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January 15, 2001 - January 18, 2001

News - January 18,2001

The Guide To R.I.P

By:mark.j @ 10:56:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The R.I.P (The Regulation of Investigatory Powers) is something many of us fear as it represents the start of what could be an eventual loss in overall privacy. It's a paranoid act that if misused, could do serious harm.

Thankfully there is one site that explains everything you need to know about it and how you can help prevent it.

http://www.stand.org.uk/commentary.php3

Imagine: it's a dark night, and you are trying to get some cash from an ATM machine. Suddenly you notice a large figure in uniform behind you. Distracted, you mistype your PIN number. The machine demands you type it again, so you do - and collect your money.

Then the figure puts his hand on your shoulder and you discover he's a policeman. A large, unfriendly policeman. He says he has reason to suspect you are up to no good and demands that you tell him your PIN number. You refuse or, in the confusion, you can't remember it.

Before you know what's happening you've been arrested and are standing before a judge. The charge? Failing to disclose your PIN number to a duly authorised person. The fact that you cannot remember it is no defence. It is assumed that you were up to no good - unless you can prove to the contrary. You are sent down for two years.

Unbelievable? Couldn't happen in a liberal democracy? Well, I have news for you.

R.I.P is more than just E-Mail monitoring; it impacts on many different things and most importantly, our direct privacy.

Mobiles & The 95% Connection Theory

By:mark.j @ 10:50:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We always thought that the use of percentages was waste of time when you're talking about hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions, of people. Today some connection statistics have been publish, the remaining percent to 100% is that which don't get a connection to those they dial:

East Anglia 95.3%
London 95.1%
Midlands 96.6%
Northern England 97.0%
Northern Ireland 97.9%
Scotland 92.4%
South East England 95.0%
South West England 94.7%
Wales 84.6%
National 95.3%

This test is designed to represent network strength and coverage since the test calls were made to open lines. Wales is probably not the best place to own a mobile phone right now =). Of course the recommended ratio would probably be 98-99%, 5% is still a colossal amount of people having problems. Despite this Oftel has given praise.

Ericssons Clever Business IP Phones

By:mark.j @ 10:36:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

IP Phones, based on VoIP (Voice Over IP) technology, will be commonplace in five or six years from now. However business often tends to be the early adopters of new technology and Ericssons latest business cost saver does just that:

Ericsson's Dialog 3413 IP phone enables a user working from home or a small branch office to plug a telephone into their home or office ethernet, and then connect directly to a main corporate voice and data system over the Internet. Essentially, this means that the remote user can avoid the phone charges of a traditional line, instead tapping into the company LAN for telephony requirements; voice and data needs are neatly converged via the one connection.

Ericsson claims that the IP enabled phone offers the same quality as standard circuit-switched access, and is a more cost-effective solution to connecting single-telephone offices than purchasing a remote desktop gateway.

The key practical use that we can see would be the ability to log into your work places network and use their Internet connection, which out of hours would be much faster and cheaper. Of course not all homes come with an Ethernet connection. More @ UK.Internet.

UK Business Breaches Data Protection Laws

By:mark.j @ 10:09:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Research from KLegal and KPMG's affiliated law firm has concluded that around one fifth of the UKs businesses breach the Data Protection Law on an almost daily basis:

The survey, which covered 200 UK companies, also found that much of the monitoring is haphazard, with 50% of companies monitoring email and internet activity "infrequently".

Punishments for misuse of access also varied, with employees being 40% more likely to be dismissed for downloading pornographic images from the internet than for sending offensive emails.

Of course under the new R.I.P and related laws this is considered legal, the problem is that not all the laws and acts have been properly tied together yet. Each contradicts the other and we end up in a vicious circle, but that's what was bound to happen unless changes are made. More @ netimperative.com.

NTLs £15 Per Month E-Mails

By:mark.j @ 10:01:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We've known for a while that NTL had planned to push up the price on its NTL World service from £10 to £15 per month. Although this is written as a 'minimum spend on calls' before anything is free, it still remains a monthly charge.

Today NTLWorld started sending the customer E-Mails out, it's nothing new, but worth posting anyway:

Customer no. **********

I am writing to inform you of some important changes we are making to your ntlworld service. Unfortunately, our costs have increased steadily over the past year and so we will be increasing the minimum monthly spend on non-internet calls from £10 to £15. The new minimum spend will take effect from February 1st 2001 and will first appear on your March statement.

Just as before, if your non-internet calls should fall below the minimum spend we'll simply round up the call charges to £15.

Nothing else changes.

