Virgin Media slides fat 10Gbps pipes into Murdoch's BSkyB
I wanna be your backhaul man
The business end of Virgin Media has revealed more details about a £49m deal to beef up BSkyB's broadband network.
Virgin Media announced last month - in what is likely to be its final quarterly report to the City before being acquired by US cable giant Liberty Global - that it had bagged "major backhaul contract wins" from …
George Soros pumps £50m into fibre-gobbling ISP Hyperoptic
Wants to sign up 500k UK homes by 2018
Hyperoptic - a relatively new player in the UK's ISP market - confirmed today that it had received a massive cash injection of £50m from investors to help the company expand its fibre-to-the-home business.
The telco, which currently offers 1 Gbit/s fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) technology to Londoners, was founded in 2010 by Boris …
Eric Schmidt: 'Google IS a capitalist country... er, company'
Big Tent Also - ad giant ISN'T as powerful as governments
Google is just conforming to the way the global tax system works, the company's executive chairman Eric Schmidt said today as he rejected the criticism levelled at the ad giant by Labour leader Ed Miliband.
"We're trying to do the right thing, not the wrong thing," Schmidt said. He was speaking at Google's annual Big Tent event …
Ed Miliband brands Google's UK tax avoidance 'WRONG'
Big Tent Pfft. 'Just capitalism? I disagree!'
Ed Miliband launched a caustic attack on Google today, saying: "When Google goes to extraordinary lengths to avoid paying its taxes, I say it’s wrong."
The Labour party leader - who was speaking at Google's annual Big Tent event in Watford - accused the "biggest companies" of having a "culture of irresponsibility" when it comes …
UK.gov STILL wants to tout pupil data - don't use the word 'product'
Is that a screeching U-turn we hear from Gove? Oh, no
At the end of 2012, Education Secretary Michael Gove told Parliament that he wanted "to share extracts of data held in the National Pupil Database for a wider range of purposes than possible in order to maximise the value of this rich dataset".
Ultimately, the government wants the private sector to tout "tools and services which …
Give porno danger classes to Brit kids as young as FIVE - parents
Sex ed must cover web smut, families tell heads
Schoolteachers should warn British children as young as five about the "dangers" of finding pornography online, say families.
The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) asked parents to suggest what schools should be doing to protect kids from smutty websites: nearly half (42 per cent) of 1,009 respondents believed …
Murdoch Facebook gloat: You're like my $580m, 'CRAPPY' MySpace
Billionaire media tyrant has a Ratner moment
Rupert Murdoch had a Gerald Ratner moment on Twitter earlier today when, in a warning to Facebook, he labelled MySpace - a website he once owned - as "crappy".
The media tycoon, who bought MySpace in 2005 for $580m and then copped a $254m loss when he sold the drain-circling website six years later, was responding to reports …
Congress: It's not the Glass that's scary - It's the GOOGLE
Comment On-head TV, fine - but you can't skip the ads on this one
Google Glass is wrapped around the faces of only a few thousand people right now. The company says the device is in very early beta mode. And yet lawmakers in the US have already pounced on the company demanding answers about how the privacy of netizens using the gizmo will be protected.
But it would seem that Congress has …
Hunt: I'll barcode sick Brits and rip up NHS's paper prescriptions
'Fell asleep in the hospital and woke up as a one-armed woman!'
UK Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt wants to tear up the NHS's clumsy system of printed prescriptions - and instead use "unique barcodes" to dish out medication straight to the poorly.
Under the proposals to hopefully reduce human error, paperwork listing medicines and drugs will be sent directly from doctors' surgeries to …
'Momentous year' for TalkTalk as it surges from 3rd place to, er, 4th
This is 'fundamentally better', insists Harding
TalkTalk has reported a slight fall in revenue and pre-tax profit for the full financial year.
The budget telco told the City that sales for the 12 months to 31 March had slipped by one per cent to £1.67bn compared with £1.68bn a year earlier.
Profit before tax dipped four per cent to £122m, the company added.
TalkTalk CEO …
Murdoch hate sparks mass bitchin', rapid evacuation from O2, BE
1 in 3 polled punters will quit ISP gobbled by Sky
Boycotting Rupert Murdoch-owned stuff - such as the media baron's newspapers - is nothing new.
But now that Telefónica UK has sold its O2 and BE home broadband businesses to BSkyB, customers are either fleeing the networks or moaning bitterly about who they perceive to be their looming "nasty old" overlord.
O2 and BE punters …
UK biz baffled by Reding's planned data protection law rewrite: ICO
'I've forgotten. What does right to be forgotten actually mean?'
A large number of British businesses are clueless about many of the main provisions detailed in the European Union's proposed data protection reforms, a new report from the Information Commissioner's Office has claimed.
