - Or Not

By:mark @ 9:25:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

With the recent introduction of customer monitoring/security systems on ISPs we saw the first slant in Internet Freedom. However this next item from The Register would seem to represent the second:

"It doesn't really matter how it happened, the means to the end, but yesterday's announcement by the World Intellectual Property Organisation that it would "study ways" of stopping people registering URLs to which they have "no legitimate claim" can be seen as the death of the original Internet.

You may have forgotten those halcyon days when the Net was a unique, amazing medium, dreamed up by clever people who had taken too much acid. The Net would allow us all to communicate, to spread information and love to the world. It would precede man's final evolution into spiritual beings.

Of course, this is now as dead as the original acid craze, the 60s revolution, the student protests (US, France, China), [insert your favourite non-money-making philosophy here].Yep, we didn't have the technology in 1984, but now we have and don't think we won't use it.
"

No regulations have been announced yet and so it isn't prudent to make assumptions, however so far the situation doesn't seem as bad as it could be. After all, if you own a brand and find somebody is simply sitting on your domain and trying to sell it off then this is great news.

The problem comes if you own a business named for example, 'Picolin', in the UK and there s another one in the US that wants your domain. When you contradict the global appeal with the geographic residents of the physical world, confusion invariably arises.

Clara & Green Poised to Run

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

You may have been reading a lot about the recent introduction of 'customer spying' equipment being installed in UK ISPs. Some ISPs have protested against this and rightly so, however there is a way out.

Several ISPs have already decided to move their E-Mail servers (the focus for the spying hardware) to other European countries, thus avoiding the problem, ClaraNet and GreenNet have become the next ones - the register reports:

"London-based ClaraNet is having internal discussions to shift its server infrastructure to its Paris office. It is concerned about government access to keys, and it says if this part of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill does not change it will take legal advice on the move to France. If it transpires that its customers will not be covered by RIP if its servers are on the continent, it will re-locate.

GreenNet says it is also considering a move, but it is thinking about shifting its servers to Ireland. It says the government is destroying trust in the Net with its plans. It is able to put its servers in another country through its involvement with the Association for Progressive Communications network.

"Ireland is something that's been mentioned, it doesn't have the same restrictive laws," said Phil Carr, GreenNet user support manager. He is shocked by the Home Office's proposals regarding interception capabilities. "It's quite unprecedented that a government would want to do this kind of thing in peacetime."

Steve Rawlinson, ClaraNet systems manager, said: "We are concerned that it will affect our customers' confidence. The business customers, who have customers of their own, may move to an ISP that is not based in the UK."

The move is not a problem for ClaraNet, it has offices in France and Germany. But it could prove a costly decision for other ISPs without this offshore advantage.
"

It most certainly looks as though the British government have no idea what a [insert profanity here] storm they are brewing up. Perhaps the most amazing thing is the lack of coverage by the TV and Newspaper media, more people need to be told about this.

For our part, it's good to know some ISPs are willing to make big sacrifices to keep their customers safe - GO CLARA, GO GREEN.. etc. (American Cheerleaders and all that..).

News - July 11,2000

Vispa FAQ

By:zeon @ 11:14:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Vispa Members Update Newsletter has a small FAQ on Vispa's unmetered service:

Q) Do I have to change my phone company to use your new services?
A) Not at all, you can use any telephone company you like, we are not limited to Telco specific functions.

Q) What modem support will be available on 0800 based services?
A) We will be supporting on launch v.34, X2, Kflex, V.90 and 64k ISDN

24-7 Freecall To Reduce Costs

By:Ashley @ 10:26:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Our friends over at Net4Nowt have reported that 24-7 Freecall will be reducing the monthly cost of its 24/7 0800 internet service. They are knocking £5 of the current price, bringing it down to £19.99 per month for use of the service.

This is still a fairly high price considering services such as redhotant, etc. However, they do have no cut-off times, and there seems to be considerably less complaints about the service than that of the others.

This could be the first price reduction of many, we will keep a close eye on this matter for you.