You'll still benefit from unlimited internet calls, and if you use a computer to access the net, you'll still be making huge savings:

- AOL's flat fee of £14.99 per month doesn't give you any non-internet call time

- BT Surf Together only offers free internet access during the weekend or evenings for £14.99 but doesn't include any talk time

Our 3-2-1 call plan will continue to provide national calls at local rates - 3p a minute weekdays, 2p a minute weekday evenings and 1p a minute at weekends, all subject to a 3.5p connection charge. And you'll still be able to take advantage of our International Option.

Should you have any concerns or queries please visit our website at
http://www.askntl.com or contact us by going to http://www.askntl.com/contact/customer.asp and completing the service enquiry form.

Please be assured that ntl are committed to offering you the most up to date and best communications technology at the lowest possible price.

Yours sincerely

**** **********
Head of Customer Marketing

News - January 17,2001

EXCLUSIVE-RedHotAnt Plans REFUNDS!

By:mark.j @ 4:45:PM - Comments (17) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We've been following Neil through the process of trying to get a refund over the last couple of days. As you may remember from a few posts down, his money was taken the day the service died. We left off a few hours ago with him having contacted Trading Standards and seeking legal council.

He's kindly sent us another update with what could be wonderful news to those in a similar situation to his:

I've just had a phone call from a legal advisory service that I have been in contact with. They have called Clive Allon (RHA) and it now appears the RHA are doing something towards refunds. It looks like they are being done on a pro-rata basis, and depend on how long each user has been with them and length of line usage.

This seems to leave me in a very strong position, and also may give some hope to everybody else in this matter.

Excellent news, yet you tend to find that this is only relevant to those who've been with the service for under a month. However as Neil states, it can also depend on line usage, we'll keep a close eye on this and post updates. Perhaps the Police won't visit them after all =).

Oftel Asks Why Nobody Wants xDSL

By:mark.j @ 4:01:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

With all the recent news of Telco's, large and small, pulling out of LLU and more specifically - the xDSL take up through LLU, Oftel has called an emergency meeting to discuss why this is happening.

Orders for the first 25 exchanges where Oftel is forcing British Telecom to let competitors install broadband Internet equipment have fallen well short of the level expected, industry spokesmen said on today.

Only 14 of the exchanges received firm orders from companies wanting to install DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) equipment, and the number of operators per exchange was only one or two instead of the seven expected, a BT spokesman said.

The numbers are the first firm measure of the industry's unhappiness over the way the UK is unbundling its local loop -- introducing competition on the telephone lines linking local exchanges to buildings.

Clearly the level of interest expressed did not translate into commitments when BT called for firm orders last week. That prompted Oftel to write to operators expressing its disappointment and calling the meeting on Thursday, the BT spokesman said.

"There is a special meeting to discuss the outcome of the first round of orders for collocation of equipment at the first 25 sites," an Oftel spokesman said. "The number of firm orders placed was less than that originally bid."

What's truly amazing is that Oftel actually have to hold a meeting to find out why so many people are turning their backs on the UKs LLU (Local Loop Unbundling) process. It's not as if they couldn't read it for themselves in the news. We can only hope some good comes out of the meeting.

NetGamesUK To Make 0800 Official

By:mark.j @ 3:49:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

A quick word from the MD (Andy Jones) @ NetGamesUK, who've recently been running a very successful 0800 unmetered trial ISP, says that the service will likely go official on the 1st February 2001:

I therefore expect we will be offering our full service as of 01/02/01. In the meantime we are going to offer a web based signup form so users can be placed on a waiting list to join our service on that date.

There's some more information for beta testers over @ Net4Nowt as well and the NGUK site itself currently states:

We are the first Gaming Internet Service Provider (gISP) in the United Kingdom to offer full unmetered access to the Internet - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. With our armada of the UK's best games servers , we stand head and shoulders above the rest!

Our 0800 beta-test program has now been concluded, and will not be taking signups again until around 22nd January. During this time we are giving first priority to those who wished to stay with us after the beta and putting into place last minute changes.

NetGamesUK have indeed been having a very successful trial and almost everybody appears to be satisfied. Yet some might say unmetered ISP Madasafish were the first due to a strong advertising campaign that appealed to gamers. Not to mention Games-World.Net, who specifically target their un-cost-effective ISP towards games and for a lot longer too.

That said and NGUK look to be the ISP for multiplayer fanatics which, begs the question, what specifically defines and separates an unmetered multiplayer ISP from a standard unmetered ISP?

BTs Internet Enabled Pay Phones - Free

By:mark.j @ 3:28:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

BT has today announced its intention to make the existing 600 Phone + Internet pay booths around the country, free. Apparently motivated by the government’s commitment to have everybody online by 2005, the new announcement is expected to reach the 60% who remain firmly offline:

Malcolm Newing, director of BT Payphones, said: “Many people are still excluded from using the web because they don’t have access to a PC. We’re giving everyone the chance to explore and enjoy the internet first hand and free of charge.”

