The Storm over Phorm Breaks- Protest
Posted in THE CONVERSATION CONTINUES
As I mentioned earlier I have been talking about the Phorm and NebuAd lately. The original post about the controversy plus the comments can be found here. Other relevant posts: Twelve Questions for Phorm, more on Phorm, some more and Phorm’s response to me. In addition Brad Waller of Revenews talks about the Coalition to fight NeBuAd and whether Deep Packet Injection is Trademark Infringement. Lastly, in an insightful repost of some of Kellie Steven’s (AffiliateFairPlay) comments from one of my posts I found out that UK citizens were planning a protest.
On July 16th 2008 there will be a protest rally at The Barbican Centre (The Barbican Theatre) in London. The purpose of the event is to protest against plans by BT Group PLC, Virgin Media and Car Phone Warehouse to deploy intrusive technology across their broadband networks for the purpose of profiling the behaviour of their customers which is then sold to Phorm Inc. (formerly 121Media) and used for their Open Internet Exchange (OIX) service.
It seems they make good on their promises. Read on for excerpts of the coverage…and perhaps a lesson.
I have taken the liberty of quoting some of the more poignant wrap-up material, I suggest concerned parties read each article.
Protest at the Barbican - A Summary
Now for a little bit of a rant, not enough people turned up (not even all the peopole who said they would be attending turned up). I shouldn’t need to remind people how much work went into this event and I certainly shouldn’t need to remind people how important it is for everyone to stand up for their rights and attending the protest would have been a step towards that. The protest was announced 2 months ago and it would have been nice for people to arrange a day off from work and make the effort to attend. I don’t use an ISP who are interested in Phorm (quite the opposite) so I personally have nothing to gain from the literally thousands of hours I have dedicated to trying to protect you guys from this sinister technology and whereas I appreciate the thanks and support I recieve from people this is not about me, it is about everyone and it is a very serious issue, so I was a little disappointed to see so few people turn up.
The European Commission has sent a message to the British government, and it reads something like this: “If you don’t deal with Phorm, we will.”
Earlier this month, according to Dow Jones, the European Union commissioner for information society and media sent a “pre-warning letter” to UK authorities, voicing her concern over Phorm, the behavioral ad targeter poised to track user activity on Britain’s three largest ISPs: BT, Carphone Warehouse, and Virgin Media.
BT has already conducted two trials with Phorm - and web surfers were not notified.
“It is very clear in E.U. directives that unless someone specifically gives authorization (to track consumer activity on the Web) then you don’t have the right to do that,” EU commissioner Viviane Reding said. If UK government does not deal with the issue, Dow Jones says, the EC could take action in the European Court of Justice.
I think that was probably as bad an AGM as BT could possibly have hoped for. It was completely dominated by Webwise, and the directors were made to look extremely uncomfortable.
I know some online will be unhappy I didn’t challenge them more aggressively; the reality is I would never have prevailed so I didn’t try very hard. BT Shareholders are a genteel bunch, I didn’t want to make myself the villain of the piece.
Curious thing; Ian Livingston answered not one single question that I put to the board, and the words Webwise or Phorm did not pass his lips once during the AGM.
One thing I did learn from shareholders was how great a concern phishing is to some people, particularly people who are relying on savings and investments for income. Its important we get the message across that filtering (as occurs already for child abuse sites) does not require advertising or mass surveillance. The two are completely separate and independent. If people do want network phishing filters, and choose to opt in to that as a service, why not? I think that’s a great idea if that’s what people want. Everything else about Phorm is vile, evil, and repels me to the core.
My Own Conclusion
Perhaps people who dislike the way things are going on in the world or certain issues that raise their hackles should take a clue from the playback across the pond. For example- predatory advertising practices. Concerted and coordinated action can cause pressure and pressure often causes change.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Complacency and apathy are forms of passive acceptance.
Yes Kellie, but few want to give up their comfy homes and grab an umbrella or a sword…the Brits though…hats off!