May 29, 2002 - June 6, 2002
News - June 6,2002
Xelpa Helps ISPs To Sell Broadband
By:mark.j @ 9:06:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] UK ISPs looking to sell more broadband connections may find Xelpa to be of some help, the group claims to help ISPs get more broadband subscribers, increase loyalty and reduce churn:
Xelpa helps ISPs sell more broadband service
SEOUL, Korea, June 6 - Infoware Corp (xelpa.com), web site publishing solutions provider to SMEs and web hosts, today announced the ISP partner program it says helps ISPs get more broadband subscribers, increase loyalty and reduce churn.
Under the partner program, the partners and their resellers are entitled to offer Xelpa at their own price along with broadband services as value-added services. Flexible license arrangements will enable partners to offer Xelpa immediately.
"Speed alone just can not convince subscribers to pay for extra money. ISPs should offer value adding services." said Ha Young Lee, president and CEO of Infoware Corp. "Research shows that ISPs can reduce churn by 50% by offering value adding services such as business web sites. Xelpa is just born to meet such specific needs."
Xelpa is designed specifically for busy professionals serviced by ISPs, web hosts and resellers. It enables clients to get 100 percent control over their site contents including virtually unlimited pages anytime and anywhere. With all point and click, an average business person can maintain complex database web site from day one. |
Polymorphic E-Mail Worms (Virus) Arrive
By:mark.j @ 8:58:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Experts have reported that the first polymorphic and entry-point-obfuscating virus (worm), which is capable of infecting both the Linux and Windows systems, has been found:
Information released by McAfee and Symantec warned that Simile/Etap, discovered at the end of May, is a "very complex virus that uses entry-point obscuring, metamorphism and polymorphic decryption" which makes it hard to detect.
Simile/Etap infects both Portable Executable and 32bit Executable and Linking Format files on Linux and Windows systems. Although it contains no destructive payload, the virus displays messages on certain dates.
The VNUNet item reports that once infected the virus will display a message on 17th September and 17th March and could be a precursor to more dangerous worms to come. |
Tele2 & Demand Clarification
By:mark.j @ 8:53:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Thanks to Gavin for reminding us to post something that I'd forgotten about with all the recent server problems.
Tele2 did get back to us and stated that contrary to what some may have said, 100 business or residential pledges is all that is required for them to move into your area. So it's not just business users as we've been hearing.
Perhaps this should be clearly stated on their campaign website as well? Note that Tele2 is just about the UKs only true fixed broadband wireless provider and an alternative to land-based ADSL and Cable Modem access. We also expect an announcement about future services, possibly today. |
WorldCup E-Mail Virus (VBS/Chick.F)
By:mark.j @ 8:44:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] WorldCup fans should be on the look out for this one, it spreads via email and the mIRC chat application, although isn't hugely dangerous:
The worm arrives as an attachment called Koreajapan.chm in an email with the subject "RE:Korea Japan Results" and the body text "Takes a look at these results... Regards" according to virus busters Panda Software.
If opened, the worm prompts the user to enable ActiveX to see match results. If a user accepts, their PC becomes infected and the worm attempts to spread via email and mIRC.
As ever, keep those virus checkers online and up-to-date, more @ Web-User. |
News - June 5,2002
Oftel Clear BT Of Freeserve Complaints
By:mark.j @ 3:13:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The French Wanadoo owned UK ISP Freeserve has today received a slap in the face from Oftel after the regulator cleared BT of Freeserve's many complaints.
Oftel disagreed with Freeserve and found that BT was not guilty of acting in an anti-competitive manner (broadband), something many would disagree with:
Freeserve alleged back in April that BTopenworld had received advance notification of the broadband price cuts that BT Wholesale made in late March. Such a tip-off would not be allowed, as BT is banned from giving preferential treatment to BTopenworld and must treat it like any other ISP.
BT was also accused of cross-subsidising BTopenworld's broadband prices, including the special offers it is currently running. In addition, Freeserve was unhappy about the use of the bt.com Web addess in BT's broadband adverts - claiming this would encourage customers to choose BTopenworld as their broadband ISP.