The Multi.phones are available throughout the UK, in public places like shopping centres, rail and tube stations, airports and motorway services.

They are designed with “hot buttons” on the homepage that connect users to specific entertainment, travel, recruitment, shopping, and sports sites which have struck deals with BT, but other URLs can be accessed too.

This is an extremely promising thing for BT to say and places affordable net access right at everybody’s doorstep, well not quite everybody. On top of that you can also access E-Mail from the likes of HotMail (MSN) and BT's Talk21.

However there are some drawbacks that don't seem to have been mentioned, if more phones like this are installed to replace the old then cyber cafes could go out of business. Lastly, until somebody solves the problem of drunks using booths as a toilet, they will remain largely unused. Lining the booths with electrically charged sensors aware of urine should do the trick =), more @ netimperative.com.

A Quick Word On RHA Refunds

By:mark.j @ 11:37:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

UPDATE 3:15pm-
Sorry, we forgot to mention that Kent Trading Standards can be reached on: 0845 758 5497.
-----------------------------------------
This is specifically for those who only just signed up to RedHotAnt in the last month. One of the readers who contacted us about having his money cashed by RHA on the day they died has given us a little update on his situation:

I've just spoken to Clive Allon personally about my cheque being cashed on Monday and the removal of service email being sent out the same day. He is supposedly going to look into the matter for me, but I'm not holding out much hope for ever seeing my cash again.

Kent trading standards have told me much of the same thing, and that RHA have been under investigation by them for some time. They told me that if enough people contact them to complain they can make it a fraud case and that the police will be called in.

Will ISPs never learn from the experience of those who've gone before, you can't just take money off people days and even moments before you shut up shop - it's illegal. This case bares striking similarities to the EzeSurf closure; people never saw refunds after that either.

Confidence In Online Banking Grows

By:mark.j @ 11:15:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Despite some problems with the odd service here and there, confidence in online banking continues to grow and be used more. Although we suspect it has more to do with vastly better interest rates than anything else:

According to the research from analysts, Jupiter, European web users are using online banking services more and more, and are actually going back because they found the services to be reliable. It seems, however, that UK users are the hardest to convince, with only 31.7% accessing online financial services. The Swedes are leading the growing interest in internet banking, with almost 60% of the country accessing services. Over 40% of Danes also use secure financial services online, followed by 33% of the French and 34% of Germans.

UK.Internet have highlighted a very interesting area and it's good to see it growing. Although as time goes on the gap between online banking and high street banks could grow, perhaps a little too much. Do we really want to conduct all our transactions over the Internet in the future and put our faith in a card rather then cash?

Telewests C-Modem MacOS Compatibility

By:mark.j @ 11:07:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Just a quick note to say that Machintosh users will now find Telewest has offered support for them under the Cable Modem service, BlueYonder. Now if residential ADSL (USB) were given some better WindowsNT, 2000 and ME drivers then we could all die happy - ish.

NTL Pulls Out Of Ireland?

By:mark.j @ 11:00:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Reports have been flying around the Irish newspaper The Irish Independent that NTL have decided to scrap their plan to offer digital TV/Internet/phone services to nearly 400,000 customers in Dublin. However the report is already being refuted as false by NTL:

Mr Jeffers said the story was "without foundation" although the company was "conducting a review" of the situation which will delay the new service. You will note of course that Mr Jeffers did not categorically state that the plan would go ahead.

The Register was also kind enough to point out a possible reason for the story being so hostile and sensationalist:

Of course, we'd being doing a disservice if we didn't point out that the Independent is owned by Independent Newspapers, which also owns Chorus - a company offering exactly the same sort of service in Ireland, based on the same technology.

We guess alls fair in love and the economic backstabbing done by large companies through the media. Yet it's also worth pointing out that companies about to collapse (cough.. RHA) rarely tell you the truth only moments before they do.

RHA Refuses Trading Standards Entrance!

By:mark.j @ 10:49:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

RedHotAnt, the unmetered ISP that died in flames of despair on Monday afternoon, is now reportedly refusing Trading Standards entrance:

According to Clive Bainbridge of Kent County Council, only one director was on site.

"He wasn't very anxious to talk to us," he said.

RHA has also closed down the premises that housed its hardware. The property is currently up for sale.

Well at least it's good to know Trading Standards have actually tried to do something this time around. Of course RHA will be in their new American offices and sunning themselves on the beaches of Santa Monica by now - laughing. Perhaps somebody should warn the Americans? More @ The Register.

