BT/Demos Report into Virtual Vice sums Irritants up Nicely

"Virtual Vice: use and abuse of the internet" is a BT Hot Topic, prepared by Paul Miller and James Wilsdon of Demos.

The aim of the document is to introduce the issues surrounding non-extreme misuse of the internet and to analyse how BT deals with them, drawing on BT literature, interviews with key members of staff and a number of outside experts from government and interest groups who have views about BT's responsibilities.

Three types of non–extreme misuse get examined in detail: spam, hacking and copyright infringement.
For each, the document discusses where responsibility for the problem lies and identifes gaps in the current policy framework.

The interviews also highlight some emerging distinctions between what is considered generally acceptable use of the internet at home versus the workplace.

The report has a charming anecdotal quality, for instance: 'There was a confusing moment in the recent debate in the House of Lords about spam as peers moved from talking about tinned meat to electronic communication. Lord Faulkner of Worcester assisted, saying "My Lords, I can help the Minister with the origin of the word. It comes from aficionados of Monty Python, and the famous song, "Spam, spam, spam, spam". In this sketch the word spam drowns out what everybody else is trying to say."'

But it is really worth having a look at the web-based pdf for its tidy categorisation of online offences and the discussion of company detail rarely made public.

Associated Link: Demos/BT Virtual Vice Report

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