Consultancy firm London Economics - which was commissioned to carry out the research (PDF) on behalf of the …
Foundem urges Brussels: REJECT Google's search biz offer
Argues some tweaks make it even more anti-competitive
UK-based price-comparison site Foundem has urged competition officials in Brussels to reject Google's formal offer of concessions, which is intended to address the ad giant's alleged abuse of dominance in Europe's search market.
Google commands a hefty 90 per cent share of the search business in the European Union. In April, its …
Snoopers' charter rests in shallow grave - likely to rise again
Analysis The zombie eyes have it
The coalition government may need to bring in legislation in the final year of Parliament before a General Election is called that would allow spooks and police to see - at a "given point in time" - if a suspect could be linked to a certain IP address.
In Wednesday's Queen's Speech, her Majesty made no mention of the Tory-led …
TalkTalk's tiny package most certainly not 'best value', tuts watchdog
Oh, put it away
TalkTalk has been ordered to never brag again about its "best value" broadband, telly and phone package after BSkyB complained to the ads watchdog.
The Advertising Standards Authority berated budget ISP TalkTalk for claiming its service was directly comparable to its rivals' products but at a lower price. In fact, TalkTalk's …
Queen's Speech: 'Problem of matching IP addresses' to be probed
Theresa May's proposed Snooper's Charter absent from law-making programme
The Queen opened a new session of Parliament this morning and - as expected - Home Secretary Theresa May's Communications Data bill was absent from the government's upcoming programme of law-making for the next year.
However, as indicated by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg - who said late last month that the so-called Snoopers …
Ex-Murdoch man given new CEO seat at Virgin Media
Liberty Global appoints Tom Mockridge
A veteran News Corp exec is to become the next chief of Virgin Media once US cable giant completes its acquisition of the telco.
Tom Mockridge briefly held the CEO job at News International following Rebekah Brooks' scandal-hit exit from the one-time News of the World publisher.
He will replace Neil Berkett, who confirmed he …
Twitter turns off Tweetdeck's life support after lengthy coma
Death by paperwork
Twitter has effectively killed UK-based Tweetdeck Ltd just two years after it bought the social media dashboard for $40m.
The final blow was dealt by failing to file its subsidiary's accounts with Blighty's companies registrar, as required by law, forcing officials to dissolve the biz.
Documents at Companies House reveal that …
BSkyB seeks 100s of Geordies to deal with broadband customer growth
Why Aye, lad!
BSkyB is looking to fill 550 job vacancies to meet what it described as "strong demand" for its TV and broadband services.
The move comes after the British broadcaster confirmed that it had completed its takeover of O2 and BE's home broadband networks on Wednesday.
BSkyB, which is 39 per cent-owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp …
Ofcom probes BT over fibre pricing after repeated gripes from TalkTalk
Fight, fight: 'Very talented and lovely monopolist' vs 'copper Luddites'
Former jockey Dido Harding has convinced communications watchdog Ofcom to investigate BT, after the TalkTalk boss repeatedly complained about her rival's stranglehold on the fibre broadband market.
The regulator opened a case on Wednesday to probe "alleged margin squeeze in superfast broadband pricing". The allegation is that BT …
ISPs: Get ready to slurp streams from Murdoch's fat pipe
How Sky's about to BE the limit for O2 broadband
O2 has begun telling its home broadband customers that they will soon be shunted over to BSkyB's network.
As exclusively revealed by The Register earlier this year, O2 - the trading name of Telefónica UK Limited, which is majority-owned by Spanish parent company Telefonica - was in talks with BSkyB about a possible sale of the …
Hotel marketplace Airbnb: Show us your privates if you want to book a bed
Hand over that Facebook ID and passport, Popeye
San Francisco-based hotel-booking biz Airbnb wants a quarter of its users in the US to provide passports or driving licences when reserving a room.
The company, which describes itself as a "trusted community marketplace" for people to list and book accommodation around the world, said that there was "no place for anonymity" on …
Plusnet's 'Everyone's a winner' claim is a plus-sized whopper
Watchdog slaps ISP for Del Boy-like tactics
BT-owned ISP Plusnet misled would-be customers by boasting in a telly ad that its broadband service was available to "everyone", says a watchdog.
And the blurb wrongly gave the impression that all of its products were part of a half-price sale.
The Advertising Standards Authority ruled the Plusnet ad in question, which stated …
It was the Reg what won it: Online Hitchhiker's Guide thriving
Douglas Adams' vision h2g2 still needs contributors
A cheering tale of triumph over adversity reached Vulture Central this week to warm the heart of even the frostiest soul.
The online encyclopaedia h2g2 - after the famous Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy books - launched by author Douglas Adams in 1999 has survived its amputation from the BBC and is doing well. The Beeb cut the …
Hunt on NHS data sharing: Obviously we HAVE TO let people opt out
Patients who've already said no will be safeguarded... How? Who knows
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt insisted this morning that NHS patients who have refused to give consent to existing data-sharing mechanisms would be safeguarded under the government's new plans to open up information across the service.