Worldwide Fraud Prevention Network - Live

By:mark.j @ 10:44:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The Worldwide Ecommerce Fraud Prevention Network, a not-for-profit WWW site that claims to provide free expert advice for online businesses on how to combat internet fraud; such as unauthorised credit card transactions, has now gone live:

The site, http://www.merchantfraudsquad.com offers a number of tools for combating fraud through secure servers and digital signature implementation. The site also offers tips for consumers about how to protect themselves online. Jennifer Bennett, co-chairwoman of the Fraud Prevention Network, said that: "Combating online fraud represents a huge challenge since merchants can be vulnerable to a wide range of criminal tactics, even if their own web sites are secure. The Network seeks to identify these vulnerabilities and provide smart solutions for fighting back."

Merchantfraudsquad.com is the first initiative of the Fraud Prevention Network, a not-for-profit organisation headed up by American Express and partners, including Amazon.com, Buy.com, ClearCommerce, Expedia.com and First Data Corp. among others. The coalition claims that since its launch last year, more than 375 businesses and organisations around the world have signed up as members.

It's about time somebody did this, as the fact is most businesses remain oblivious to the sheer scale at which online fraud exists. Whether this new site will actually have any effect remains to be seen, more @ UK.Internet.

Another Telco Pulls Out Of UK xDSL

By:mark.j @ 10:37:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The latest Telco to be forced out of the race to inhabit a small piece of the UKs LEs (Local Exchanges) under LLU (Local Loop Unbundling) is Dutch telecom company Versatel. They will instead be concentrating on France and Germany rather than the UK.

The news came at roughly the same moment British DSL start-up Bulldog Communications said it was slowing its initial rollout because the risk of more companies dropping out could drive up its costs.

It joins companies such as WorldCom, Global Crossing and RSL Communications that have abandoned UK plans for the technology, which converts ordinary telephone lines into high-speed Internet connections.

The risk that other companies will put out of LLU, the ending of BTs monopoly over the wires linking homes to local exchanges, is proving a headache to those that intend to go ahead with DSL. BTs rivals have already agreed to work together (yes really!) and share bills of roughly £200,000 for when they want to convert a room in an existing exchange into a "hostel" for housing DSL equipment.

But they are angry because the bills would go up if a company that requested space in an LE later pulls out, said Bulldog Chairman and Chief Executive Richard Greco. BT has insisted that a company's share of the bill will be divided among the remaining operators.

However BT agreed at a meeting last week that the remaining operators would be allowed to pull out of an exchange without penalty if their bill were to rise by more than %50, a spokesman for Oftel claimed.

Yet with xDSL already on a knife-edge with pricing and costs, the risk of rising costs under any circumstance is not likely to be welcomed. The future for broadband under LLU is beginning to look decidedly shaky.

BT Gets Viag Interkom Under Its Belt

By:mark.j @ 10:20:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Yesterday afternoon BT announced that it had finally secured the FULL purchase of the remaining 45% stake in German Telco, Viag Interkom. The stake had previously been held by utility company E.ON for 7.25Billion Euros. BT continues to expand outside of its British borders as any large business like it would:

The purchase, which is being made because E.ON has exercised a put option that was part of a deal signed last August, will give BT complete ownership of the German fixed and mobile operator.

At the end of last year, BT confirmed its purchase of a ten percent stake in Viag Interkom held by Norwegian telecommunications company Telenor. The cost to BT on that occasion was EUR 1.61 billion (US $1.53 billion) -- and the deal will be completed at the end of January.

A spokesman for BT called Viag Interkom "an innovative player in the German telecommunications market," and pointed out that Germany was the largest national communications market in Europe.

Well if Germany 'was' the largest then it'll be a little smaller by this morning. There seems to have been a spate of Telco and ISP takeovers recently, we wonder who'll be next. More @ UK.Internet.

ISPs One Step Closer To RIP Implimentation

By:mark.j @ 10:14:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The R.I.P (Regulation of Investigatory Powers) law has made one-step closer to full consumer ISP implementation today. ISPs are apparently drawing up a list of what they will tell the police about their customers (those under criminal investigation), and how much they will charge for the information:

Tim Snape, managing director of a small Dorset-based ISP, said the list contained simple, common sense questions that ISPs believe they could be asked by LEAs in the course of investigations.

Another list, of what each ISP will charge to answer each question, is also being drafted. Details of both are due to be published in the near future.

While this is a logical step forward for British ISPs being ultimately forced to implement RIP, it has also raised an issue we were most afraid of:

At today's forum, Mark Gracey, legal liaison officer with Thus, owner of Demon Internet, said half of his dealings with the police involved educating them about what information they could ask for under what legislation, or explaining basic internet questions such as "what is a hotmail account?"

This is exactly the reason why we continually call for some kind of regulation on which officers can look at a persons account (experiance ones perhaps - Internet wise) and a general regulation body to oversee any such activity.

Not only that but it also puts a cost on ISPs because they have to spend money training the police =). Workarounds for this problem are being put forward, one was to allow a request to be sent to the ISP and then they monitor the specific user. Arguments continue and we worry for the future of privacy, more @ VNUNet.