Click here to visit 24-7 FreeCall

OFTEL and LLU

By:zeon @ 6:53:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

From the OFTEL Press Release:

"OFTEL today issued a draft determination to bring into effect the condition in BT’s licence on local loop unbundling.

The condition requires BT to allow other operators to place Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology equipment in the local exchange to upgrade the local loop so to provide high speed information services to customers.

David Edmonds, Director General of Telecommunications said today:

"Considerable progress has been made by the industry to resolve the various operational and technical issues associated with local loop unbundling. Tthe next stage will be to get on with the practical work of co-locating equipment and the provision of unbundled local loops.

"We have now reached the stage where the new condition in BT’s licence needs to be brought into force.

"The new condition provides the necessary legal framework so that if any problems occur, OFTEL can intervene swiftly so that the timetable for local loop unbundling remains on course.

"Operators should be able to place orders with BT for co-location of equipment in BT’s exchanges from 1 September, and work must be completed in time to ensure that operators can launch their services to customers by July 2001.

"Bringing the licence condition into force is an important step towards local loop unbundling, and will ensure that the momentum and timetable remains on course."


This means that BT might finally have to start to let go of the local loop. Hopefully it will bring cheaper prices and better service.

Source: Barrysworld

Back from Holidays

By:mark @ 5:24:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Yes that's right, the mighty chump muffin for ISP news has finally returned from the searing heat of 45Degree Cephalonia off the Greek coast. I'm not actually in the UK yet, rather back in France for a couple of days and using my GSM modem.

There's little point in me updating the news until I can work out how things have been progressing in my first extended week away from the project. So while I get busy catching up and sifting through 600+ E-Mails (yeah thanks guys, that's just what I need), the good ISPr staff should continue to cover.

Chances are I'll try to get back into some kind of unsteady routine tomorrow, perhaps a couple of updates today as well =):

PS"Some things never change, RHA still engaged.. ugghhh"

1 in 4 Brits say NO to the Net.

By:Ross14 @ 5:05:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Vnunet.com have today, along with many other Net News Sites, published an article, made by the consumer agency Which?, that 1 in 4 Adult Brits find the net a turnoff and have no intentions of going online.

Experts now think that in the near future there will be a "digital divide."

Here is a snippet from the article:

Despite nearly 13 million people currently using the internet in the UK, a large number still do not understand what it is for, or what it can offer. According to the Which? Online survey of 1970 UK adults, nearly 15 million people find the internet to be irrelevant, of no value and a threat to high street shops.

"These 'never-users' are telling us that they think the internet is too expensive and irrelevant to them, and that they can get what's on it elsewhere," said Paul Kitchen, head of Which? Online.

With only one in 10 non-users intending to access the internet within the next year, and 50 per cent refusing to ever get online, Which? Online has warned that the UK is at risk of becoming "digitally divided" unless non-users are shown the benefits of using the internet.


You can read the rest of the article by going HERE

4 Tel Feature

By:Ross14 @ 4:58:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

I'm sure that many of us Daily read 'Online' on Text Pages 490-493 on Channel 4. Well today, Tina Lofthouse - the writer for 'Online' - has written an article on the BT Surftime Saga. It's available on 4 Tel page 492.

It details information about how Surftime's Rocky Road hasn't finished yet and includes some good information and quotes.

BT to Float Arms?

By:zeon @ 1:27:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The Register has an interesting article about the ideas coming out of BT to float parts of the business:

"The most recent cock-up is its suggested break-up into smaller dumb beasts. One thing we will give BT is that its ideas team is excellent. The proposal to split itself into different businesses and possibly float a few is exemplary. The company has become fat and lazy and is being outran by smaller, fitter competitors. Plus, BT's bureaucracy and internal power games make any sharp decision an embarrassing wobble."

Read the full article HERE

News - July 10,2000

Government Respond to Poptel's Stand

By:Ashley @ 10:30:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The Government, as reported earlier today on ZDnet, have stepped in to reassure ISPs that there will be no mass surveillance under the new RIP bill currently being processed.

The article says,

"The government moves to reassure ISPs that mass surveillance is not on the RIP agenda as the bill suffers another setback this week.