After looking into the issue, Oftel has decided there is no truth in the allegations. "We have conducted an investigation into these claims, and have decided not to uphold the complaint," an Oftel spokeswoman told ZDNet UK News. "We didn't uphold any of the allegations," she added.
The news will no doubt come as a relief to BTO; it comes at a time when the ISPs future appears to be in doubt, not least with the forthcoming and controversial emergence of BT 'no frills' Broadband.
ZDNet notes that the formal results for this investigation are expected toward the end of June 2002. |
Kaspersky Top 10 (May) Viruses
By:mark.j @ 3:03:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Not surprisingly the Klez(.H) E-Mail worm (virus) is still at the top of the list for its fourth month running:
1 - Klez - 96.5%
2 - CIH - 0.8%
3 - BadtransII - 0.5%
4 - Hybris - 0.3%
5 - PSW.Delf - 0.2%
6 - SirCam - 0.2%
7 - Elkern.c - 0.2%
8 - Macro.Word.Cap - 0.1%
9 - FunLove - 0.1%
10 - Magistr - 0.1% |
Online Privacy? Pah.. Who Cares..
By:mark.j @ 2:55:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The latest research from Jupiter (conducted during March 2002 with 2097 people) has found that online consumers appear to have very little regard for their own Internet privacy:
Just 40 per cent of consumers read privacy information before handing over their personal details to websites, despite 70 per cent of respondents expressing concern about their online privacy, the poll revealed.
Even if consumers read privacy statements, they still don't necessarily understand them. Just 30 per cent of respondents said they found privacy statements easy to understand.
Furthermore, consumers appear willing to divulge personal information all too easily. Eighty-two per cent of respondents said they were willing to provide various forms of personal information to shopping sites where they had made no purchases.
The Web-User item also notes that an astonishing 36% of people use the same username and password on different sites, which isn't quite so wise. |
BT Refutes 50 ADSL Users Only Claim
By:mark.j @ 2:50:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Last week we reported on some new research from Ovum and the Broadband4Britain (BB4B) campaign, it showed that BT could be economically viable in an area with just 50 people on ADSL.
In other words you wouldn't need a high demand level of several hundred before BT could enable the local exchange, unfortunately the operator has today hit back at the claims:
But BT dismissed Ovum's calculation saying that subscriber numbers were irrelevant and that exchange upgrades could only be based on economic viability.
"I wonder how Ovum worked this out," exclaimed a BT spokeswoman. "The report on upgrade viability doesn't talk to subscribers. Some exchanges can't be upgraded and some cost a lot of money. You need to judge case by case."
BTs response is entertaining, not least because they've branded subscriber numbers as irrelevant, which makes absolutely no sense. How can they be irrelevant? Without them nobody would use ADSL in the first place and subscriber demand is all BT themselves ever talk about!
It's true about judging on a case-by-case basis, although UK exchanges aren't quite so varied as BT might have you believe. More @ VNUNet. |
New Speedtouch USB ADSL Drivers
By:mark.j @ 2:25:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] | ADSLGuide is reporting that users of Alcatel's Speedtouch USB ADSL Modem can now download the officially released MS Windows v1.6 drivers HERE. |
Firenet ISP Announces ADSL Service
By:mark.j @ 9:03:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] UPDATE: Firenet appears to have got it wrong, the service is actually a 50:1 contention and not 20:1 (hardly surprising given the price). Judging by the reply it looks if they're reselling an ADSL service (not a BTWholesale directly supplied ISP?). Thanks to ADSLGuide for the notice.
Later than some, yet the popular unmetered dialup ISP Firenet is set to take the leap into broadband ADSL market with the announcement of its new product line today:
Firenet will be providing the first of our ADSL broadband packages available as of 30th June. Following the success of our award winning unmetered Internet access packages, Anytime and Anytime Plus, we will be taking the same approach into the broadband market. Quality Internet access at affordable pricing along with our outstanding customer support services.
