Heroes and Villains of the Internet

The Home Office features in both the Internet Heroes and Villains Awards shortlists, though won't be looking to repeat its previous 'success' of 'winning' the 'Villain' award.

The Internet Services Providers’ Association (ISPA UK) has revealed its shortlists and reasons for the nominations for the 5th Annual UK Internet Industry Awards. These include the hero and villain titles which reflect the people and organisations that have helped or hampered ISPA’s work 'to defend and promote the interests of the Internet industry'.

The nominees for the Internet Villain Award are:
• BBC Watchdog: ‘for a report on the important issue of spam that was more intent on vilifying ISP's than educating consumers’
• The Home Office: ‘for the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security (ATCS) Act and continued delays associated with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA)’
• Oftel: ‘for (amongst a host of other things) failing to ensure expedient local loop unbundling by BT which has hindered both competition in the telco sector and the development of Broadband Britain’
• The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA): ‘for supporting "right to hack" proposals and other unworkable solutions to curb copyright abuse’
• Telecommunications analysts: ‘for their substantial contribution to the meltdown in the telecommunications and Internet sector’

The Home Office will not be wanting to retain the title of 'Internet Villain' which it was awarded last year for the stop-start Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, otherwise known in IT circles as the 'grim RIPA' for its attempts to deal with Internet security and data access.

The nominees for the Internet Hero Award are:
• All-Party Parliamentary Internet Group (APIG): ‘for launching the public inquiry into data retention and access laws’
• Richard Allan MP for Sheffield Hallam: ‘for ongoing support and understanding of the Internet and the Internet industry’
• Hugh Blunkett: ‘for briefing his father David Blunkett, Home Secretary, on privacy fears associated with giving a raft of public bodies in the UK access to private e-mail and mobile phone records’
• Elizabeth France, Ex-Information Commissioner: ‘for her stance on data retention legislation’
• Simon Watkin, Home Office: ‘for doing his best to understand the industry, tech sector interest groups and experts and to subsequently inform discussions within the Home Office’

Elizabeth France will be hoping to 'do the double' following on from her success last year. Then, as the Information Commissioner, the judges praised her for being 'sympathetic to the industry, non-bureaucratic and pragmatic, co-operative and helpful in a number of issues including the legal aspects of spam, data retention and preservation'.

The shortlists for the Internet Hero and Internet Villain categories were selected by the ISPA Council, which will also select the eventual winners who will be announced in February 2003.