Internet News
September 1, 2010
The government of India has now turned its attentions to Skype and Google regarding security concerns, as it hinted it would in meetings three weeks ago.
This comes after a ban on BlackBerry messaging services was threatened, due to the government being unable to monitor these communications, and considering this a national security threat.
The BlackBerry ban was due to ...
Indian government turns security spotlight on Skype and Google
by Darren Allan
August 12, 2010
It seems that the coalition government is reneging on a previous promise made to review the fibre tax, which smaller ISPs consider unfair to their business. Minister for Communications, Culture and the Creative Industries (such a snappy title) Ed Vaizey back-tracked on the promised review, Computer Weekly reported. Vaizey made the comment after a meeting with the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), when ...
Coalition government decides not to review fibre tax
by Darren AllanIt seems that the coalition government is reneging on a previous promise made to review the fibre tax, which smaller ISPs consider unfair to their business. Minister for Communications, Culture and the Creative Industries (such a snappy title) Ed Vaizey back-tracked on the promised review, Computer Weekly reported. Vaizey made the comment after a meeting with the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), when ...
August 2, 2010
Government departments will continue to use an outdated version of Microsoft's Internet Explorer for browsing the web.
That's because the cost of upgrading from IE6 would be too much of a burden on the taxpayer, the government has said in response to a recent petition.
The petition, which was to “Encourage government departments to upgrade away from Internet Explorer 6”, ...
UK government thinks IE6 will have to do
by Darren Allan
July 23, 2010
Once a mobile is stolen, its owner generally realises quite quickly, and the handset can be blocked rendering it useless to the thief. Although not quite, as the mobile can still be sold on to a recycling firm, who can then (unknowingly) export them for sale and use abroad. Such mobile phone theft is actually pretty big business. As a result of ...
UK government cracks down on recycling of stolen mobiles
by Darren AllanOnce a mobile is stolen, its owner generally realises quite quickly, and the handset can be blocked rendering it useless to the thief. Although not quite, as the mobile can still be sold on to a recycling firm, who can then (unknowingly) export them for sale and use abroad. Such mobile phone theft is actually pretty big business. As a result of ...
July 19, 2010
Last week, when the meeting between the government and the major players within the broadband industry took place, there was an optimistic mood going in, but coming out that had all changed with the government pledging nothing and informing the industry that the ball was in their court.
However, one clear thing did emerge and that is the date ...
Rural organisations criticise broadband delays
by David Allen
July 15, 2010
It seems that the target date of 2012 for hooking up all the broadband “not-spots” (out of the way rural areas that can't get a connection) in the UK is going to be pushed back. The Telegraph and Guardian both reported that Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said it was not practical to meet Labour's previous pledge to get rural areas hooked ...
UK broadband for all target pushed back to 2015
by Darren AllanIt seems that the target date of 2012 for hooking up all the broadband “not-spots” (out of the way rural areas that can't get a connection) in the UK is going to be pushed back. The Telegraph and Guardian both reported that Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said it was not practical to meet Labour's previous pledge to get rural areas hooked ...
July 6, 2010
With the new austerity budget bedding into the UK, and the prospect of rises such as 2.5% slapped on VAT, we all have to get used to the fact that the piper needs to be paid, and the debt hangover faced. And the banks bailed out, no questions asked, naturally. So in these upcoming hard times (for everyone who isn't a ...
Government mobile apps money wastage revealed
by Darren AllanWith the new austerity budget bedding into the UK, and the prospect of rises such as 2.5% slapped on VAT, we all have to get used to the fact that the piper needs to be paid, and the debt hangover faced. And the banks bailed out, no questions asked, naturally. So in these upcoming hard times (for everyone who isn't a ...
July 5, 2010
The Welsh government is to make £2 million worth of funds available to help get broadband out to rural areas. Residents out in the sticks of Wales who can't get broadband due to their remote location will be eligible for a grant of up to £1000 to pay for getting hooked up to the information superhighway. Sorry, Internet – who flicked ...
Rural Wales gets broadband boost of £2 million
by Darren AllanThe Welsh government is to make £2 million worth of funds available to help get broadband out to rural areas. Residents out in the sticks of Wales who can't get broadband due to their remote location will be eligible for a grant of up to £1000 to pay for getting hooked up to the information superhighway. Sorry, Internet – who flicked ...
July 2, 2010
Most people realise that under a government, laws and regulations will be introduced, but under the Labour government's thirteen years in power, 4,300 regulations were introduced and some are quite strange while other are just plain scary.
But with a new government comes new ideas and one idea from the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, is the Your Freedom ...
Government launches Your Freedom site
by David Allen
June 23, 2010
Following the budget, the government has invited internet businesses to Whitehall for a one day conference next month.