The first package will be the 'Speedwire 500'. This will be aimed at both home and business users alike with an always on 512 Kbs connection with a 20:1 contention ratio and no download limitations. This means no disconnects and guaranteed speed with the connection shared with a maximum of only 20 users. This package will cost just £26.50 (vat included) per month.
Future packages will include the 'Speedwire 1000' which will be a 1 Megabyte / second service and business packages which will feature fixed IP addressing as well as network connections for multiple computers. As always, all of our services will be upgradable so moving between different packages will be as quick and painless as possible.
It's nice to see a 20:1 contended business and home package at a reasonable price, something many may be tempted by now that fears of congestion on more popular 50:1 services are starting to loom. |
Gio Upgrades 128Kbps ISDN Service
By:mark.j @ 8:58:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Gio Internet appears to have run into a few problems with its new 128Kbps unmetered ISDN packages, which have apparently seen overwhelming demand.
Typically the ISP has today issued a service update announcing their intention to upgrade capacity, although some downtime may be involved:
Due to overwhelming signups, we are increasing capacity from 5th June. The 128K service will be disabled temporarily at midday 5th June.
Customers are requested to login to your control panel at http://cp.gioserve.com and click on the connectivity link, click on the Ignite or Opium product and reset your password, then click on auto set-up and follow the instructions.
For manual set-up click on the set-up info link and modify your dial up number in your DUN (dial up networking) to the one specified. The Username and Password will remain the same.
Should you experience any difficulties please call Technical Support on 08700 132525 or email support@giointernet.com.
Please ensure you have updated your settings.
Thank you |
News - June 4,2002
Is The UK Ready For 3G Phones?
By:mark.j @ 9:32:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] It won't be long until Hutchison3G launches the UKs first public 3G broadband wireless mobile phone service and handsets (between October and November 2002), but are we ready?
Thankfully a new article @ 3G UK is able to shed some positive light on the matter:
As reported some months ago, Hutchison is likely to acquire a network of High St shops which they will use as demonstration zones where you will be able to experiment with video clips and games etc. With over 1000 mobile shop outlets having closed in 2002 this would seem like the ideal time.
Colin Tucker UK MD of Hutchison3G confirmed last week that the 2002 launch is achievable with the network all but ready, handset orders have been placed with NEC and Motorola and a 2.5G roaming agreement set up with mm02. Content from Smash Hits and others such as FHM should appeal to the immediate target audience ( 17-35 year olds ) and deals like the one with Sky TV to provide UK Premiership football clips should appeal to the many millions of football fans in the UK.
Of course the biggest barrier to 3G and even current GPRS acceptance has to be price and content, which could be a problem when you consider that only 2% of GPRS mobile owners actually take up the GPRS technology.
On the other hand most GPRS phones aren't colour and even those that are can lack Multimedia Messaging (MMS), few would be interested in paying the extra simply to get a faster version of WAP (yuk).
Hopefully next-gen GPRS phones such as Nokia's 7650 (due out in two weeks; we'll have a review) and future 3G devices will turn things around, yet they'll still be fighting an uphill battle. |
News - June 2,2002
Kingston Drops Karoo ADSL Prices
By:mark.j @ 8:56:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] ADSLGuide is reporting that Kingston Communications has dropped the price of their Karoo ADSL service and have introduced a lower contention ratio product for home users:
Scheme - Monthly Rental (inc VAT)
Rapid Time Std - £28.99
Rapid Time Pro - £38.99
If you didn't already know then this is only for the non-BT Hull/Humberside area and the 'Std' (Standard) service has a 1GB per day bandwidth (download) limit. |
GOOD LUCK ENGLAND!!
By:mark.j @ 8:52:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] | I'm not a huge Football fan, although there's always time for those essential England matches in the World Cup. So I'd just like to wish the team the best of luck from myself and all those reading ISP Review who support them - WIN! |
News - June 1,2002
Special Freeserve ISP Deal
By:mark.j @ 8:21:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] One of our readers has noted that you can now get the first two months of access to Freeserve's unmetered AnyTime ISP package for just £6.99 through the Dixon’s store chain. It’s not clear how, although there’s probably a special CD by the counter for it.
