Broadband Comparison, News & Reviews

Many start-up (or up-start) web businesses from the nineties are a now a permanent fixture such as eBay, however the problem with these websites is that while they have connected plenty of buyers and sellers they have also helped out some crooks along the way.

President of AFI International Group Inc, Peter Martin, stated that crooks reselling stolen goods on auction websites are a huge problem because any company that has a product that can be re-sold can be struck by online fraud.

However, auction websites are not the only places that crooks head to as they are also increasingly using social media websites to sell their stolen wares according to Martin. He stated that with the growth of websites such as Facebook now social networks are giving sellers a large group of customers that they can reach and find.

Principal Cynthia Navarro from Finnegan?s Way said that eBay was designed to make it easy for buyers and sellers to find each other, not to stop fraud. Initially there were a ton of complaints, but according to Navarro over the years eBay has done a lot to counter the amount of fraudulent transactions that happen on the website.

As online web business has developed eBay has stepped forward to take the lead in combating online crime by implementing certain mechanisms that make it easier to prosecute and investigate criminal activity.

For example, the popular auction site has a program called VeRO which reports intellectual property right infringement directly to the proper authorities.

Ebay has also launched an outreach program called PROACT that is set up to help security and loss prevention managers create undercover accounts so that they can investigate possible leads that may lead them to thieves selling stolen items online.

Filed under: Broadband Scam Alerts by Alan

The BBC has finally been given permission to continue full steam ahead with Project Canvas after getting the nod from the BBC Trust.

Project Canvas is a joint venture to bring internet-video services to television that includes Carphone Warehouse, the BBC, Channel 4, BT, Five, and ITV. It has been officially under review since February of 2009.

The aim of the project is to offer on demand video to subscribers over broadband. Its largest opponent has been BSkyB which is owned by the News Corporation.

This morning the BBC Trust is expected to announce that it will offer its support. In order to get the Canvas technology consumers will need to purchase new set-top boxes priced at about ?200 that should become available by the end of 2010.

A source close to Project Canvas stated that the decision will be positive although it will come with conditions. However, the source stated that the conditions will not be too large or confining.

Canvas will offer up content to users from NHS Direct, LoveFilm, possibly Hulu, and the BBC iPlayer. Additional organizations that want to add access to their content will be welcome to submit application designs that users can shop in much like the Apple app store.

The announcement of approval will welcome the wrath of Virgin Media and Sky who have insisted that it discriminates against pay per use TV operators and that it will not offer anything new on the market that currently is not already available on the commercial market.

Filed under: Broadband News and Reviews by Alan

Beginning January 7^th one million Tiscali broadband and home phone customers will be automatically switched to TalkTalk as the takeover becomes finalized. As a result, some of these customers may see their bills increase up to a third.

Those who are signed into the Tiscali broadband only deal will be forced to pay ?19.99 per month instead of their current price of ?14.99. The customers were told in a letter that they could continue to pay the same lower rate if they agreed to take on the call package from TalkTalk but for some this would not be possible or even reasonable.

If a customer agrees to sign into an 18 month deal Guardian Money the consumer group found that the Tiscali call centre will drop the price of the contract down to just ?7.99 per month in an effort to keep customers.

On the other hand, TalkTalk stated that for the most part customers will not have to pay more once they change over but stated that the new prices would not be released until February. TalkTalk claims that the reason they are secretive over the pricing plans is because they want to write to their new customer base before releasing the package prices to the public.

Mark Schmid, a spokesman for TalkTalk stated that at the moment the company is busy reviewing all 50 tariffs that they have taken on along with Tiscali with an aim to make pricing fair to everyone including current TalkTalk customers.

Filed under: Broadband News and Reviews by Alan

According to a new report from Ofcom fixed and mobile broadband prices are the most competitive in the eastern regions of Europe.

The survey also looked at the costs that were associated with bundling broadband and a fixed line phone as well as pay per view television and mobile phone use.

