BT and BPI in a row over actions on 100,000 illegal downloaders
Many are on the sidelines anticipating the outcome of the debate between UK’s leader in broadband services and the British Pornographic Industry (BPI).
The astounding claim of 100,000 illegal downloaders using BT Broadband made by the BPI was rejected by BT, saying the evidence provided by BPI is erroneous. The numbers consists of broadband users within the BT bandwidth suspected of sharing files illegally, but the ISP said that only a small fraction were actually correct IP addresses linked to their customers.
BT was not only taken aback by accusations of inaction, it also claimed that the submitted information was inaccurate and could not be substantiated sufficiently for them to take action against the alleged illegal downloaders. The company also said they have agreed to send out letters to a thousand suspected illegal downloaders at the turn of this year.
But this doesn’t seem enough. The chief executive of BPI, Geoff Taylor, expressed dismay over the lack of action from BT on their noted subscribers involved in piracy. Further, the BPI pointed out that a leader such as BT should do something about having a high traffic of illegal materials. Taylor said, operating a commercial service in the knowledge that is used as an avenue by criminals should not be tolerated, and BT should take steps right away to ensure that such breaking of laws will be corrected within their company. He further highlighted such action should be conducted at the expense of BT’s funds and not imposed on its consumers through higher bills.
Contrary to innuendos that it’s merely protecting its subscribers by saying so, BT clarified it is merely defending its services within the bounds of law, and will not take action just yet as they may be simply caught in a tricky situation with BPI.
For more information, visit: IT Pro Portal
Security issues for routers
In a letter addressed to all its subscribers, the Be Broadband Blog has said that they have been informed of a possible security problem which could target the BE Box. The crux of the problem, according to the letter, was that it would enable someone else to change the settings on your router.
In an effort to get everyone, including people who didn’t read this letter, protected, they decided to update the password automatically for all its subscribers. The password will be unique to each subscriber and will be the individual serial number which is found at the bottom of the BE Box. A guide is available for changing the password subsequently at their website.
Be wanted to emphasise that the wireless key was not being modified, but it was the administrator web interface’s password that was being changed.
The script was automatically run on the 7th of September. For subscribers who didn’t want Be to do this, they were allowed to stop it by downloading and running the tool from their website.
For their more tech – savvy customers, a detailed explanation was given with regard to the problem. They said that the BE Box was under threat from an XSS which was working in tandem with a CRSF and enabled a remote attacker to carry out actions on the Web UI by using a JavaScript without the knowledge of the subscriber.
The short term would see the halting of this occurrence by setting the password as the serial number of the customer’s BE Box.
After this had been done, if any unauthorized person attempted to hack your router, you will be asked to enter your Admin password. Do not enter it or else the attack will become successful. Do not enter your password when it randomly asks for it.
Be said that they would be working with Thomson in the long run in order to make the firmware’s resistance to these attacks better.
Significant discount for 50 Mbps connections
Virgin Media, in a recent announcement, has brought about significant discounts in their 50 Mbps broadband package, meaning that unlike most other broadband providers, high – speed internet doesn’t have to come with a high price as well.
New customers enrolling in the UK with Virgin Media will only be charged a mere £18 per month for the first 3 months of their subscription in order to access the high speed XXL 50 Mbps package, though users will have to pay through Direct Debit or eBilling.
Access to this top speed internet broadband package will also entail users having to subscribe for the £11 per month virgin phone line service and, after the promotional 3 month period, the cost of the package will increase to a nominal 28 pounds monthly.
If new customers do not require the Virgin phone line, then they can choose not to take up the offer and can still be up for the 50 Mbps service. However, the promotional price of the service for the first 3 months increases to 33 pounds monthly and then 38 pounds after the expiration of the promotional period.
All broadband packages being offered by Virgin Media also come with a free modem as well as a Wireless N router, free PCGuard Total, free installation, 100 free photo prints every month, unlimited storage space on their network and automatic backup. Virgin Media also offers the best downlink and uplink speed currently available in the UK regardless of the chosen package.
This promotional deal from Virgin, according to an industry expert, provide amazing value for money with the best speed possible. For people who download a lot or stream TV or music through iPlayer or Spotify, this deal should be hard to resist!
Virgin Media is currently working on launching a new broadband service which should enables its users to have downlink speeds of about 200 Mbps and is putting in a lot of effort to ensure that a lot of subscribers get onto their 50 Mbps package before they roll the 200 Mbps package out.
BSkyB gets ASA reproach over unfair ads
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) recently issued a ban against airing of the BSkyB advertisement citing the unfair and misleading attacks on broadband companies BT and Virgin Media.
