Currently ISP’s treat information passed over the net equally; regardless of the source of the content, or where it is destined, but almost 90% of UK fixed line broadband and mobile carriers, including the likes of BSkyB, BT, Everything Everywhere (formerly Orange and T-Mobile), TalkTalk, 3, Virgin Media and Vodafone are proposing an alternative approach to the provision of internet services, advancing the idea of “two tier” connection speeds.

Founder of the world wide web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee claims that the proposals advanced by ISP’s go against the principals of the Internet; which was intended to provide information to everyone without discrimination.  The idea being that no restrictions are posed by ISP’s or government bodies on subject matter and modes of communication; essentially you pay a fee for fixed line broadband, and you access whatever content you wish, whenever you want it.

According to the Guardian, at a ‘round-table’ event hosted in Westminster earlier this month, attended by Ed Vaizey (the Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries), Berners-Lee advanced his concerns about the threats posed to existing guidelines for net neutrality:

“Every customer should be able to access every service, and every service should be able to access every customer … The web has grown so fast precisely because we have had two independent markets, one for connectivity, and the other for content and applications”.

In conjunction with Berners-Lee, content providers such as the BBC, Google, Yahoo, Facebook and Skype are not happy with the direction the debate is going, and feel that threats posed by ISP’s for the implementation of two-tier connection speeds is gaining momentum, with a lack of opposition, and an unwillingness of groups other than content providers, to attempt to ban the proposal.

At the event in Westminster, representatives of Skype voiced their concerns that with the exception of the 3 network, other providers restrict Skype’s services, due to the threat they pose to their call revenues.  If this is the case, carriers are already breaching the principles of net neutrality.  Here lies the crux of the issue: net neutrality is upheld by the ethics of those who implemented the internet and the web; the provision of services has drastically changed since it’s inception with commercial funding in the 1980’s; and while there is no central governance in it’s access or usage policies, no one seems keen to break the deadlock between the ISP’s and content providers and decisively resolve this debate.

ISP’s have long tried to implement a system allowing them to charge content providers such as the BBC, or their customers, for the data they transfer using services such as iPlayer.  ISP’s have to pay to carry the data, and it is for this reason that they have put forward their proposals to prioritise traffic, with the caveat that they would be transparent about the changes to their services and how it would affect the customer.

Content providers such as You Tube and the BBC continue to resist these proposals, claiming that they bring customers to the door of the ISP with the information they provide.  Without them, the ISP has nothing to offer their customers.  The Consumers Association argues that because users are often tied into long term contracts, if a change was made to an ISP’s traffic management policies, they may have little opportunity to change provider and move to an alternative.

If the ISP’s proposals are accepted, it could change the way content is delivered via the internet, across the UK.

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The Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications (more commonly known as the ePrivacy directive) is designed to regulate the use of confidential information; such as an individuals traffic data, and more specifically, cookies.  These are small text files that are stored as you browse; they might be used to remember your password, specific site settings for an individuals user profile; or to track pages you view.

The EU directive specifically rules that from the 25th May, websites and companies must obtain a users express permission, before storing information relating to their browsing habits, with particular emphasis on cookies that remember what you have bought online; and utilise this information for the purposes of advertising.  In their Assessment on implementing the revised EU Electronic Communications Framework, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills cites that the privacy, security and protection of personal data are key motivations for the revision of existing EU regulations:

“Poor levels of privacy, security and protection of personal data associated with the use of electronic services means that users may suffer financial loss and distress because they are at risk of their personal information being used other than in ways that they have given specific permission for.”

Currently there is speculation about the implementation of a system that is able to regulate whether websites and companies are meeting the guidelines of the directive; and how such measures can be rolled out effectively; without significantly disrupting a users browsing experience.

One of the most likely solutions is the use of browser settings to control cookies, for example Internet Explorer 9 already incorporates a Tracking Protection function to stop sites capturing users information online, Firefox and Google Chrome are currently developing their own version of  ‘do not track’ features within their web browsers, while Google Ads preferences already provides users with the ability to ‘opt out’ of interest based advertising, but they also observe that: “You will see the same number of ads as before, but they may not be as relevant”.

The Internet Advertising Bureau is currently deploying a pilot scheme with Yahoo! Microsoft and AOL, that will present an icon alongside advertisements, providing information about online behavioural advertising and specifically offering consumers the chance to ‘opt-out’ of interest based marketing.