The Cabinet minister confirmed to The Register that the 750,000 patients throughout England who …
El Reg drills into Google's search biz offer to Europe
Analysis Mountain View wants to choose its EU inspector
Google's formal offer of concessions to European Commission competition officials - over allegations that the ad giant had abused its dominance of the search market in the EU - have finally been made public.
As we reported on Thursday, rivals now have one month to scrutinise Google's proposals and then tell antitrust chief …
Caldicott: NHS workers should 'have the confidence to share information'
'As important as duty to protect patient confidentiality'
Dame Fiona Caldicott, who is scrutinising the government's plan to hand NHS patient records to private companies, today gave the proposals the thumbs-up - with a few caveats, naturally.
The noted psychiatrist's review [PDF] of the data-sharing scheme was published just minutes ago.
Her report, drafted in March, follows Health …
Google's Euro antitrust offer: Fine! We'll link to our search rivals
Competitors have a month to mull 'half-hearted' deal
Google's rivals have been given one month to weigh up the advertising giant's now-public proposed changes to how it runs its European search business.
The deadline to "test" Google's offer of commitments was set by Brussels' competition chief Joaquin Almunia, who is investigating allegations that Google unfairly promotes its …
Nick Clegg: Snooper's Charter 'isn't going to happen'
Updated Not 'while Lib Dems remain in government', anyhow
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has strongly rejected Home Office plans to massively ramp up surveillance of Brits' internet activity in a very public rebuttal of Theresa May's proposals this morning.
"The 'Snooper's Charter' isn't going to happen - the idea that there would be a record kept of all your online activity," Clegg …
Cameron: Get those saucy websites off Blighty's public Wi-Fi
'Good, clean' wireless for babycino-chugging cherubs
Prime Minister David Cameron is once again crusading against online pornography after he admitted late last year that network-level smut filtering was a "crude system".
This time his antenna is twitching about Brits accessing the internet over public Wi-Fi services.
The PM wants to get skin flicks banned from wireless networks …
UK gov's troll-finder general says he's hanging up his axe
Prosecution chief will quit after finishing web abuse playbook
The UK's director of public prosecutions, web troll-tackling Keir Starmer, will step down from his job in October this year.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed that he will complete his five-year term in the autumn. It did not comment on any possible candidates to replace the outgoing director.
Last year, Starmer …
Virgin Media revs up for Liberty Global merger
Bags 'significant' backhaul contract wins with rivals
Virgin Media - which is imminently set to be scooped up by US cable giant Liberty Global - reported a good start to its financial year this morning.
It told the City that revenue had climbed to £1.04bn for the three months ended 31 March 2013 - up 3.6 per cent from £1.01bn for the same period a year earlier.
The telco said it …
Ofcom to UK: Really - you're using the same password for everything?
And would it kill you to use something a little less OBVIOUS...
Brits are taking serious security risks by continuing to use the same password for multiple websites, communications watchdog Ofcom warned today.
Worse still, the regulator - which published a report today based on a survey of 1,805 people aged 16 and over - found that a staggering one in four (26 per cent) UK adults used …
Privacy crusaders: ISPs in 'conspiracy of silence' over Snoop Charter
They're keeping negotiations with gov PRIVATE!
Well-known pro-privacy organisations in the UK have accused internet providers of failing to respond sufficiently critically to the government's plans to massively increase surveillance of Brits' online activity.
In a joint letter - penned by individuals representing Privacy International, the Open Rights Group, Big Brother …
German watchdog whacks Google with PIDDLING FINE over Street View slurp
'Discount rate' punishment won't deter ad giant, rages Hamburg commish
Google has been fined just €145,000 for the unauthorised, "negligent" slurp of payload data its fleet of Street View cars captured from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks in Hamburg, Germany.
Regulatory offence proceedings were undertaken by the Hamburg data watchdog in November last year leading to a penalty being imposed on the ad …
ICO probes Home Office refusal to reveal Snooper's Charter details
Data watchdog demands answers about Orwellian-sounding Request Filter
The Home Office could face legal action over its failure to explain the "Request Filter" system buried in its Communications Data Bill.
That's the draft law that allows spooks and cops to massively ramp up surveillance of British citizens online.
Critics have already lambasted the cryptically named “Request Filter” agency, …
Facebook to plonk $1.5bn data centre in Iowa - report
FarmVille for realsies... bitch
Facebook is reportedly building a $1.5bn data centre in the US state of Iowa - but for now the company is remaining quiet about its plans.