News - January 16,2001

UK Won't See SDSL Until 2002

By:mark.j @ 4:10:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Only days ago XO Communications announced that they had re-opened talks with BTIgnite relating to the use of SDSL technology. Yet as many had previously feared, they'd taken so long that the technology probably wouldn't be commercially available until 2002:

"My guess is it will not be available in 2001. It will be a year for testing equipment," he said. According to Lagerborg, the tests will focus on equipment that needs to be installed at customer premises, providing connections to local exchanges that are capable of delivering bandwidths up to 2Mbps.

An additional factor is the ongoing unbundling saga – it is unlikely that any substantial progress will be made with SDSL before new-entrant providers of broadband services have sorted out in which local exchanges they want co-location space.

Lagerborg explained why XO decided against joining the rush for local exchange space: "As we’ve seen, it takes a long time and is a very expensive exercise. You really need to know that it is the right decision," he said. "Most of those people will go for a dual approach – they’ll sell connection services directly, but they’ll also re-sell to try and recoup their investment," he added.

Although this news isn't directly consumer related as it deals with SMEs and up, in the future SDSL could filter down and replace ADSL in the residential market. It's actually cheaper to install and run, although it's not designed for residential speeds. More @ netimperative.com.

RedHotAnt Confirm E-Mail is Authentic

By:rich.p @ 2:43:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

RedHotAnt have now responded to our e-mail we sent them to see if the e-mail was authentic or not:

It is unfortunately authentic, best of luck to you and your site for the future.

Rgds,

Clive Allon
Director Of Operations"

So I'm afraid if any doubts still existed about the e-mail we can now confirm it is genuine.

Death To The Innovative Internet

By:mark.j @ 1:12:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The progress of the Internet as an Innovative e-commerce tool and overall technology could be heading for trouble if things don't change. The old models are already starting to collapse and Internet access itself has had its fair share of trouble:

Founder Jon Davis says he has found brand-building as an Internet pure-play to be a futile experience. "Our business is moving more and more towards distributing over the Web, and away from building brand," he says. "We're tying up deals with the bigger music e-tailers. We want to distribute our content through other people's properties."

For Davis, the factor that will spark the Net's next wave of innovation will be the arrival of broadband as a mass medium. "We've been going for two years in the UK, but the speeds at which consumers get access have not really changed," he says. "It's only this year, in the second half, that the cable operators and BT are going to begin to deliver what they have been promising."

When broadband does arrive, he predicts it will change the picture entirely, comparing today's Internet to the cinema before the invention of sound and colour. "That's the beginning of the second Internet," he says.

To quote a common phrase that we think best describes the Internet, "success is masked in failure". Ultimately only time can tell what will happen but in terms of application, the Internet is still just an infant. As it progresses more into mobile phones and similar technologies then demand will spread with it. More @ ZDNet.

RedHotAnt Refunds Problem

By:mark.j @ 12:13:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Typically when EzeSurf died there was a lot of commotion concerning refunds, but more specifically those who had their money taken only a matter of days ago. One reader writes:

please please please can someone call me, I really need to talk to someone about this.

I sent RAH my cheque one Wednesday last and got the ok from them at 2.30pm on Friday. I've had less than 5 days access for £130!!!

Although the above message is fairly light to some appearing in our forums, which state more abruptly:

As per my earlier post, this is CRIMINAL DECEPTION

Take Orders to the 30Dec, take payment by cheque that must arrive within 10 days (2nd Jan first Post Day So cheques in by 12th Jan).

3 Days for the Cheques to Clear, (15th Jan). Then close down?.

Also the Mailing address moved to a PO Box in Santa Monica?.

To all those who signed up in Dec, Contact the Police, this is Deception of the lowest possible form, They are no better than the con artists in Oxford Street.

The No Refunds Policy in RedHotAnts Terms & Conditions is already potentially illegal, although if they don't refund those who only just signed up then it could be considered a criminal offence. Perhaps Trading Standards could try stepping in and giving our readers some advice on this matter.

BTOpenworld Joins With Pixology

By:mark.j @ 12:04:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We've just received a new press release from BTOpenworlds reps that show how they plan to launch an online digital photo processing system. We saw something similar not long ago, but this is a first for BT:

BTopenworld Deal with Pixology Puts Customers in the Picture

BTopenworld, BT's international mass market Internet business, today announced an exclusive agreement with Pixology, one of the leading global authorities in digital imaging solutions, which will provide an online digital printing service to BTopenworld customers.