Typically this could also apply to PCWorld, The Link and Curry’s, although it hasn't been confirmed yet. |
UTV Preps N.Ireland Broadband
By:mark.j @ 8:13:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] One of the unmetered dialup ISP services for Northern Ireland, UTV Internet, is set to add broadband ADSL into the mix within the next few weeks:
Pricing will be STG27.50 monthly including VAT, according to Scott Taunton, managing director of UTV Internet. Both BT and Freeserve currently offer ADSL access at STG29.99 a month including VAT. UTV Internet will also give customers the option to rent a DSL modem for around STG5 monthly or buy it outright, Taunton said.
"We're trying to make life easier for people by keeping the joining fees low," Taunton told ElectricNews.Net. UTV Internet CTO Martin Lyons said the company would love to be able to offer customers in the Republic the flat rate and broadband service.
"The regulatory environment does not make it easy. Wholesale lines are not down to the level where we think it is cost-effective to launch a residential service but we expect that to change," he said.
More @ ElectricNews . |
News - May 31,2002
ISP Review Weekly Update
By:mark.j @ 2:58:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Like many of you I’ll be taking it easy over the weekend and so don’t expect the usual Sunday ISPr status update or anything like that. It’s intentionally been a slow week so far and now’s an ideal time to take advantage of that sunny weather, even if it won’t last.
There may still be some normal news updates now and then, although typically very few important announcements or press releases are issued over a bank holiday because there’s never anybody around to report on it.
Enjoy the long weekend and don’t forget to watch that all important England match on Sunday, time to set that long record of losses against Sweden strait. |
Tele2 To Sideline Residential Users
By:mark.j @ 2:49:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Tele2, one of the UKs only true fixed broadband wireless providers, is to concentrate on providing high-speed Internet access for business users:
Announcing a change in strategy the broadband operator said it had decided to move away from the consumer broadband market and focus instead on serving business customers.
The company - owned by Millicom International Cellular (MIC) - is to promote its business broadband service as a "superior alternative to DSL/ADSL, and equal to that of a leased line, but at a much lower cost".
Further details are expected to be released at the Internet World exhibition in London next month.
Hopefully Tele2 won't do anything drastic, such as abolish their residential services or increase prices. While both are unlikely, it's still not entirely clear what 'moving away from the consumer broadband market' will mean. More @ The Register. |
Telewest Advertise Broadband In Toilets
By:mark.j @ 2:44:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Telewests ISP wing, blueyonder, is to advertise its broadband cable modem services in 1,500 of the nation's toilets, mostly those inside upmarket bars and clubs:
Slogans include the rather amusing "faster streaming than you can manage," along with the ever-popular "she goes like the clappers, here's her number."
John Orriss, head of marketing for internet services at Telewest Broadband, said: "We've always believed that broadband should be approachable and enjoyable, not technological mumbo jumbo.
Broadband internet still means nothing to many people and it's innovative campaigns such as this that will help generate improved awareness and mass appeal. For obvious reasons, these posters will deliver a message to a very large and completely captive audience!"
DigitalSpy notes that TWs latest stunt is set to start on 3rd June 2002. |
BT Completes 100 ADSL Upgrades
By:mark.j @ 2:25:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] ADSLGuide has just reported on the completion of the final two exchange upgrades from the original list of 100, making for a total of 1,115 ADSL enabled local exchanges (66% coverage):
Londonderry Waterside (NILDW)
Pontypridd (SWPN)
With 11,000 new customers taking up broadband ADSL every week we'll be interested to see who's going to be on the next list for upgrades. |
Telewest Upgrade - This Weekend
By:mark.j @ 8:46:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Those whom had complained about the problems with Telewest's recent set-top-box software upgrade, which was designed to make better use of broadband - among other things, may like to know that they should soon be fixed.
Two of our readers have reported contacting Telewest regarding the matter and have been told that another upgrade / fix will take place this bank holiday weekend to resolve the problems. Note that this hasn’t been confirmed. |
BT Enables 21 More ADSL Exchanges!