They will debate on what must be done to get the entire country connected to the internet under the Universal Service Commitment (USC), which should mean a minimum 2 Mbps broadband service for all homes throughout the UK.
The invitation comes from ...
Government to hold broadband conference
by David Allen
June 9, 2010
The new coalition government has outlined plans for ramping up the roll-out of Britain's super-fast broadband network. Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt called the previous Labour government's countrywide 2Mbps broadband by 2012 pledge “pitifully unambitious”. And he pledged £300 million would be spent on improving the country's broadband to a higher standard before the end of this parliament. In fact, Hunt stated that his ...
Government wants UK to be top of European broadband league
by Darren AllanThe new coalition government has outlined plans for ramping up the roll-out of Britain's super-fast broadband network. Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt called the previous Labour government's countrywide 2Mbps broadband by 2012 pledge “pitifully unambitious”. And he pledged £300 million would be spent on improving the country's broadband to a higher standard before the end of this parliament. In fact, Hunt stated that his ...
May 31, 2010
An expert in the field of broadband and communications has been praising the government’s commitment to providing the entire UK with superfast broadband services provided through fibre optic cable technology.
According to Elfed Thomas, the chief executive of the i3 Group has praised the governments ambition when it comes to providing super fast broadband services, especially when it comes ...
Governments backing of super fast broadband praised
by David Allen
May 14, 2010
It comes as no big surprise that Jeremy Hunt has been appointed secretary of state for culture, Olympics, media and sport, a combination of two posts from the Labour administration.
The past week has produced a mass of information and agreements, but the media appears to have been bypassed in favour of more exciting announcements.
However, the Tories made several ...
Jeremy Hunt is the new Culture Minister
by David Allen
April 21, 2010
Google has been under fire of late, particularly due to privacy issues.
Its Street View map photography project, and the launch of the Gmail social networking offshoot, Buzz, have both caused a considerable degree of controversy.
Now the search giant has unveiled a tool called Government Requests (www.google.com/governmentrequests), which it no doubt hopes will help generate some more positive publicity ...
Google makes government censorship figures public
by Darren Allan
April 12, 2010
Following the ultra quick work of the government to slip the Digital Economy Bill though Parliament without anyone really checking it out, it looks as if some broadband account holders will be seeing their broadband services removed due to excessive illegal downloading.
One internet service provider (ISP) has stated that it will protect its customers' identities unless they are ...
TalkTalk to fight the Digital Bill
by David Allen
April 1, 2010
Tanya Byron is the psychologist who authored the Byron review, which examined issues of Internet safety and the use of video games by youngsters back in 2008 for the government.
Byron has recently reviewed the UK's progress in the light of her 2008 report, and she has made some comments regarding the headway made on gaming issues.
One of the ...
Byron urges safety on mobile and online gaming
by Darren Allan
March 25, 2010
Bletchley Park, the Buckinghamshire manor house and home of the Enigma code breakers in World War II, is to receive more money from the government.
A £250,000 grant is to be provided for much needed repairs to the manor, which is in a considerable state these days.
Back in September of last year, Bletchley received £500,000 of lottery funding, but ...
Bletchley Park to receive £250,000 grant
by Darren Allan
March 12, 2010
As the time gets closer for the government and the media regulator Ofcom to decide the future of spectrum, it seems that choices could be limited, so much so that a decision that could be considered by the industry as radical may have to be made.
Ofcom has 60 MHz located close to the 800 MHz position and 190 ...
WiMAX to get first stab at spectrum auction
by David Allen
March 9, 2010
A consumer watchdog's latest round of research has indicated that many poorer UK citizens who aren't connected to the Internet view the web as irrelevant to them.
These findings come from Consumer Focus, and are aimed at the government who are currently trying to get more low-income families online, with their universal service commitment which aims for 2Mbps broadband ...
Watchdog urges government to refocus broadband strategy
by Darren Allan
March 3, 2010
The UK government has set another target for getting a greater percentage of the UK online.
It's thought that some 12.5 million British citizens, about a fifth of the country, don't have the means to access the Internet.
The government wants to rectify this situation for 60% of those unfortunates (7.5 million people) by the year 2014.
The focus will be ...
Government draws up another plan to get millions online
by Darren Allan
February 24, 2010
The government has spoken out about its plans to forcibly disconnect illegal file-sharers.
The move comes in response to an online petition which asked the government to scrap Lord Mandelson's scheme, whereby individuals could be banned from the net due to using peer-to-peer file-sharing applications.
The petition cited privacy issues, and the innocent-until-proven-guilty attitude the proposed legislation would take. As ...
Government appears to u-turn on cutting off file-sharers
by Darren Allan
February 5, 2010
It seems like the government has made a U-turn on the plans to relax the rules on product placement on TV.