Digital Photo Printing, which goes live on BTopenworld's broadband and narrowband portals on January 16, offers users a high quality, convenient and cost-effective online digital film processing service. The agreement with Pixology forms part of BT's broadband Internet strategy and complements a host of other services on the portal, offering customers the best possible content and most compelling applications, and all optimised for the media-rich environment that broadband offers. BTopenworld broadband subscribers who wish to use Digital Photo Printing (which is powered by Pixology's "Piccolo" software) can do so by downloading the software free of charge from the broadband portal. Similarly, narrowband customers can download it from http://www.btinternet.com.

Once the software is downloaded and installed, customers will be able to selectively edit their digital images as they wish, for example, removing objects (or people!) from photos and change the colours and lighting. Customers can also order duplicates and enlargements and select only the photos they really want to print.

When a customer has completed their order, they then simply send their order via BTopenworld for professional printing in a professional laboratory enabled by Fuji Film Digital Imaging (Fdi). Traditional, long lasting prints (printed on Fuji Crystal Archive Paper) of the digital photos will then be sent back through the post within five working days.

Marc Deschamps, chief operating officer, Broadband, BTopenworld, said: "As leaders in the UK broadband Internet market, BTopenworld is committed to providing the best possible broadband and narrowband Internet services and applications to our customers. Pixology is another great example of this strategy in action, offering as it does an innovative and practical service, which is available to our customers at any time and from almost anywhere. For this particular application, we chose Pixology as they are the acknowledged experts in digital imaging solutions, their expertise enabling them to develop consumer-friendly solutions in what can often seem daunting areas of new technology"

Yuval Yashiv, CEO of Pixology, comments on the new arrangement: "The digital photography market is set to explode in the UK over the next few years and, by offering this new service, BTopenworld has positioned itself at the forefront of this revolution. The BTopenworld offering provides access to some of the best content available on the Internet and we will be working closely with them to ensure that consumers have the chance to realise the potential of digital imaging."

As part of this exclusive deal, Pixology will also be working with BT at its Broadband Applications Laboratory at Adastral Park to co-develop additional digital imaging products and services and will also undertake joint research programmes with the company.

ENDS

It's quite clear that BT are trying to make their BTOpenworld portal technology one of the best in the world, we don't doubt that more improvements will soon be forthcoming.

Altavista and FIG in court today

By:Rob.W @ 11:10:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

The Register is reporting that Altavista and the Free Internet Group are in court today to look into the claim by FIG of an alleged breach of contract.

We shall keep an eye on proceedings.

The Multi-Lingual Future

By:mark.j @ 10:41:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

While devices such as Universal Translators (Trek land) aren't likely to be perfected anytime soon, the EU believes that websites across Europe could beat back the American onslaught in E-Commerce by taking the online world Multi-Lingual:

According to the EC, making content available in a number of languages throughout Europe, increases the companies market space and also its revenue. As research from eMarketer shows, the global percentage of internet based revenue provided by Europe is set to jump from 15 per cent to 29 per cent by 2003. To further encourage companies to translate their sites, the EC also announced the eContent programme, to be developed by voluntary members, so European content can be distributed across global networks in a variety of languages.

The article @ UK.Internet certainly has a point; although companies spread enough around Europe that could take advantage of this have already done so. Yet it is true that a lot of sites that ship overseas only publish in English or another language.

RedHotAnt Update 3 - !It's Official!

By:mark.j @ 10:24:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

As many have feared, RedHotAnt finally updated their web site and the E-Mail was indeed authentic. So despite some sites hastily removing the news for fear of a fake, we do finally have the awful truth. Awful because they gave people so little notice and that the mention of refunds is somewhat absent.

What's worse is that we predicted the fall of RHA long ago unless they changed their economic model, which they didn't. So the real question is, what does this mean for the long-term future of ISPs such as Connect25 among more recent ones of a similar nature?

We'll be talking about this all through the day on our main forums, so pop over and see what people are saying. It's never good to see an unmetered ISP go, especially when they were pioneers, all be it economically unsound ones =).

GRPS Woes Continue

By:mark.j @ 10:18:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We've known for a while that GPRS was not all its cracked up to be, despite claims of a dramatic increase in speed it wasn't long ago that the practical output was exposed as being not much more than GSM itself.

Today it has emerged that tests being carried out in Sweden and Finland over the December 2000 period have only help to prove this theory. IT found that Internet access can be difficult, the connection slow and the services do not yet offer more than is already available for Web-surfing GSM phones. One key tester claims:

"Many times I could not log on, so I really could not try the features very much," said Joel Asblom, a reporter on Computer Sweden daily, who tested operator EuropolitanGPRS service on Motorola's Timeport GPRS handset.

"It wasn't very useful. I hooked it up with my portable computer and then it was slightly better, but I'm not sure if it was any better than surfing with a normal GSM."

Of course most GSM phones use only one time slot, which is the equivalent of 9.6 kbps. GSM phones using the advanced High Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD) technology and the Motorola Timeport use multiple time slots, boosting downloading power.