Outside of web browser providers developing their own means of managing the privacy of traffic data; while minimising the disruption of a users experience; there seems to be little investment by the UK government in order to meet the May 25th deadline.  The Department for Culture, Media and Sport will be responsible for  preparing the guidelines to help companies and websites meet the directives key objectives; however, according to the BBC, specific information about how these guidelines can be deployed will not be available until after the deadline.

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Towards the end of lats year, SOCA (the Serious and Organised Crime Agency) drafted a plan to make this legal, giving the police more power over online crime fighting. SOCA have called for the plans to be formalised, by enabling Nominet (the body responsible for policing the .uk domain) to shut down the sites which are suspected of enabling illegal activity. Until now, Nominet have not had the authority to close down such sites, which has limited the actions available to them when they discover illicit activities.

The plans drafted by SOCA are now being opened for public debate, and the forum have requested volunteers from interested public parties to discuss the proposed reforms to legislation. Those who are interested in participating have been requested to put forward their details to the forum by February 23^rd. The move to make the discussion public has been taken as a result of the high volume of queries made to Nominet, following the original proposal announced through SOCA. A policy discussion group will now be formed to develop the plans.

Nominet has stated their intention to create a ‘balanced group of stakeholders’ in order to discuss the potential implications of the new policy, and work through the feasibility of empowering police to take direct action against criminal activity online. According to SOCA, the proposal was initiated following research undertaken last year in to those companies or individuals who sell fake goods online, or engage in other criminal activities.

The stakeholder group will be finalized early next month, and will be meeting in March to kick off discussions. The agenda for the meeting has already been prepared, detailing the potential issues and implications of the change to legislation.

Nick Lockett, a lawyer specialising in computer law, said: “I am deeply concerned about SOCA’s proposal if it means it could act before a conviction had been secured. In a world of online retailing, the ability for a police officer to seize any business, whether that is blocking a domain or seizing the servers – pre-conviction or certainly pre-warrant – would be a dramatic change in the relationship between the police and the internet community.”

“The police will have to be very careful about the sites they judge to be engaged in criminal activity. Mistakes that result in shutting down a legitimate site will leave them open to claims for massive damages.”

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Norton undertook research to determine the behaviour of people who use the internet, studying the psychological consequences of use of the internet. They reported that over sixty percent of people have been targeted by some form of crime online, causing both financial and time problems as a result, but the largest proportion of online dishonesty is displayed by the respondents themselves.

According to the research, just under twenty percent of people conceal their age, marital status, financial circumstances or address, while just under ten percent have lied about their appearance. The “Norton Cybercrime Report: The Human Impact” study shows that almost sixty percent of UK web users have been targeted by cybercriminals, with an average of twenty-five days taken to resolve the problems. The crime costs people, on average, around one hundred pounds to resolve.

A spokesperson for security firm Symantec commented: “A lot of people, while they want to get information about other people on the web, they themselves would like to remain somewhat anonymous, to hide some of their own information so as to be not too easily identifiable on the web. I don’t think it’s always a bad thing but certainly people are trying to create a whole different identity for themselves for nefarious purposes.”

Most people surveyed felt that downloading a music track or film without paying for it was perfectly legal, and almost twenty percent stated that they felt it was appropriate to plagiarise content from other people’s websites. People confessed that they had posted up images of other people illegally, and a quarter of the people surveyed admitted that they had gone through another person’s browsing history without their permission.

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The letter read: “My memories are of making my own arrangements on Craigslist to be sold for sex. I was first forced into prostitution when I was 11 years old by a 28-year-old man. All day, other girls and I sat with our laptops, posting pictures and answering ads on Craigslist. I am 17 now, and my childhood memories aren’t of my family, going to middle school, or dancing at the prom.”

“They are of making my own arrangements on Craigslist to be sold for sex, and answering as many ads as possible for fear of beatings and ice water baths. Craigslist is now the choice of traffickers because it is so well known and there are rarely consequences to using it for these illegal acts”.

The author, who penned the letter under the name ‘MC’, has called for Craigslist administrators to remove all advertisements for the adult industry, suggesting that the facility made it far too easy for people to exploit young women illegally. ‘MC’ was joined by another woman who attested to undergoing a similar harrowing experience by someone using Craigslist for the purposes of underage exploitation.