The results of the study found that for these services the average UK consumer paid about ?102 per month. It also found that UK is the cheapest area to live with Italy falling into second place for 28% more.

Ofcom claims that broadband tariffs in the UK are cheap due to the amount of price competition. During the time period of July 2008 to July 2009 Ofcom reported that broadband costs were reduced by about 15% and mobile phone bills were down by about 8%.

Additionally, mobile phone calls cost the least in all of the countries surveyed, which included France, Italy, the US, the UK, Germany, and Spain. Italy however was able to provide the cheapest phone calls from land lines.

Ofcom then studied broadband growth in 12 countries adding in more European countries, India, Brazil, Japan, and Canada to name a few and found that the growth level of broadband in the UK was only beaten by the Netherlands which has 25 connections per every 100 people compared to the UK?s 23.

However, when the survey compared the total amount of growth on a year on year average the developing countries had much higher broadband growth rates of about 40% every year.

Filed under: Broadband Deals by Alan

A new IPTV venture Project Canvas, would allow people to catch on demand services at their pleasure on the BBC iPlayer as well as view internet content on their television sets. The new venture has now recruited two major ISPs and all public services broadcasters for the IPTV project.

The ISPs are the latest two additions to the scheme, which previously had four companies signed up, with each investing over ?16m in the project. The BBC anticipates that the entire cost to all partners will be about ?16m over the course of the next four years.

Until now, Channel 4 had been holding out against joining into the IPTV project stating economic reasons, but after taking a more thorough evaluation of the project Director of Strategy Gill Pritchard for the channel stated that now is the time to get on board.

Pritchard stated that IPTV will be the new direction of television and that if Channel 4 wants to increase its presence in the programming world it needs to be involved in Project Canvas.

Project Canvas responded to the new additions by stating they are still look for more partners and that any interested parties are welcome to submit proposals.

The group stated that ideally all prospective partners will receive equal shares in the creation of the new IPTV company.

Programme director for Program Canvas, Richard Halton stated that the internet will revolutionize the way that people view television and that by putting broadcast and broadband side by side Project Canvas will open up a new platform that will help secure the fate of public broadcasting.

Filed under: Broadband News and Reviews by Alan

Havering Council said that a conspiracy in which millions of pounds worth of counterfeit golf clubs were sold over eBay during a five year span is the largest kind of counterfeiting operation that the council has investigated.

Officers of the investigative team determined that more than 96,000 clubs and other items of merchandise were sold throughout the period from March 2003 and June 2008.

The Snaresbrook Crown Court found four people guilty of working together to distribute the fake merchandise. The guilty were Sharron Williams from West Wickham, Kent, Roy and Kay Cottee both of Rainham Essex, and Helen Wilson from Hertford.

Additionally, three other defendants have already pleaded guilty. They are Gary Bellchambers from Rainham who is the ringleader of the fraud group, Keith Thomas of Rainham, and Chris Moughton of Blackpool.

In addition to his guilt, Bellchambers also admitted that the group used the trademarks without permission in the same manner they created supposed Sony memory sticks and Qantas complimentary lounge cards.

The defendants purchased the fake items from Shenzhen, China and had them shipped to their homes.

The group made trips to Thailand except for Wilson who used his own home, and sold fake goods over eBay to customers in many locations include Brazil, Australia, Germany, the US, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Canada.

Trading standards officers caught wind of the operation when consumer Christine Manz complained about not receiving a refund for the two clubs. Although the conspirators usually quickly issued refunds to avoid drawing attention to their scam, Bellchambers was in Thailand at the time and ignored the letters.

Outside of the counterfeit ring, the investigation also found that some of the golf balls sold to customers exploded upon contact with a golf club and that one club had a tropical spider?s nest inside.

Filed under: Broadband Scam Alerts by Alan

As the mobile broadband competition gets more intense in the UK, deals that include free laptops are growing in popularity as a way to snag new customers.