It follows news that ISP Poptel intends to move abroad if the government's snooping bill becomes law, claiming that it would not be able to guarantee its clients -- which includes the TUC and trade unions -- email confidentiality."


Is this just a move by the Government to stop the bad publicity the bill is getting by ISPs threatening to move away, or are they serious about the no mass surveillance? We will have to keep a close eye on this matter.

Read the full article here

Halifax To Offer High-Street Internet Access

By:Ashley @ 6:22:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Halifax, the high-street building society, are to offer their customers free internet and telephone access to its online stores, via special "click and call" units installed in branches.

It is said that over the next couple of months, 600 of these access points will be installed in Halifax branches, allowing customers access to "Halifax Online" and Halifax Direct, as well as Rightmove, an online estate agency.

This is a positive step towards high-street net access to the unfortunate chunk of the population who do not have net access at home. However, I expect there to be some restrictions on the net access from there, which may make the offer seem less appealing.

Source: NetImperative

RedHotAnt, World Online Call Gapping

By:zeon @ 12:21:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

This morning we have been investigating a number of issues with particular ISPs RHA and World Online. There have been a number of problems with both of these services; one of these is Call Gapping.

Call Gapping stops the telephone network falling over by only letting n in n calls through. This is used when a high number of requests are put on one number. In the ISPs case this is there dialup number. This problem can be solved by the company that routes the calls to the ISPs this will be BT and another company (RHA uses MCI WorldCom and World Online uses Colt) improving the connections between their networks. This might involve having more points to collect the calls or improving the switches in the exchanges.

RHA tell us that Call Gapping is responsible for some of the connection problems to the service and they aren't sure whether adding more lines will actually solve the problem as customers have complained even when they have had a large amount of lines free.

World Online have complained to OFTEL about Call Gapping recently and OFTEL tell us that the issue is still under investigation and can't tell us who is at fault yet.

Another issue we brought up with RHA was Mutlilogins they stated that it should only be possible for there to be 2 logins per account for ISDN 128k. They said it is impossible for any more people to connect on the same account and they would ban anyone doing so.

News - July 9,2000

RHA Newsletter

By:zeon @ 10:07:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The latest ISN Newsletter:

"Well, it can still be a bit difficult to get connected at busy periods but the good news is the promised upgrade is coming very shortly. I know, not that line again, but I am personally seeing lots of activity here with engineers in and out and there is lots of communication going on with our backbone provider MCI Worldcom who are putting the new lines in.

Other good news is that the technical support team are now on top of
their emails and taking far more calls, have you noticed?
The latest figure is that incoming calls have halved which can
only mean that the team are catching more calls and dealing with
more correspondence than ever. Yes, ok we are not perfect but we
are heading in the right direction, so go easy on them, they are
highly motivated and are there to help you.


Is it a bit difficult or just impossible to connect from the e-mails we are getting, it's the latter. But it's good to see that the support is improving although this might be because people have just got fed up getting the same answer.

Blueyonder Cable Modem Rollout

By:Daniel @ 5:33:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Blueyonder the ISP that provides cable modems has released the latest roll-out dates for its hi-speed internet service, which is currently available in its Southeast and Northwest regions, as well as parts of Scotland.

In order to provide the best level of service possible Telewest has rescheduled the timetables for launching blueyonder in some of its regions.

Another broadband delay. Will there be anymore?

ISP Rips Up The RIP Bill

By:Ashley @ 5:25:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The Register have an article which outlines the fact that Poptel, a British ISP, is against certain aspects of the RIP bill.

The article says:

"Poptel, a British ISP which counts the Trades Union Congress TUC) among its customers, is threatening to move abroad, unless the Government ditches email snooping rights introduced through the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Bill.

Poptel, a not-for-profit business, reckons that the RIP Bill could be a contravention of the European Convention of Human Rights. This will certainly give opponents another point of attack, once the Government steamrollers the bill through Parliament."


Could this be the start of a ISP rampage against the proposed RIP Bill? We will have to look closely at this.

