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Statement by Phorm of compliance and approval by UK authorities
Phillip Main made this Freedom of Information request to Intellectual Property Office
The request was successful.
From: Phillip Main
16 April 2009
Dear Sir or Madam,
[quote
However, in so far as the Commission's announcement references
Phorm's technology, we should like to make the following points
clear. Phorm's technology is fully compliant with UK legislation
and relevant EU directives. This has been confirmed by BERR and by
the UK regulatory authorities
end quote]
In view of the above statement by the CEO of Phorm could you please
forward me any statement or correspondence from UKIPO that confirms
the above statement
Yours faithfully,
Phillip Main
From: Mail Delivery Subsystem
16 April 2009
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The original message was received at Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:28:30 +0100
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17 April 2009
Sent request to Intellectual Property Office again, using a new contact address.
From: CentralEnquiries
Intellectual Property Office
20 April 2009
Dear Mr Main,
Thank you for your e-mail of the 16th April 2009.
I have forwarded your request to the relevant department who will be in contact with you at their earliest opportunity.
Yours sincerely
Nicola Smith
Central Enquiry Unit
While we take every care in the provision of information and advice, we do not accept any responsibility for errors or omissions or their consequences.
Click here if you wish to receive a monthly update of current IP issues, views from the UK Intellectual Property Office and IP professionals, IP stories in the media, and details of IP events and exhibitions
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/newsletters/subscr...
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From: Alison Smith
Intellectual Property Office
21 April 2009
Dear Mr Main
Thank you for your email of 16 April 2009 requesting information about Phorm compliance and approval by UK authorities.
Your request is being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and will be answered within twenty working days.
If you have any queries about this request do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours sincerely,
Alison Smith
Records officer
Intellectual Property Office
Tel: 01633 814587
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From: Alison Smith
Intellectual Property Office
23 April 2009
Dear Mr Main
Thank you for your email of 16 April 2009 in which you requested any statement or correspondence from the Intellectual Property Office on compliance and approval of Phorm.
I am writing to advise you that, following a search of our paper and electronic records, I have established that this Agency does not hold correspondence or other records on this subject.
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your original letter and should be addressed to:
Chief Executive
Intellectual Property Office
PO Box 49
Cardiff Road
Newport
South Wales
NP10 8YU
E-mail: [email address]
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Yours sincerely,
Alison Smith
Records officer
Intellectual Property Office
Tel: 01633 814587
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Steve Hankin left an annotation (25 April 2009)
It's interesting that nobody in any regulatory or government capacity will say that what Phorm has stated is true. It is unfortunate that we cannot use the freedom of information act to require Phorm or BT to provide the exact source of Phorm's assertion. Nor can we use the system here to ask BT or Phorm to provide the actual source and detail of legal advice which they claim to have sought on the subject. This FOI request was a very valuable one to make.
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Steve Hankin left an annotation (21 April 2009)
Phorm is a provider of a behavioural targeting system which is not yet in operation in the UK but aims to use a process known as Deep Packet Inspection to look at the communication of website owners and their visitors to learn what individual internet users are using the internet for. The legal complexities arise because it has been suggested by experts that this process involves:
1. Illegal Interception of Communication
2. Copyright Theft (of the website owners content which is copied before being used to create a digest or profile of the internet user)
3. Infringement of the Computer Misuse Act because of the way the system works (the DPI system momentarily pretends to be the website that the internet user wants to view)
There are other potential challenges in addition to the above.
The Department for Business Environment and Regulatory Reform was very quick to respond in writing that they have NOT issued any communication stating that Phorm's technology is fully compliant with UK law.
In addition, the European Commission has announced that they are beginning a process of taking the UK Government to the courts for failing to implement EU law on privacy of communication effectively (following the trials of Phorm's Webwise system by BT on their customers in 2006 & 2007 without customer consent, and in addition in 2008 when BT asked for consent but did so in a way which regulators are not happy with for any future rollout of the system)
Phorm insists its system will go live in 2009 or 2010. BT has not ruled this out.
More information is available on the interent (just search Google or Facebook for Phorm and visit the website www.nodpi.org)
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