We've seen a lull in the debate over behavioral advertising here in the States, once NebuAD imploded after questions arose over whether their deep packet snooping technology violated your privacy rights. UK lawmakers have had no such reservations about the technology, giving the green light to Phorm, despite their history as a rootkit developer. One of Phorm's biggest partners, British Telecom, was recently exposed by Wikileaks for testing the system without informing customers, and has since decided to move into broader implementation of the system.

As you might expect, a significant number of UK customers are highly annoyed that a former rootkit developer is being sold their browsing histories. However, BT has developed an ingenious way to keep customers from complaining as they move forward: they're simply deleting any and all discussion of the technology from their forums. From an announcement by administrators:By "a number" of discussions, BT means they're not only banning all future discussion of the technology, but they retroactively deleted all threads concerning their Phorm controversy stemming back to February. When paired with Phorm's attempt to censor their Wikipedia entry to their benefit, the duo apparently believe they can eliminate the controversy the 1930's Chicago way.

The entertainment industry has been working very hard on a global scale to force ISPs to adopt three strikes policies. In some instances, ISPs do this voluntarily (like Cox), while in other instances, the industry has convinced governments to force ISPs to enact such rules. Efforts in Europe to do this recently stalled, the EU Parliament recently deciding that such laws would interfere with individual privacy and civil rights. Given that they couldn't get the law passed honestly, the entertainment industry is now trying to get the law passed covertly through the back door via a suite of new "telco reform" laws.

Security experts state that last week's shutdown of McColo will change the way that botnet operators work, forcing them to adopt a more decentralized P2P method of botnet control already being used by some scammers and spammers. Sophos tells eWeek that "because the big [old-fashioned] botnets were still working there was no need for them to change their methods," but "the closing of McColo will force changes." The massive spam reduction caused by McColo's closure was quickly back to normal within days.

Throughput got you down? Modem on the fritz? Stuck in an ISP phone support quagmire? It's Friday, so put down the coaxial cable, take off your shoes, put up your feet, and vent your geek angst into the comment section below.

• Ofcom’s third International Communications Market Report [theinquirer.net]
• She Says, He Says: Cable Outpacing Telcos or Not? [xchangemag.com]
• Telcos Will See a More Activist Congress [gigaom.com]
• The Coming Voice-over-WiMAX Revolution [voipplanet.com]
• National Broadband: More Purpose Than Religion [internetnews.com]
• Psystar case reveals Apple's questionable policy on email retention [thestandard.com]
• Microsoft Lets Zune Music Subscribers Keep Tunes [mobile-tech-today.com]
• RIM's Storm Rising, As Is Handset Warfare [yahoo.com]

T-Mobile has unveiled new data pricing for smart phone customers, bringing everyone in line with their new data plans recently unveiled for the HTC G1. Previously, many customers paid $20 for unlimited data provided they also had a voice plan.

Yesterday, Canadian regulators shocked independent carriers by ruling that Bell Canada's decision to throttle wholesale competitors without telling them was neither discriminatory or anti-competitive. One of the most impacted carriers will be Canada's TekSavvy, an independent operator that have built somewhat of a cult following in Canada due to actually giving customers personal attention in a sea of outsourced incumbent support.

The Google Blog recently had an interesting write up on a unique fiber optic deployment in Ottawa where instead of paying monthly rates, 400 homeowners are being allowed to buy their own last mile fiber connection. The project estimates that the costs would be around $2,700 per homeowner, with costs dropping depending on penetration.

Akamai's latest quarterly State of the Internet report (also see press release) indicates that the U.S. comes in at eighth place in terms of speed, with 26% of broadband of users on connections greater than 5 Mbps. Virginia, Massachusetts, and New Jersey have the highest levels of Internet penetration in the United States, while the District of Columbia and Washington State continue to have the highest percentages of observed connections below 256 Kbps. Delaware continues to be the U.S.'s fastest state, with 55% of connections to Akamai at 5Mbps or faster.

Given that Verizon and AT&T deliver all of your data wholesale to the NSA without oversight, and were subsequently given immunity from civil prosecution by Obama (among others), it's interesting to see the outraged reaction to a potential intrusion into Obama's privacy.

Several Verizon Wireless employees have been suspended for accessing Obama's phone records, with Verizon issuing a string of public apologies for the intrusion.

According to comments this week by FCC boss Kevin Martin, network "openness" is becoming the norm, in no small part because of his "light regulatory touch" at the FCC. That would be great, were it actually true.