By:mark.j @ 8:42:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] ADSLGuide is reporting that for the fourth time in less than two weeks BT Wholesale has enabled another bulk of local exchanges with ADSL from its list of 100; 21 have been done:
ACOMB (MYACO)
ARBROATH (ESARB)
ATTERCLIFFE (SLAC)
CLIFTON (MYCTN)
CONSETT (NECN)
DONCASTER (SLDC)
DRINGHOUSES (MYDHS)
DUNCHURCH (CMDUN)
DUNDEE PARK (ESPAR)
FALLINGS PARK (CMFAL)
HAMPDEN PARK (SDHMPDN)
HAXBY (MYHAX)
HIGHWOODS (EAHWD)
HYTHE (KENT) (NDHYT)
LONDONDERRY (NILDM)
LOUTH (SLLH)
NAILSEA (SSNAI)
PRESTWICK (WSPRE)
TADLEY (THTAD)
TEWKESBURY (SSTXY)
WALLINGFORD (THWL)
It looks as if some of BTs own broadband ADSL availability checkers are having a hard time keeping up and that's not the only problem. ADSLGuide also reports that some of Excelsus's Z-420UK filters are faulty. |
EU Votes To BAN SPAM - Victory?
By:mark.j @ 8:36:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] In a surprise move the European Parliament has chosen to go with the better 'Opt-In' policy on SPAM (junk commercial E-Mail), which means you have to ask for it BEFORE it's sent.
We had expected the 'Opt-Out' policy to be used instead, which would have meant you could only remove yourself once the message had arrived, something we found to be useless in a recent article. So is this a victory? Not quite..:
In theory, this means that firms will have to gain prior permission from users before sending unsolicited marketing messages, but the ruling excludes firms from outside the EU and spammers sending untraceable messages.
Francois Lavaste, VP of anti-spam technology provider Brightmail welcomed the fact that an agreement had eventually been reached, saying that, as the spam problem had grown worse over recent months, the Parliament had come under increasing pressure to form a consensus, and quickly.
However, Lavaste also claimed that the impact of the legislation would be limited, saying that 90% of unsolicited emails come from the "real spammers" who will sidestep any ruling. He said: "Brightmail supports the legislative developments in the European Parliament as it will help provide concrete guidelines for companies. However, the current the legislation - opt-in or opt-out - will only solve 10% of the problem."
Unfortunately most of the SPAM many of us receive comes from outside of the EU (USA) and we still can't be sure whether the UK will agree to the move or not. Either way it's a step in the right direction, more @ netimperative.info . |
News - May 30,2002
UK Still Behind (22nd) - Broadband
By:mark.j @ 3:19:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] An updated report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows that the UK has failed to climb the broadband league table despite increased take-up.
The UK comes in as 22nd out of the 30 richest nations for broadband take-up, which is exactly the same position as it had during October last year:
A spokesperson for the Department of Trade and Industry said they would not comment on the report until its official publication later this year, but added that the true picture might not be represented.
"The UK is experiencing rapid growth and there has been a 50% increase in broadband connections since the beginning of the year," she said. "It is growing faster than a lot of its competitors and has some of the cheapest internet prices in the world."
Much of this growth is driven by price cuts from telecoms giant BT. But according to the latest report from the European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA), the UK is still lagging behind its European neighbours, coming in sixth out of 15 for DSL connections.
When the number of connections per population is taken into account the UK falls to 12th place.
The BBC's article is likely to come as a shock to those whom had believed that the UK was making steady progress, although clearly there’s a long way to go. |
BTOpenworlds Roaming LCR ISP Service
By:mark.j @ 3:07:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Heading off to Japan for the WorldCup? Have an account with BTOpenworld? If the answer is yes then the ISPs latest announcement should be of great interest.
Not only will BTOpenworld allow its customers in Japan to access their services, you'll also get the same domestic local call rate (LCR) charges as in the UK (no international charges)!:
ROAMING ALLIANCE GIVES WORLD CUP FANS LOW-COST WEB ACCESS IN JAPAN
BTopenworld signs local access deal with NIFTY Corp.