Chief Executive of the site, Jim Buckmaster, has responded by enquiring as to whether the crimes were reported to authorities, and if anyone had been arrested. He has called for more information in order that the site can enhance its security. He has asked that he could locate the police files pertaining to the case, in order to learn more before making a decision. His statement read:

“We have been unable thus far to identify police reports matching the crimes you describe. If anyone committing such crimes has not yet been apprehended and prosecuted, we want to do everything in our power to assist the police in making that happen.”

Adult adverts on the site are now being screened manually, in order to capture any illicit advertising or anything which seems to contravene rules of posting.

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The study, which was conducted over thirty days, revealed that workers within the public sector accessed over seventy million sites, despite the fact that less than 150,000 were significant or useful to their roles at work. The move has been made to reduce wasted time and increase the output and achievement of workers.

Marwan Juma, Jordan’s Information Minister has stated: “This policy will improve services in Jordan. We knew there was waste, but not to this extent. These policies are not unique; when I worked in the private sector, all the companies I worked for had policies. It’s part of our attempts to improve services and get staff to use the internet as a tool to help them with their work.”

“This is a continuous process and we are revamping our monitoring and filtering tools with a view, perhaps, of time limited access to certain sites, rather than an outright block. The blocked access will only be in place during office hours. When someone is at work, they should be focused on their job.”

Following the ban, a quarter of a million workers still attempted to access blocked sites.

Jordanian Communications Minister, Ali Ayed commented: “This measure must not be misinterpreted. The government is not targeting any particular website. Even the government’s own news agency, Petra, has been blocked. The public sector’s time must be spent in service of the public interest and public servants must focus their attention on the public’s needs, instead of wasting their time surfing the web or playing games. Jordan will be continuing with our broadband roll out and parts of the country, such as Amman, are already having fibre laid.”

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XY magazine, which provided literature for young homosexual males, went bankrupt earlier this year. Their services included a hosted website which provided an extension to their magazine. The website had over a million subscribers, all of whom registered to access the site.

Following the demise of the XY organisation, creditors have requested that the database of names be released as an asset which could be used to mitigate part of the debt incurred by the bankruptcy. However, this move has created an outcry from people concerned at the violation of privacy rights. The Federal Trade Commission has added its voice to the argument, stating that the sale could be a violation of Federal privacy laws.

Databases have long been considered as assets which are available for sale in the event of a company going bankrupt. However, it is the sensitive nature of the XY website content which is creating the controversy. Young homosexual males who signed up to the site in good faith may have their rights contravened through the move.

Privacy International spokesperson Simon Davies commented: “While privacy policies are very clear, in the event of bankruptcy all bets are off. Information shouldn’t be used for a purpose other than for which it was originally intended. In the UK, it would be hard – under normal circumstances – to take a database and apply it for another purpose. However, in the real world, when a firm goes into receivership, all bets are off when it comes to protection, because everyone’s scrabbling for something of value. It’s yet another hurdle for data protection advocates to jump through.”

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Blizzard’s game has been around for the past twelve years, and the recent announcement follows a decision by the firm to put an end to emotive and heated arguments online by gaming enthusiasts. From now on, people who use Blizzard’s online forums for the World of Warcraft game will have to undergo identity checks in order to prevent users from having heated disagreements under pseudonyms.

Gaming enthusiasts have reacted with protests, claiming that the use of real identities will only serve to create privacy issues and safety problems. Despite this, Blizzard have promised to implement the new user transparency rules within two months. Gamers online have been subjected to malicious flaming, unpleasant behaviour and trolling, and Blizzard have taken this unusual step in a bid to prevent online difficulties.

A spokesperson for the site stated: “Removing the veil of anonymity typical to online dialogue will contribute to a more positive forum environment, promote constructive conversations, and connect the Blizzard community in ways they haven’t been connected before. As the way gamers interact with one another continues to evolve, our goal is to ensure Battle.net is equipped to handle the ever-changing social-gaming experience for years to come.”

Previous attempts to implement authentication have resulted in disaster for exposed individuals. One person who used their real name to play online was subjected to a hate campaign within which other gamers obtained his address, telephone number and other personal details, and contacted him.

Over a thousand people have expressed their disappointment in Blizzard’s decision, stating that World of Warcraft should not emulate sites such as Facebook by opening forums up to social networking. Online gaming can be an emotive sphere for users, and the overall consensus is that gamers should be entitled to their anonymity online in order to fully enjoy the experience.

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Any attempt at government involvement with the content available online is almost guaranteed to be met with hostility by large sections of the online community, though it appears that the government are serious.

Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks. I’ve got a feeling this is going to be a big deal in 2009.

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