"The phone is one of the bottlenecks. Theoretically, it is possible to get 80-100 kbps data transfer speed in our network now, but phones allow only 20-30 kbps," said Sonera spokesman Jyrki Karasvirta.

The present prediction is that in the future those speeds could rise to up to 60Kbps, but not for awhile and until the technology has expanded. By that time newer technologies such as UTMS and EDGE could already be upon us, a typical case of technology moving too fast for industry? The reality is that most will be quite happy with a mobile 20Kbps connection, it's not as if you need much more speed anyway.

RedHotAnt Update

By:mark.j @ 10:04:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Waking up this morning I couldn't help but notice the RedHotAnt news (some of us were at the pub) and decided to do some initial investigation of my own. It looks increasingly as if the E-Mail was a fake (hoax), although there is one problem with that theory.

How on earth did somebody manage to get the E-Mail addresses for RedHotAnt customers in order to pull this off on such a large scale. By this morning our box had been filled with around 63 messages from people, all whom got the RHA E-Mail.

The other problem is that engage tones have started to creep back in, which is strange for a system not accepting new subscribers, unless they are removing terminals. Typically RHA have made it so that contacting support is almost impossible and thus we can't get an answer.

There's not enough 'clear' evidence to prove it's a fake and not enough to prove it's authentic. RHA can't be contacted so we have no way to verify all of this and clearly a colossal amount have received the E-Mail already.

The overall problem is that no matter what the truth, the fact is that somebody has managed to get hundreds of RHA E-Mails, many of which have never been public (ours for example), and sent a message out to what seems like hundreds so far.

I didn't post the original news or the update and so I didn't get a chance to say it, but regard the E-Mail as false until it can be proven otherwise. We also need to establish how so many RHA E-Mails have come into the public domain with such ferocity. If anybody can contact RHA then let us know ASAP.

News - January 15,2001

Are RHA Going to Pull Access or Not?

By:rich.p @ 8:26:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

*Update*
The e-mail header has the Return-Path - root@update.redhotant.con
This seems to suggest that someone has either hacked RedHotAnt, managed to access the e-mail lists and that this is all a rather odd joke or something is going on internally at RedHotAnt. So it is really wait and see if RHA issue another statement explaining this.

Initial Story
-----
The second announcement of unmetered accessing being pulled in one day this time from RedHotAnt. This is being sent to all RedHotAnt customers as this was posted:

"RedHotAnt - Suspension of un-metered service

The recent fall out within the technology sector, has meant that it has been impossible to secure the necessary funding to continue operating the RedHotAnt un-metered service. We have been in talks with a number of third parties, but as yet, no company has been interested in taking on the liabilities associated with RedHotAnt. If this situation changes, details will be posted on the RedHotAnt website.

Under the circumstances, our existing telecom provider has given notice that the free phone telephone numbers on which RedHotAnt operates will be withdrawn as of 16th January 2001. In the interests of our current users, it has been agreed that existing facilities such as e-mail and domain hosting etc. will continue to run, however utilising a standard 0845 local rate call number.

In order to continue to access the internet without interruption, users will need to change their existing dial up number to 0845 300 3410. Instructions of how to do so can be found on line at
http://www.internet-support.net/redhotant

Regrettably, voice based technical support is no longer available and
RedHotAnt is not in a financial position to consider the question of
refunds or compensation. If this situation changes, details will be
posted on the RedHotAnt website and on the automatic voice mail system.

Meanwhile, the resources no longer exist for us to enter into one to one correspondance with individual customers.

Finally, we would like to apologise to those users who have not had the opportunity to make profitable use of the service.

The Management"

This seemed likely to happen within a couple of months of them stopping new registrations but it seems quite short notice (less than 24 hours). There is no mention of information about refunds. The trouble is now that you can't talk to support it is unlikely you'll be able to get one but we will investigate this further. The URL that the newsletter points to has not been updated yet.

UUNet Taken Out By SPAM - Update

By:mark.j @ 3:36:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Over the weekend we reported on how UUNet had lost E-Mail services and suffered low bandwidth problems after being hit by a massive SPAM attack. Today VNUNet posted an update:

The ISP is currently manually removing the unsolicited batch of two million messages, but despite staff working all weekend, it said on Monday that it expected its email server to operate slowly for another 48 to 72 hours.

So it looks as though UUNet customers and networks may have to wait until Wednesday before things return to normal.

British Police Go Mobile

By:mark.j @ 3:34:PM - Comments (1) - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

It looks as if the government have clapped hold of a potential way to help reduce crime figures, by taking the statement and report facility online:

Home Office minister Charles Clarke announced the project this week, saying that it would encourage the reporting of minor crimes, because people would not have to trek down to the police station to give a statement. A similar system is already being trialed by some regional police forces on their own sites, but Clarke said that developing a single portal, which would be used to contact any regional force would offer, "a wider vision for delivering police services electronically to the public".