The internet speeds of service providers, along with concerned groups and individuals, raised their concern over the BSkyB campaign. The ad claims, “If you’re in a Sky network area, we don’t slow your broadband speed down at peak times – unlike Virgin Media and BT.”
The advertisement watchdog supported their decision to ban BSkyB, citing among others that only extremely heavy users would experience slower speeds during peak times, which is but an understandable connectivity and speed situations.
The ruling from ASA stated that the BSkyB campaign breached advertising guidelines on substantiation, truth and comparisons with competitors. It further issued a warning against the BSkyB to refrain from making similar unfair and misleading claims.
On the other hand, BSkyB retorted that all BT and Virgin Media subscribers could be likely affected by their fair use and traffic management policies. They argued broadband speeds of users exceeding “fair use” during peak hours would be experiencing what they claim. This particularly happens, said BSkyB when “heavy users” who are using on popular applications at busy periods with bigger bandwidths.
ASA explained that both BT and Virgin Media do not intend these slower peak-hours speed as implied by the BSkyB advertisement. The regulatory body stated that the public, particularly subscribers to the two internet service providers, would infer from the claim that their speeds are really affected and such slower connection is intended by the two providers.
Particularly to the consumers with low-bandwidth web browsing services, the BSkyB advertisement would make them think the services of both Virgin Media and BT are really slowing down their speed, even if such is not the case, ASA continued to explain.
To read more related information, click here: guardian.co.uk
Plusnet announces shorter, more flexible contracts
Leading broadband service provider Plusnet recently announced it is offering more affordable schemes for its subscribers, and cutting their offered 18-month contract lengths to just 12 months.
This was announced by Plusnet chief executive Anthony Vollmer, who said that the customers can now enjoy greater flexibility and cheaper services from their company. This would give both existing and new subscribers of Plusnet the choice to leave the service after a year, instead of being tied down longer if they have other plans.
Apart from this good news of cheaper rates and shorter contracts, Plusnet also announced that they made available the no-contract broadband plan. This will mean customers may opt to pay for hardware and the connection at the same time.
Subscribers have been reported to be hassled and dismayed with existing service contracts, not just with Plusnet but other broadband providers as well. This is because most broadband packages offered come with fees for set-up, as well as hardware purchase, that come when they sign-up a contract or when they choose to leave it. When customers opt to change service providers, or are unsatisfied with the connectivity and speed, most would simply pay out the remainder of their contract. With Plusnet’s no contract broadband package, the subscribers have the choice to save when they purchase both the connection and the hardware needed.
Those planning to avail of Plusnet subscription can also avail of the company’s offered bundles of broadband service connection and home phones. Options like the unlimited broadband packages with internet connection can now be purchased from Plusnet.
The service that comes with greater speeds of 8MBps and download limit of 10GB is now available for subscribers at only £5.99. Plusnet said their cost is considered the cheapest when it comes to stand-alone broadband package.
Orange’s broadband service has been restored
Broadband services have been restored to all Orange customers after a full outage on Thursday, reported Orange.
Orange said that another incident whereby customers were unable to get access to their emails on the Blackberry phones had been solved as well. They said that this problem was due to some ‘vandalism’ of critical cables’
Orange have not mentioned as to the reason for the problems for their broadband customers, but they said that they had taken care of the problem soon after it was identified.
However, a BBC News website reader, Kieran Casey, said that he had noticed the problem at 0900 BST on Thursday. At about 1400 BST, he mentioned of a conversation with Orange, who said that the repairs would take ‘another few hours’.
Mr Casey said that, considering the size of Orange, the fact that they had this problem for such a long time was quite unbelievable and ridiculous. Orange Broadband, which ran under the name Wanadoo previously, has a customer base of nearly 1 million in the fixed broadband sector in the country.
The firm, with over 15 million mobile customers, had made a recent announcement saying that they would merge their UK mobile operations with T-Mobile.
A spokesperson for Orange said that they were aware of Blackberry customers experiencing problems in accessing their emails. The spokesperson also said that they were aware that it was due to a vandalism of the cabling infrastructure which had been supplied to them by a third party provider in Heathrow, London.
In another incident, said the spokesperson, some broadband customers may have had a problem accessing the internet. They said that they were able to confirm the solving of this problem and that full service had been resumed for all their broadband customers.
Source - BBC News
Nine month contracts offered by Be Broadband to students
Students who are not living in their own houses and are not too happy with committing to a 12 month broadband connection only to find that they end up not using the last three months are finally getting something their way. This is thanks to an initiative by Be Broadband.
As part of this new and innovative package, Be’s Unlimited and Pro broadband packages can be purchased on a 9 month contract. That’s a fairly big saving of 50 pounds for unlimited customers. Meanwhile, if you are purchasing the Pro package, you can save an even higher amount, 64.50 pounds being the savings.