Initially it seemed that TV producers would be able to place products as and where they liked in return for cash paid by the brands.
But following complaints from the public and opposition from government ministers, it now looks ...
Product placement may be toned down
by David Allen
January 21, 2010
Tim Berners-Lee, the man credited with founding the web, has taken the wraps off his latest project.
It's for the UK government, and it lives at http://data.gov.uk, under the tagline: “Unlocking Innovation: Working with UK public sector information and data.”
The site aims to make the vast compilation of statistics and figures the government has at its fingertips open to ...
Berners-Lee reveals government data website
by Darren Allan
January 19, 2010
If the Conservatives come into power at the next election, they have promised to make efforts to tighten the country's security against online threats.
The party has plans to introduce a Cyber Threat and Assessment Centre to analyse and respond to cyber-attacks.
The current government has promised to set up a Cyber Security Operations Centre, but it isn't yet up ...
Tories pledge to tighten UK’s cyber-security
by Darren Allan
January 14, 2010
When a government reaches the point where there are only a few months before a general election, there is a frantic race to push all of those outstanding changes through, just in case they lose and end up on the other side of the house.
One such decision could potentially bring the Ashes back to free to view television ...
Ashes decision will come before election
by David Allen
January 7, 2010
The government is taking advice on how best to spend the money it is set to raise to invest in next generation broadband.
The cash will be obtained by a most likely not too popular fixed tax on landlines. Even though the amount isn't huge at 50p a month, it's extra tax that most folks could do without in ...
Government mulls over broadband spending
by Darren Allan
December 10, 2009
With the government in cutback mode at the moment, it would seem that no public service is safe from the axe man and this includes the BBC, even though it is funded by the public through the TV Licence.
With the commercial arm of the BBC showing a turnover of £1 billion, BBC Worldwide is ripe for the picking ...
Government suggests BBC Worldwide sell off
by David Allen
November 23, 2009
The Department of Business is keen to press on with the government's Digital Economy Bill, which is where some of the main points from the Digital Britain report could be made into laws.
The main points are:
fighting against illegal file sharing,
allowing the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act to change as and when needed,
Ofcom being given new ...
Government presses forward with Digital Economy Bill
by David Allen
November 19, 2009
It looks as if the government could force through the broadband tax, to make sure that it goes through the parliamentary system before the next general election.
According to the communications minister, Stephen Timms, the 50p tax placed on each phone line could be introduced in the government’s finance bill that will be set in motion before the election, ...
Broadband tax brought in before election
by David Allen
November 9, 2009
The UK government is looking to spend £200 million on bringing rural broadband into the 21st century.
There has been talk that Scotland will be getting a fair slice of the money in order to provide some of the more isolated regions in the country with a broadband service.
UK communications minister, Stephen Timms, said at a meeting Scottish telecom ...
Government to spend £200m on broadband
by David Allen
November 5, 2009
Most consumers in the UK are used to struggling with slow broadband connections.
Some areas have no broadband at all, but then there are those areas that have access to 50 Mbps broadband.
This is the digital divide and the Digital Britain report aims to put an end to it by 2012.
Across the North Sea, Sweden has a similar ...
Broadband for all, in Sweden
by David Allen
November 2, 2009
The EU has taken infringement proceedings against the infamous trial of Phorm on the BT network to the next level and the UK government has two months to reply before the case could go all the way to the European Court of Justice.
The Phorm trials caused some serious issues for BT customers who were not aware that their ...
EU leans on UK Gov over Phorm
by David Allen
October 29, 2009
TalkTalk has taken a further step in its ongoing campaign against Mandelson's file sharing crackdown with a statement of resistance on its blog page.
The ISP said it was “dismayed” at the government pushing ahead with its three-strikes-and-you're-out policy, which will see persistent illegal downloaders disconnected from the net.
The problem that TalkTalk (and many other campaigners) have is the ...
TalkTalk will resist government file sharing crackdown
by Darren Allan
October 28, 2009
Lord Mandelson has set out the government's stall regarding plans to deal with illegal file sharers using a 'three-strikes-and-you're-out' policy.
The Business Secretary said that legislation would be introduced in April 2010, with measures to disconnect persistent offenders coming into force in July 2011. Unless the level of file sharing in the year up until April 2011 drops by ...
Government sets 2011 date for file sharing crackdown
by Darren Allan
October 19, 2009
Universal broadband has been given a boost as the UK’s Minister for Digital Britain, Stephen Timms, has put together proposals that could see mobile broadband operators providing the much needed broadband service to rural areas.
In order to for this to work the government is looking to offer mobile providers indefinite 3G licences, as long as mobile broadband can ...
Mobile broadband to be extended
by David AllenFibre rollout requires government support
by David Allen
October 16, 2009
TalkTalk has run some wi-fi tests in an effort to expose the naivety of the government's proposed plans to tackle illegal file sharers.