Read the full article

ISPreview Weekly Update

By:zeon @ 4:12:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The complaints page has been updated again. The 'Most Complained about ISP of the moment' is RedHotAnt. The situation with RHA just isn't getting any better and RHA don't seem willing to do much about it.
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/new/complain/complain.shtml

Currently the Top 10 ISP's on the Readers Top 50 are:

1. 24/7 FreeCall
2. World Online & Associates
3. Plus.Net (F9)
4. EzeSurf (SurfSaver)
5. Telewest (SU/BY)
6. Freeserve
7. LineOne
8. Totalise
9. IGClick
10. ClaraNet

Place your vote HERE

ISPA Update

By:Daniel @ 10:58:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

If you want to know if your ISP is part of the ISPA then go to http://www.ispa.org.uk/html/current_members_list.asp

If you are unsure what the ISPA is then read the news titled ISPA Change.

We did say that RHA was a member of the ISPA but they are not.

News - July 8,2000

World Online Q + A

By:zeon @ 11:38:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Some people from a site called The Scream! were invited to visit World Online recently. They did a question and answer session with a few members of staff. There are two bits HERE

Freedomland Move Into U.K

By:Ross14 @ 10:55:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Freedomland, an initial Spanish ISP is to launch in the U.K later this year with a '10 times faster' than normal internet connection service through our T.V's & ADSL services. Read on:

"An Anglo-Italian partnership is to offer Internet access and navigation via TV at a speed of up to 10 times faster than by normal telephone connection.
Italy's Freedomland-ITN, which provides Internet access through television set-top boxes, said on Friday it would launch a broadband Internet service with ADSL digital technology in before the end of July.

It said in a statement that it was teaming up with Uunet-Mci to launch the service in Britain and partnering Infostrada in Italy and Telefonica.

"It is now possible to satisfy the needs of the most demanding consumers who want broadband performances, and this will also enrich Italian, Spanish and English portals with video streaming content," said Freedomland-ITN CEO Giovanni Romagnoni."


Sounds a really excellent idea. And with their additions to the ADSL market, it will provide competition to other ADSL providers. This will hopefully result in lower charges!

Source: Yahoo UK News

News - July 7,2000

Buzzline WILL Refund

By:Ashley @ 10:19:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Our friends over at Net4Nowt have been in contact with the managing director of Buzzline, and he has informed them that they are currently processing the refunds, which is good news for all the people who were close to giving up on seeing their money again.

He said,

”We have completed the bulk of refunds for the Buzzline service. We hope to have the remainder processed next week.

We are informed by our bank that it can take up to 5 working days for the money to reach your account AFTER we have processed a refund. You should therefore allow this additional time for the money to appear in your account.”


So it looks like if you have not yet received a refund, it is (or will be) on the way to you very soon.

ISPA Change

By:Daniel @ 7:03:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

This is welcoming news:

"ISPA has found that the £15 administration fee, which was usually charged for launching the formal complaints procedure as outlined in the ISPA Code of Practice, was acting as a deterrent to running the complaints procedure properly and was impeding ISPA's ability to reach a proper solution.

Therefore, ISPA Council has made the decision to waive the fee. This is a decision which will apply to all complaints against any members. As part of our regular review of our Code of Practice, which is currently taking place, we will be assessing the entire complaints process to make it more effective."


Now if your ISP is a member of the ISPA that means you can complain to them. Please tell us in the comments if your ISP is. We think RHA (Jak Internet) is one and we are not sure about any others.

Source: The Register

RIP Update

By:Daniel @ 6:52:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Here's an update on the RIP bill:

"The government is planning to hand UK business £20 million to compensate for its email interception plans.

Tony Blair has told the Home Office to cough up the cash after fears that companies would flee abroad to avoid the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Bill impacting their business. There is also the prospect of the House of Lords defeating the Bill.

A Home Office representative dubbed the £20 million figure "speculation", refusing to deny or confirm whether the PM was planning to sub businesses over the implementation of RIP.
The RIP bill goes to the report stage in the Lords on Wednesday."


It looks as though the RIP bill is getting closer and closer to being finished.

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