World Cup fans travelling to Japan for the tournament will be able to surf the Internet at local access rates, thanks to a deal cut by BTopenworld. BT's mass market Internet service provider is working with Japan's Nifty Corporation to offer its customers a roaming service. The deal has been signed in time for the World Cup so that BTopenworld's Anytime, Surftime and Broadband services customers travelling to the Far East can use email to keep in touch with the office or family and get up-to-the-minute match reports. It also enables tourists to look up information on local restaurants and attractions and check travel or weather information without having to pay expensive international dial-up rates.
BTopenworld and Nifty are leading members of the Global Internet Alliance which brings together ISPs from the Americas, Europe and Asia to work on issues including international roaming, instant messaging standards and global e-commerce. The partnership allows BTopenworld subscribers to connect to Nifty's points of presence in Japan. Once on the Internet, users will only be charged a local rate tariff.
Alison Ritchie, CEO, BTopenworld said: "This partnership is a major step forward for international roaming. It means that anyone travelling to Japan for the World Cup or on business can easily and cost-effectively get on the Net. Our deal with Nifty is the first of many partnerships that we're working on with market-leading ISPs across the globe. We want to offer our customers an inexpensive and uncomplicated way of keeping in touch with the office, friends or family."
Customers wanting to use the service need to take down the appropriate access code before they travel. This information can be found at http://www.btopenworld.com/roaming. On arrival, they will then need to connect their laptop into the nearest phone socket and dial the @Nifty telephone number. By dialling this they will request access to the Internet from Nifty's nearest Point Of Presence. Nifty then requests authentication from BTopenworld's server. On receipt of this, Nifty connects the user to the Internet. The whole process should take under 30 seconds. The local rate charge for time spent online will appear on their hotel bill. Ian Robinson, chief technology officer at BTopenworld chairs the Web Services Working Group on behalf of the Global Internet Alliance.
Now that’s a clever idea. |
New E-Minister Speaks - Broadband
By:mark.j @ 2:59:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] It looks as if the new E-Minister, Stephen Timms (MP), is very much an advocate of the government being made to do more in order to better accelerate the rollout of broadband services:
Since becoming Labour MP for East Ham through a by-election in 1994, Timms has repeatedly spoken about the importance of broadband to the UK, and has served as the honorary president of the Parliamentary Information Technology Committee.
Almost eight years ago he slammed the Conservative government for its failure to help the rollout of high-speed data networks in Britain, which he insisted were vital for the provision of new telecommunications services.
"There is enormous activity worldwide in that area, but it is remarkable that, as far as one can ascertain, our government are doing nothing to promote the deployment of those new communications technologies in Britain," claimed Timms, speaking in a House of Commons debate in 1994.
The ZDNet item rightly points out that the differences between 1994 and 2002 are minimal, bar better publicity and the technology actually being used.
Unfortunately what one politician says in opposition often tends to be very different to how they themselves react when in power, we'll soon know. |
The Anti-R.I.P Software
By:mark.j @ 2:53:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] While European and UK governments work to sell our privacy down the river, a small band of privacy advocates are rushing to develop a tool capable of undermining such systems.
The Home Office is preparing to publish a draft code of practice for part three of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act due in June, the group wishes to launch their Anti-RIP code on the same day:
The team said that m-o-o-t has been built "to allow UK citizens to communicate and to store information without worrying about it", but that it will also defeat the FBI's Carnivore system as well as laws put forward by Australia, New Zealand and the Council of Europe.
The product will consist of an operating system which boots and runs only from the CD, with an application suite including email client, word processor, spreadsheet, graphics utilities etc. Access to local storage such as hard drives and floppy disks will be disabled, and the system will shut down if the CD is removed.
All data, documents and mail will be transmitted over a secure internet connection and stored in encrypted form at off-shore data havens outside the UK's jurisdiction.