Both of these deals will enable you to utilize a super – fast broadband connection with a maximum speed of 24 Mbps, unlimited downloads every month, a free wireless router and customer service throughout the year for no extra fee. Unlimited customers will dish out 17.5 pounds every month while Pro customers will pay 21.5 pounds every month and get better upload speeds as well as a totally free static IP for their higher investment.
In order to avail of this offer, which is available only for a short period of time, you will have to visit the Be Broadband page and type in the code StudentOffer when you are about to finish the purchase.
Flaw compromises the security of O2 routers
The Guardian reports that anyone having a router provided by O2 might find that they are vulnerable to remote attacks, according to an O2 customer, who has repeatedly tried to get O2 to take notice of this problem.
The details about this are fairly complicated and depends on ‘cross – site request forgery’, something most of us (including myself) may have never heard of. This is a very serious issue and you should be worried. If in possession of an O2 router, you should reset the default password and ensure that O2 hasn’t changed it back, according to the O2 customer, Andrew Brown.
Nearly 457,000 of O2’s customers could be affected by this as nearly all of O2’s customers would be using the Wireless Box II or III, the only routers being offered by O2. Zen Broadband as well as Be responded to check whether the routers they provide are also affected by this problem.
According to Andrew Brown, O2 has supplied a remote update to the Wireless Boxes whereby their password is set to the serial number of the box. Though this will reduce the problem to a particular extent, it won’t get rid of it. The software release is still vulnerable to this problem.
Be Broadband had sent out a letter to its customers with regard to this, including instructions for the tech – savvies, but the penultimate paragraph should be taken note of. It says that a remote attach might lead to prompts for your router password. You should never comply with this request unless you have initiated the process. Therefore, beware of this and be aware. It is great to see that Be is being precautionary about this. O2 seem to have been doing this very thing – it is because of this that people find their admin passwords being changed suddenly.
BT offers twice its current internet speed in 2011
Every internet service company seems to be offering faster speed, but BT is way ahead with its plan to provide 24Mb by year 2011. This will mean almost doubling its current ADSL+2 service reach to over 75% of homes and businesses in the United Kingdom.
This recent announcement from BT was most welcome considering it will make the download time of music just a few seconds, and TV programs just a few minutes. The company currently provides 8Mb speed to most of its subscribers, with variations in certain regions due to phone exchange line and proximity.
Having the BT ADSL+2 in any telephone exchange will mean that more people could avail of faster connections, and at the same time increase speeds in slow lines.
On the other hand, BT is also undertaking building of an ultimate-speed broadband network using fiber optic technology projected to serve up to 40Mb per second. This service is aimed to be operational in 2012 and serve over 40% of households.
In related reports, cable network provider Virgin Media which serves over half of the country with 50Mb per second, is feeling pressure from the government. The latter has expressed plans that it hopes will allow more users to benefit from superfast connections, and has proposed 50 pence monthly tax on all phone lines in the United Kingdom.
Treasury minister Stephen Timms who lead the Digital Britain plan did comment that the proposed tax will help raise the funds to augment the roll-out of speedier broadband networks to rural communities. Though the public perceives this legislative plan out-of-timing with the next election so close, Timms said the tax will surely be passed by parliament before that period.
The government also committed to have 2Mb per second speed provided to all homes by 2012.
For related details, click here: The Guardian
Free line rental waiting for you at the Post Office!
It seems that we are finally able to see the result of a high level of competition in the market for home phones in the United Kingdom. The last wall of resistance, which was the charges for using a landline from BT, is slowly but steadily falling. The post office, which has been widely praised for their very good approach to dealing with their customers, is giving away a package with both broadband and home phone services, which costs just about 20 pounds for every month and also seems to include free line rental as well, which is just great news for the customers.
It is of no doubt that BT is still getting wholesale payments from the RBS Post Office, but the customers don’t have to worry too much about this. The only point of concern for customers has to be the bottom line, i.e. how much you are paying monthly for services that you want. Homephonechoices.co.uk, a popular website which assists customers, has compiled an amazing comparison of the top deals for the home phone service which are found in the UK.
And since a large proportion of the customers in the UK have access to the Internet, Home Phone Choices have compiled these reviews with broadband bundling as well as without broadband bundling. To simplify the process of comparison of telco services for homes, Home Phone Choices have put an easy – to – use comparison tool on the home page of their website. In order to make use of this free service comparison tool, you will just have to input your post code into a particular box, select the level of service that you would like to experience and then click the button in order to compare the prices.
Source - kingpin-seo.co.uk
