I thought the last paragraph of the El Reg article said it all:



"Oops, we made a technical error and Plusnet users were included."


Given the level of incompetence BT/Phorm have exhibited today (they couldn't manage to exclude plusdsl2.net in spite of the concerns flagged up about this in the past), can we really trust those statements from BT regarding privacy?

There could of been another reason they found out about it.

"You may think that I couldn't possibly comment" 

if you want to past a PDF, the better way is to use the Addtional Options and then add it the same way as a picture

To be fair, I can't actually recall Plusnet saying that the RIN Triallists would *not* be affected.

After a cursory search, I found this:


So, is there further communication that didn't happen in the public fora that I missed?

B.

The second quote at the top of this page was from BT.

Let's get this clear, it's BT that has screwed up royally, Plusnet have responded very creditably, but they are to a certain extent at the mercy of BT.

I guess there's been some pretty strong language directed at BT by Plusnet today!

Absolutely right, jelv.
This has been a BT SNAFU and PN have responded as quickly as is reasonable after they were alerted.
IIRC problems for PN RIN customers were first highlighted by Dephormation's blocking of BT subscribers.

I have been a customer of Plusnet for approx. 10 years and with a few notable exceptions they have always provided a good service. This incident with BT Webwise somewhat undermines my confidence in Plusnet's previous statements that they don't use Phorm's systems on its network.

I just want to add my voice to the many others that are against Phorm (and like systems) and what it represents. If Plusnet ever do decide to implement such a system then they will be losing my custom.

Hi sotar,

I think the post made by Pete here should help to put your mind at rest.

Thanks for your reply Chris.

I had read that comment and while it did ease my mind somewhat I would be happier if it had stated Plusnet would not be involved with BT Webwise (and Phorm) full-stop rather than emphasizing the 'trial'.

One other point the comment highlighted was that we could change our connection setting to <username>"@plusdsl.net to point to Plusnet Centrals. My configuration connects to <username>@plus.net. Does this avoid the RIN network and/or keep my web traffic away from BT?

Hiya,

Here's a quote from Neil Armstrong:


If you used to connect with username@plus.net then that should still work.  It's just an older variant of username@plusdsl.net

Yes,, it was only those taking part in the retail network (RIN) trial that were using the @plusdsl2.net connection 'realm'.  Unless you are using @plusdsl2.net (note the '2') then you are connecting on the Plusnet Centrals and are going nowhere near RIN.

What is RIN? 

Retail Internet Network? All I know is that it was a trial that began a good while ago (I think it started prior to March 2007 as it was mentioned at the open day). I am sure that someone will be along to explain more thoroughly.
Slightly off topic so I know that I am being naughty but Peter - what is the origin of your Force9 avitar? I can't remember seeing it on the portal before, although I know that you have been around a very long time!
 

BT's Retail Internet Network was trialled by us between March and September last year, as an alternative option to just using our own Central pipes.  We simply wanted to see whether it would make a viable option for some of our broadband products. We have around 250 customers connecting to that network.  No new customers are being added to RIN, or have been, since last year. Even though they are connecting on part of BT's network however, they aren't being offered the option of opting in to BT's Webwise trial.  Those connecting to RIN using the username@plusdsl2.net realm can change to Plusnet Centrals by changing to @plusdsl.net and restarting their modem/router.

The avatar Poppy is a cropped, scanned-in photo of one of the old Force9 Internet connection CDs.  I think it was the one with a dark-purple cover with lightning flashes on it from the days when k56flex and ISDN were all the rage.

Update:

http://groups.google.com/...98931049f5c3657?hl=en-GB#