The plans the government is considering would see repeatedly offending downloaders cut off from the Internet.
But as TalkTalk pointed out with its little stunt, it might not only be the big bad pirates who suffer disconnection.
The ...
TalkTalk attacks government file sharing crackdown
by Darren Allan
October 13, 2009
A new report from the Digital Inclusion team says that over ten million adults in the UK have never been online – almost half of that number due to their economic circumstances.
The government funded organisation, whose aim is to help disadvantaged Britons get connected to the Internet, said that because of this situation some of the country's poorest ...
Ten million Brits have never been online
by Darren Allan
October 1, 2009
The TV, broadband and phone provider BSkyB has been confirming its position on the government’s proposed plans to combat those customers that use the broadband service for illegal filesharing purposes.
According to BSkyB, it would be willing to welcome the proposals from the Department of Business, but only if these measures are taken in way that would bring the ...
Sky supports plans to tackle illegal filesharers
by David Allen
September 22, 2009
The Country and Land Association (CLA) is calling upon the government to start an investment programme into developing the rural broadband network.
The CLA believes that the government should be investing in the development of a full UK broadband network rather than relying on the individual network providers, as they tend to develop faster broadband services in busier areas ...
Rural broadband investment backed by CLA
by David Allen
September 14, 2009
In what may seem to be a surprise decision, the government is about to announce that restrictions on the placing of branded products on commercial TV are about to be lifted.
It is believed that the culture secretary, Ben Bradshaw, will make the announcement in a speech at the Royal Television Society in a few days time.
These changes will ...
Product placing given the go ahead
by David Allen
September 4, 2009
While the UK’s mobile broadband providers are on good terms with Lord Mandelson, it seems that some of the fixed line broadband providers are none too pleased over the Business Secretary’s plans to tackle the online piracy issue.
The bosses of the UK’s largest internet service providers are unusually on the same page on this matter and are putting ...
Filesharing plans dismissed by ISPs
by David AllenUniversal broadband agreement close
by David Allen
August 19, 2009
It is annoying when politicians cannot make up their minds and the UK waited for months to find out how the government plans to tackle the broadband problem, with the Digital Report finally appearing to have addressed these concerns.
But recently it appears that the government has its own take on the report.
This is evident with the piracy ...
Government will not drop 50p broadband tax
by David Allen
August 14, 2009
The targeted adverting scheme Phorm or Webwise has still got consumers flustered, even though many of the country’s internet service providers have either stated that they will not be going ahead with deploying the system on their networks or have not made a final decision.
There have been many requests from the general public and organisations under the Freedom ...
Phorm data unavailable under the FOI
by David Allen
July 31, 2009
Should swine flu get to the stage where public services such as schools have to be closed down, then the government has a “Plan B” to keep the wheels of the country rolling.
The BBC would have to clear the schedules and replace those programmes with hours of educational programming if schools were to close.
This is part of the ...
BBC will teach kids if schools close down
by David Allen
July 30, 2009
Government money has been awarded to two companies to help with the provision of broadband services in the rural areas of Northern Ireland.
The two companies involved are North West Electronics and Net 1 Limited.
Both these firms, specialists in the provision of broadband services, will be getting a cut of the £177,000 government cash taken from the ...
Cash boost for broadband in rural Northern Ireland
by David Allen
July 29, 2009
A new paper has been produced by the government and issued to its departments.
This is nothing to do with how the departments are run, or changes in budgets - the paper is a guideline on how to use Twitter.
The twenty page document, produced by the head of corporate digital channels at the Department for Business, Innovation and ...
Government issues Twitter guidelines
by David Allen
July 13, 2009
NHS computers have been infected by more than 8,000 viruses in the past year. A Freedom of Information investigation by More4 News found that malicious computer viruses have forced hospitals to divert non-emergency ambulances, and postpone blood tests and X-rays. Other viruses locked administrative staff out of their computer systems, in one case creating a three-week back-log of appointments. The worst virus, the ...
NHS infected by 8,000 computer viruses
by David MastersNHS computers have been infected by more than 8,000 viruses in the past year. A Freedom of Information investigation by More4 News found that malicious computer viruses have forced hospitals to divert non-emergency ambulances, and postpone blood tests and X-rays. Other viruses locked administrative staff out of their computer systems, in one case creating a three-week back-log of appointments. The worst virus, the ...
June 26, 2009
The UK government is putting cyber security right at the front of its newly updated security plan.
According to the security minister, Lord West, terror organisations from China and Russia have already attacked the UK, although these groups are not necessarily sponsored by the state.
The warnings appear to be coming from all areas, even terror group Al-Qaida is ...
Cyber Warfare is a real threat to the UK
by David Allen
