BadPhorm Blogs by Jim Murray

BadPhorm - What now? 14 Jul : 18:05
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BadPhorm was very much a spur of the moment creation, I was so annoyed with the news of BT/Virgin Media/Talk Talk's decision to sell out their users that I went out and built a website to complain about it.

I had no idea then that BadPhorm would become what it is today - a community of over 400 users with multiple other sites also working to help stop Phorm dead in it's tracks. Now the campaign is moving into a territory I never even considered - actual protest on the streets outside a major UK business's AGM. To say I'm surprised would be an understatement - thanks are due to each and every one of you who's helped along the way.

I'm both amazed and impressed at the level of commitment shown by so many to the fight against Phorm. When I started this site I'd never have believed we'd be mentioned by the BBC, most online news organisations, some national newspapers, have questions asked on our behalf in the Commons & Lords and even have our concerns heard in the EU.

Now Alex is taking up the fight via his NoDPI site, BadPhorm is naturally becoming less important. That doesn't mean BadPhorm is going away but it does mean it's time to take stock and see what, if anything, we should change and in what direction we should focus our future efforts.

So, with that it's over to you - the users of BadPhorm. I'm open to any and all suggestions (though anyone who suggests I should KFO will be fed to the matrix!). You can post them here as comments or you can e-mail them to me directly on [email protected]

Thanks all,

Jim.
BadPhorm Admin.

Comments

Wither BadPhorm? Midnight_Voice 16 Jul : 09:36 Reply to this
Comments: 2

Registered: 13 Mar : 20:51
 		Well, not wither away, certainly.

More people are going to find BadPhorm when Googling than NoDPI. 'NoDPI' may sound like a wider brief, including NebuAd and whatever, but most people won't know, at least at first, what DPI is; at best, they will think it's a scanner setting :-)

And BadPhorm is much better established. Alsol, with scandals like CableForum shutting down their Phorm thread, and the pretty arbitrary behaviour of the moderators both there and on the BT forums, it's very important to have a resource that is not tied to an ISP who is in bed, however loosely, with Phorm.

But what of NoDPI? Is it making BadPhorm irrelevant? Not at all. I think NoDPI will get a reputation for being very partisan; I suspect Alex's crusading zeal stems not a little from the shabby way he was treated personally by Kent Ertugrul. Nothing wrong in that of course, and more power to his elbow, but I can't see those two shaking hands again in any TV studio known to man.

So BadPhorm can (and should) come to stand for the middle ground; an implacable opponent to Phorm still, but a less controversial one, that the media will feel more comfortable consulting with for their thinkpieces, as distinct from their headlines.

Not, of course, that it stops any of us acting for both :-)

Regarding Phorm, we are now in the 'phony war' stage that seems to come with all such conflicts; battle lines have been drawn, sabres have been rattled, a few skirmishes have taken place, but the full-on engagement is yet to start.

With little new activity going on, there's the temptation for some of our informal 'army' to slip away and do something else for a while. But the fight is very much still on, and we need BadPhorm to keep us alert, and ready to rally at a moment's notice. like the Minutemen of yore.

And yet wars have been won and lost at this stage, without ever coming to a full-on fight; simply outlasting the enemy enables the better provided side to prevail.

So we need to be the better provided side. Paradoxically, it's possible we are; although Phorm have money, and we don't, Phorm need money and we don't. And in the current economic climate, I can't see Phorm getting any more money any time soon.

So keep this up long enough, and Phorm's burn rate will ensure they simply run out of cash, and go down in flames. BT won't run out of cash, of course, but I can't see them actually bailing Phorm out. Phorm was supposed to make them money, not cost them money.

And I suspect that BT would not at all mind an 'out' at this stage, now they can see which way the wind is blowing.

So we are in a lull, but it's a good lull. The posting rate may drop, but the resource is still needed. Keep the faith!

I'm a nonconPhormist; I won't be conned by Phorm


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