It's certainly a very clever idea, but one, which we think could also backfire and lead to a lot more work for an understaffed police force. With more people being inclined to report and little change in the service itself, isn't this just going to make matters worse?

Of course that's a possibility, but then the police themselves would have less work dealing with people and in filing reports of their own. Whether it all pans out is something only time can tell us, more @ UK.Internet. Of course this could also open up a new wave of online hacking, something that terrorists might be able to do, breaking into secret police files.

New Reviews @ ISP Review

By:mark.j @ 3:14:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

To help kick the week off we've just put online two new ISP reviews and just like before Christmas they are of broadband ISPs:

BTOpenworld - ADSL:
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/broadband/bto

Europe Online - Satellite:
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/broadband/eon

EuropeOnline is our first Satellite review; we hope to have one of StarSpeeder (SkyStorm.Net) and Activator as soon as they go live.

StarSpeeder Satellite Internet Update

By:mark.j @ 12:07:PM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

We probably should have posted this last week, although for some reason it was ignored. The http://www.StarSpeeder.co.uk site, the main UK ISP for a new digital satellite Internet access service and reseller to SkyStorm.net and others, has been given a big update:

CBL have appointed TRAC Communications as exclusive UK partner for the Starspeeder Internet download service. TRAC are one of the UK's longest established (1986) satellite TV and related software specialists.

Partnering TRAC in the venture is LRN, the Newcastle upon Tyne based distributor for the Longreach group PLC. LRN are tasked with sourcing the best possible hardware at the lowest prices.

The service is currently under test and will be available from early 2001. With download speeds of up to 400kbits/S the service will typically operate up to ten times faster than a normal internet phone connection and up to eight times faster than a single ISDN line!

Unlike other satellite internet providers, you don't need a proxy server, instead you build up a connection to the Starspeeder network using Virtual Private Networking via your existing telephone ISP this allows you to use all protocols HTTP, FTP, NNTP etc.

Monthly subscription for unlimited down load time is $22 with discounts available for advance payments of 3 or 12 months ($63 and $240 respectively). UK cost will therefore be from around £14 to £15.50 per month plus VAT depending on exchange rates and method of payment.

To receive the service, you will require a 60cm dish with digital LNB aligned on the Europe*Star Satellite at 45 degrees east and a DVB PC Card. Cost of the hardware as a package will initially be around £160 plus VAT. TRAC can assist in suggesting a suitable dish installer from their existing network. You may be able to install the DVB card yourself. If not, your local computer expert should be able to help, but it should ideally be done on site after installation of the satellite dish.

TRAC consider hassle free installation and use a key issue. Therefore subscriptions will be available only through selected re-sellers who are able to demonstrate their capability to assist end users in getting the hardware and software up and running.

Kind regards,
The Starspeeder UK team
info@starspeeder.co.uk

We're looking forward to this service going live as it's the one we intend to adopt ourselves and should enable us to explain things better in the new broadband section (when it goes live). Although whether it can actually stand up to the speed claims is anybody’s guess, Satellite is notorious for being unstable like that.

Scientists PROVE Mobile Phone Cancer Link?

By:mark.j @ 11:43:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

Early reports are coming in that scientists have PROVEN (never used that word like this before) a link between cancer of the eye and mobile phones:

Research by the team at the University of Essen in Germany found that people who regularly use a mobile are three times more likely to develop cancer of the eye.

Full details are not yet known, although ZDNet should have more fairly soon. Quite what proof they have will likely determine how much of it can be believed.

BTCellnets Always-On GPRS Mobiles

By:mark.j @ 11:39:AM - - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE]

An online version of the Daily Telegraph Newspaper, the Electronic Telegraph, is reporting that BTCellnet are to launch an always on GPRS (general packet radio system) Mobile Internet service during the late first quarter of this year:

The system allows compatible mobile phones to be connected to the internet permanently, with greater speed than the disappointing Wap system. This price is in addition to line rental and will cover a set volume of data to be transferred between the phone and the internet.

These prices have yet to be confirmed, but the system is being trialled by corporate users paying £35 for 5Mb or £45 for 20Mb of data, and £1.50 for each additional Mb. Packages will be based on the most popular services available on Genie, the current BT Cellnet Wap offering.

The popularity of e-mail is a tricky issue in pricing GPRS services. These cannot be priced per minute, as the service is always on, but charging for a set volume of data punishes users if they receive large messages.

The system may seem interesting, although with the current problems and questions surrounding GPRS itself, you can't help but feel cautious. While business users are likely to embrace the new system, ordinary consumers will likely treat it with a light pocket.