According to local newspaper, the Des Moines Register - which cited legislative sources - the free content ad network is apparently behind "the most technologically advanced data centre in …
Web minister Maria Miller: UK WILL hit 2015 broadband target
Fibre to reach 10m households by end of Parliament, she insists
Culture Secretary Maria Miller insisted during parliamentary questioning that the government's £680m Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) project will hit its target of bringing download speeds of at least 2Mbit/s to almost every Brit by 2015.
Meanwhile, her department's rhetoric has changed to reflect the fact that many of the rural …
WikiLeaker Assange, Google's Schmidt and a secret 5-hour chinwag
'We are obviously sympathetic' revealed in transcript
Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt privately met WikiLeaker-in-chief Julian Assange while the computer hacker was holed up under strict bail terms.
Australia-born Assange™ was staying in Norfolk, England, at the time of the chat - while waiting to find out whether he would be extradited to Sweden to face questions over …
Ofcom fines TalkTalk AGAIN - a whopping £750k over 'abandoned calls' gaffe
Budget ISP's call centre teams were SilentSilent
Ofcom has once again fined telco TalkTalk, after the company swamped potential customers with silent calls. It now has to pay £750,000 for failing to comply with UK law.
The ISP was hit with a massive £3m penalty from the communications watchdog in 2011 for wrongly billing tens of thousands of customers for services they never …
Google Apps goes TITSUP for millions - users REJOICE on Twitter
Cloud rains on parade. Again
Google's customers are currently complaining about an outage affecting a number of the ad giant's products - including Gmail and storage service Drive.
The company said it was investigating reports of disruption to its service and claimed that only 0.007 per cent of its users - which would amount to millions of people - were …
TalkTalk ads banned by watchdog over 'misleading' YouView offer
When free ain't 'free' cos there's a 50 quid fee
Budget ISP TalkTalk has been warned to be careful with how its uses the term "free" in the future, after the telco was found by the ads watchdog to have "misled" customers over claims it had made about one of its promotional deals.
The company had run a TV commercial and sent out a direct mailing late last year for a broadband, …
Facebook struggling to find 'immersive' Home on Apple's iPhone
Gimme some skin ... bitch
Facebook is reportedly in talks with Apple about bringing a version of its new Home interface to the iPhone.
However, it's unlikely that Facebook will be afforded the same type of freedom it received with some Android devices, which were recently decorated with a skin feeding a constant stream of personal information from the …
Brussels clears Liberty Global's £15bn Virgin Media takeover
Move along, no competition concerns here
US billionaire John Malone's company Liberty Global saw its £15bn bid to buy UK telco Virgin Media cleared by competition officials in Europe today.
The takeover was waved through completely unchallenged by the European Commission, after the cable giant confirmed it wanted to acquire Virgin Media in February.
The antitrust wing …
Google's 'power to switch off the lights in Europe' has 'chilling effect' - rivals
Competitors demand cosy negotiation texts from antitrust commish
Google has the "chilling" ability to "switch off the lights" at web companies, claim rivals lobbying against the dominant search giant.
They highlighted Google's decision last week to suddenly yank adverts from a popular price-comparison website, and argued such moves stall online innovation.
And they want European competition …
Google submits 'formal commitments' to EC over search
Now will you pull out the probe?
Google has submitted a formal concessions package to the European Commission's competition chief.
Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said earlier this week that Google was set to put forward proposed changes to its business practices in the hope of avoiding sanctions over allegations it abuses its dominant position in the EU's search …
Remember Streetmap? It's suing Google in a UK court
Files complaint to 'protect its business'
Google is being sued by UK-based website Streetmap, which is also one of the complainants in the lengthy European Union investigation into allegations that the ad giant is "abusing its dominance" in the online search business.
Streetmap said it had filed a complaint against Google in Britain's High Court in a defensive move to …
Google U-turn DID preempt ICANN's block on corporate gTLD-snatchers
.search, .blog, .cloud and .app safeguarded for 'public interest'
It's official - Google did indeed correctly judge that ICANN would halt corporate attempts to exclusively snatch generic top level domain names for commercial use.
The internet overlord, which is charging companies to take control of new suffixes to supplement the established TLDs such as .com, .org and .uk, said (PDF) at a …
EU competition chief stays in touch with Google via TEXT MESSAGES
'Get real, Eric' - Sent from my iPhone
Google is on the verge of submitting proposed changes to its business practices to avoid sanctions over allegations it abuses its dominant position in the EU's search market.
It is understood the ad giant will this week hand in its homework to the competition watchdog wing of the European Commission, which is mulling claims …
Google U-turns on exclusive snatch of .app AND .search addys
Ad giant may have to admit there are other search engines out there
Google has been forced to abandon its bid to grab exclusive use of the web address extensions .app, .blog, .search and .cloud - after it was warned the move was anti-competitive.
Late last year, the advertising giant applied for the four generic top-level domains (gTLDs) to internet overseer ICANN, which is charging companies to …