Bringing the laptop deals to the forefront is the news that O2 Mobile and 3Mobile are slicing prices on their MiFi air cards and dongles. In fact, consumer groups have recently decided to take a look at free laptop deals with many providers offering a supposedly ?free? computer with a contract. However, the groups took a closer look at how ?free? their laptops really are once the contract is complete.

In actuality, there is no real price break on the laptop since you will pay more for your mobile broadband, which means over two years you will practically have paid the laptop price in full. However, on the bright side for those who cannot afford a new laptop upfront, it is a great way to get zero percent interest financing on a laptop.

To make sure you really get the best deal, advocates of consumers recommend that that you take a look at how much you will pay with a contract over its length with a laptop and then the cost of the same laptop in stores. The difference between the two is the amount you will actually save

Filed under: Broadband Deals by Alan

Google is starting to get fed up with the amount of scammers who use their company name in order to pull off scams. The analysts behind Google said that since the recession they have seen an increase in the amount of complaints they receive after scammers work their magic on unsuspecting browsers.

In fact, the Google analysts went as far as to say that if you consider how many people do not report scam attempts, there could easily be a few more thousand victims who have lost millions of pounds in the scam offers.

Now the company is striking back by filing a lawsuit that will allow them to directly attack scammers who operate by using the Google name without permission.

In particular the company intends to attack a company that places Google?s name on their ad which promises browsers they can make millions of dollars while working at home.

The ad has caused distress from people such as Marvin Shultz who gave it a try since he had heard about Google from his daughter. Instead of being billed $0.99, his card was billed almost $50 which could have been enough to pay off the electric bill. As a result of losing the money his power was cut off for being delinquent.

Google claims that the responsible party is Pacific Web Works along with 50 other defendants that are alleged to a part of the scam that has spread across the internet.

Assistant Director of the FBI Cyber Crime Division Shawn Henry said that when looking at anything online keep in mind the well known adage that if a deal or promise sounds too good to be true, it probably is a scam.

Filed under: Broadband Scam Alerts by Alan

British homes that have a landline already installed will be charged an extra?6 pounds every year for the new broadband tax to enable the government reach its goal of providing broadband connections to every home in Britain.

The tax is meant to help the government fulfil their goal of spreading 2Mbps broadband connections to about 90% of homes by the close of 2017.

Chancellor Alistair Darling announced the tax as part of his pre budget report that stated this would help modernize the digital infrastructure in Britain while also creating new jobs across the country.

Darling also stated that although the government has allocated funds to help bring broadband to remote and rural areas, it now wants to work towards the nobler goal of bringing broadband into 90% of British homes.

While the announcement seems like a step forward, it has brought a great deal of cynicism with it from those who do not believe they should have the pay the tax and others who think the tax alone will not be enough to fund the effort.

The major broadband provider TalkTalk has commented that the tax is not fair and that it will keep private companies from being compelled to invest, while BT is worried that the revenues created from the tax will not be enough to get broadband into all the homes in England

Filed under: Broadband News and Reviews by Alan

Nokia is ready to move forward with its plans to roll out its new retail strategy, which will include closing its flagship store on Regent Street, London.

The mobile phone manufacturer confirmed that it will be closing the Regent Store in an email that stated Nokia is working on improving the way its retail network works to provide the best branded strategy. As a result t needs to revamp its current strategy which calls for the closure of the flagship store.

The store originally opened back in early 2008 and cost a total of ?4m. It was said to have been spawned by the Finland forests and covered an area of about 8,000 sq. ft. with LED walls that were translucent. Inside the walls were fitted with LCD screens that had audio-visual messages synchronized across them.

Even though the store took a unique approach to design it was not able to draw in enough business which led to low revenues even with occasional long lines during mobile launches.

The store will officially be shut down in early 2010 and the staff will be set to other retail outlets owned by Nokia. Each of the other seven Nokia stores will receive overhauls.

Apple ironically has a store down the street from the flagship store that is supposedly the most profitable Apple outlet. This competition is seen as one of the reasons why Apple was not able to keep its doors open.

Filed under: Broadband News and Reviews by Alan