• Verizon Wireless Tries To Grow The Mobile Web By Breaking It [techdirt.com]
• The best and worst of times for WiMAX [telecoms.com]
• UK broadband connections up to 94% [pcadvisor.co.uk]
• Telstra Won't Build Australian Internet Network With Separation [bloomberg.com]
• Trial Scheduled in TiVo's Legal Spat With EchoStar [multichannel.com]
• MySpace and RIM Shatter Download Records [marketwatch.com]
• Apple updates iPhone firmware [reghardware.co.uk]
• Mozilla says if Google backs out of its arrangements in favor of its own browser, Mozilla will be toast [theinquirer.net]

• Canadian ISPs lose traffic-shaping case [thestandard.com]
• Clearwire Shareholders Approve WiMax [unstrung.com]
• Google, others call for new broadband, energy policies [thestandard.com]
• AT&T Controls the Future of Privacy [gigaom.com]
• HSPA winning mobile broadband battle [mobile-ent.biz]
• Programmers Dial Up FCC About MSO Probe [multichannel.com]
• Movie Studios Sue Largest Australian ISP For Not Waving Magic Wand And Defeating Piracy [techdirt.com]
• Google - the world's first firewalled monopoly [theregister.co.uk]

iiNet, one of Australia's largest ISPs, has been sued by seven Hollywood studios for failing to stop the transfer of pirated content across their network. According to ComputerWorld, iiNet says the studios expect the impossible, company CEO Michael Malone telling the website "we are not traffic cops." "We can't stand in the middle of it and stop the individual items that might be against the law," he says. "These guys are asking us to be judge, jury and executioner." As we noted last week, Malone's company is participating in Australia's plans for national, mandatory internet filters to highlight how they won't work.

Yesterday we noted how AT&T was taking heat from Connecticut's Attorney General for poor customers service in the state, something local unions say is thanks to the firing of 1,000 employees over the last decade. AT&T's relationship with Connecticut is already on shaky ground, after the State DPUC tried to force U-Verse to adhere to cable regulations, and forced AT&T to get consent of homeowners before plunking down VDSL VRADs. As for their customers service, AT&T contacted me overnight to state they don't feel like they're getting a fair shake.

User tater_gunz writes in: "Hey guys, I just wanted to let you know that Toledo-based Buckeye Cablesystem has just announced a new 20Mbps/1.5 Mbps Buckeye Express ("BEX") tier." The addition would come just seven months after the carrier announced their $80 (unbundled) 12Mbps tier. According to the Buckeye website, the new tier is arriving December 8 . The tier is only being offered to "VIP" (video, internet and phone) bundle customers for an additional $10 to whatever they're paying now (see VIP pdf). Buckeye has also been hinting to the press that DOCSIS 3.0 upgrade announcements should be coming shortly.

Virgin America today announced their deployment schedule for Aircell's GoGo in-flight broadband service. The company will be holding a press event November 22 to demonstrate the service, and will offer GoGo starting November 24 commercially -- albeit just on one airplane.

As a rule, most warnings of Internet capacity armageddon come from traffic shaping companies looking to sell hardware, or industry lobbyists trying to shape policy through think tanks. The term "exaflood," created by the same think tank who crafted the term "intelligent design," is part of a sophisticated campaign aimed at convincing the press, public and lawmakers that without giving carriers what they want (less regulation, no net neutrality laws, no price controls, huge subsidies and tax credits, less consumer protection), the world will simply run out of bandwidth and we'll all be weeping over our clogged tubes.

Verizon is unveiling the new Blackberry Storm on Friday, the phone costing $199 with a two-year contract and a $50 mail-in rebate. Reviews are rolling in, and seem to be scattered across the board, though trending slightly toward the negative. PC World calls the device "awkward and disappointing," noting that the device's click-touch screen is "more confusing than helpful" and a "failed experiment." Engadget seems to think the device is beautiful, but notes that the Storm is "not as easy, enjoyable, or consistent to use as the iPhone," and the unit's trademark click screen "just isn't all that great." Additional reviews (Boy Genius, CNET, Associated Press, Wired) all suggest the Storm is close, but no cigar.

Earlier this year, Bell Canada began throttling the traffic of wholesale competitors before delivering it to them, and without telling them. While Bell claimed the move was to handle congestion, follow up inquiries showed little to no congestion -- leading to the assumption that Bell simply didn't want any competitors offering DSL service that was superior to their own, throttled Sympatico service.