Unfortunately the anti-R.I.P measure sounds somewhat complex and isn't likely to be of much use if you only want privacy on your own existing system.
The government has condemned the new software as criminal and for being the ideal tool for terrorists. More @ VNUNet. |
National VoIP One Step Closer
By:mark.j @ 2:41:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] In the future all phone calls will be done over VoIP (Voice over IP - Internet) technologies, which should be cheaper.
Today that came one step closer thanks to an interim approval by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Internet Architecture Board (IAB):
Voice on IP networks today operates by translating telephone numbers to IP addresses and placing an H.323 or Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) call to the device. The interchange format and translation record has not been standardised, limiting widespread deployment and complicating international Voice on IP services.
It's hoped Internet Telephone Numbering System (ENUM) Provisioning, which has received the go ahead for trials by the ITU, will ease these headaches.
The ENUM protocol is a mapping into the Internet Domain Name System (DNS) of parts or all of the international public telecommunication numbering plan defined in ITU-T Recommendation E.164. As such its a significant step towards integrating Internet-based services with the global telephone network.
While it's likely to be many years before national VoIP becomes a reality, this is a step in the right direction and would make 24/7 unmetered voice calls more realistic. More @ The Register. |
50 Users Enough For ADSL Upgrade!
By:mark.j @ 8:52:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The Broadband 4 Britain.co.uk campaign yesterday shot down previous 'demand' requirements set by BT before a local exchange can be ADSL upgraded.
The group consulted independent analysts, industry experts, equipment suppliers and some of the operators themselves only to find that just 50 users is enough to justify a Broadband exchange upgrade!:
Business case figures reviewed by the campaign show that an entrepreneurial service provider taking advantage of the latest DSL technology would see rapid pay-back on their capital investment should around 40 residential customers and 10 business customers subscribe. On that basis, Broadband4Britain believes that SDSL and ADSL roll-out to non-urban communities can and should be accelerated, and immediately launched its ‘Local Heroes’ campaign, designed to ignite demand outside of the UK’s major towns and cities.
Campaign manager Andy Williams: "FlashPoint 50 destroys the myth that non-urban DSL roll-out is uneconomic. In fact, some of our discussions have indicated an even lower number of users, based on different services and longer pay-back times. We renew our call to government and the telecommunications industry to upgrade 20% of non-urban telephone exchanges to broadband capability within one year."
In support of that call Broadband4Britain has today also announced a revolutionary initiative to accelerate the roll-out of nationwide high-speed communications services. The BB4B campaign is offering to team up with community groups and local authorities to understand and map their local demand for better high-speed Internet access services.
"If SMEs realised that they could save as much as 80% of their ISDN or leased-line-based Internet access costs, and get a service that is 5 times faster and always-on, demand for broadband services would skyrocket," said Barrie Desmond, Broadband4Britain’s founder and small business owner.
Broadband4Britain is actively recruiting Broadband "Local Heroes" to evangelise the benefits of broadband Internet access within their communities, with the objective of igniting non-urban broadband demand. Business and residential customers will be asked to pledge themselves to take broadband services, should a service provider make them available. The resulting demand map will be made available to all service providers.
"This campaign represents around 300 000 Broadband have-nots across the UK," continued Williams. "We aim to mobilise them to create a large number of Broadband education and demand creation campaigns within their local communities. We think that many communities can bust the Flashpoint 50 target wide open. If we’re proved right, we’ll be challenging national and local government and the telecomms industry to figure out ways to build out the capacity and meet the demand."
Of course getting BT to listen is another matter entirely, not to mention that the report doesn't appear to have factored in any economic safety margins.
Perhaps 65 exchanges is more realistic, although either way, BTs current requirements are still needlessly high. |
Broadband Wireless Threatens Leased Lines
By:mark.j @ 8:38:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Apparently 3.5GHz based broadband wireless technologies could now become a competitive threat to existing leased line technologies.
Successful trials have already managed to deliver data rates of 15Mbps over a range of 27Km in a standard point to multi-point setup:
Michael Philpott, access analyst at Ovum, said the broadband market was "about to get interesting". "The 3.5GHz band has always been thought of as an ADSL competitor, but this moves it partially into the leased line space," said Philpott.
James McCall, sales director at access provider Tele2, is using 3.5GHz to enter the leased line market. He said advances in 3.5GHz would give users an upgrade option on leased lines because customers could rent fatter wireless pipes without the need for new infrastructure.
"Because 3.5GHz services run point to multi-point you can provide dedicated circuits without tying people into contracts. It gives an upgrade path on a leased line," said McCall.
The VNUNet item notes that operators could use the extended range to provide business broadband economically. |
New E-Minister Named
By:mark.j @ 8:31:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] It looks as if Douglas Alexander's E-Minister replacement is to be Stephen Timms, the MP for East Ham:
The former schools minister worked for 15 years in the computing and telecoms industry, first for Logica and then for Ovum, where he managed its telecoms reports.
According to his biog he's well into IT. And he likes rambling.
Mr.Timms sounds like a more suitable replacement for the position, although only time can tell for sure. More @ The Register. |
New Worm Attacks MS SQL Databases
By:mark.j @ 8:29:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Those using Microsoft based web servers and an SQL database should be on your guard for Spider-B, which is a new Internet worm (virus) designed to steal user passwords, network and database information:
The worm was first spotted last week, but has now spread globally. Experts say it poses a greater threat than infamous counterparts Nimda and Code Red.
Ananova reports that 56% of computer attacks in the last five days appear to bare all the hallmarks of Spider-B. |
SpeedTouch ADSL Users Get Help
By:mark.j @ 8:24:AM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] Good news for all those with a SpeedTouch 510, 530 and 610 ADSL adaptor, ADSLGuide has highlighted a new and helpful site called speedtouchprofiles.com:
SpeedTouch Profiles brings you the latest news and information about the SpeedTouch range of DSL modems, routers, wireless products and DSL accessories. Our aim is to give you the inside track on these products in order for you to get the most out of your purchase. |
News - May 29,2002
Net Users NOT Depressives - SHOCK!
By:mark.j @ 4:31:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] To date there have been a number of studies suggesting that even spending an hour a week surfing the Internet could increase depression.
Such studies have often concluded that those who spend time online are more vulnerable to unhappiness and loneliness. Thankfully some new research by Professor Hampton into the relationship between technology, social relationships and the urban environment has found some more promising results:
"It's all garbage," he said of studies labelling net users as depressed or lonely individuals. He argues that the key difference between his research and other studies is that he sees the internet as part of people's everyday lives.
"The internet is just another communication medium that any of us use to communicate with friends and family," he said.
"If you look at it as just another technology that provides you with access to people, you see that communication online leads to more communication, in person or on the phone."
So we're not all manic depressives then? Well that's a relief because I was starting to wonder. It’s always nice to be told what you ‘should’ be in the eyes of somebody else, or not! More @ The BBC. |
Freeserves New Women's Portal
By:mark.j @ 4:22:PM - News Comments - SendNews [HERE] / PrintNews [HERE] The French Wanadoo owned UK ISP, Freeserve, has grabbed IPC Media's Marie Claire web site editor and given her the position of Editor-in-Chief for its own women's portal, iCircle:
Sarah Woodhead has been appointed to help iCircle compete in the fierce women's sector which also counts Boots and Telegraph-backed Handbag.com, Associated New Media's Femail and Tesco's iVillage among its combatants.
Woodhead, who was launch editor for marieclaire.co.uk, will develop icircle’s content strategy and manage the portal's editorial team. Prior to marieclaire.co.uk, she was channels editor for IPC Media's now defunct BEME.COM where she helped relaunch the site. In 1999, while at Emap, Woodhead won the PPA Editor of the Year Award.
Freeserve managing director of portals Jon Gisby said: "The women's online arena is experiencing prolific growth: 21% year on year. Sarah's creativity and industry expertise make her the ideal candidate to realise our goal of ensuring that icircle remains the top women's portal in the UK”.
More @ netimperative.info. |
|
