ISPA Awards testing to get underway
Testing is about to begin for the 15^th ISPA Awards. We’ve had an excellent level of entrants from across the UK internet industry, especially in the new categories: Best Superfast Broadband and Best Fixed Wireless.
The hosting, VoIP and broadband categories all go through a period of rigorous technical testing, through our testing partner, thinkbroadband.
--------------------
Last month for ISPA Awards Sponsorship Early Bird Offer
The 15^th ISPAs will be big, and we have designed some new sponsorship packages for these awards. The early bird discount for sponsorship ends at the end of February, and 100% of last year’s sponsors said they saw the benefits of sponsorship. To learn more about these opportunities, please click here (http://www.ispa.org.uk/ispa-awards/sponsors/).
--------------------
Safer Internet Day
Tuesday 5 February is Safer Internet Day 2013. The day is designed to get people to think more about online safety, and think about what they can do to to protect themselves online. The slogan for this year is ‘Connect with Respect’ and is the 10^th Safer Internet Day.
Go to http://www.saferinternet.org.uk to get involved, alternatively use the #SED2013 hashtag to keep up with the day.
A number of our members are involved, with video tutorials on how to how to keep safe online.
Safer Internet Day is being organised by the UK Safer Internet Centre, a partnership between the Internet Watch Foundation, Childnet International and the Southwest Grid for Learning
--------------------
Defamation Bill progresses through Parliament
The Defamation Bill completed the Committee stage in the House of Lords this month. The Bill is seeking to achieve a better balance between the right to freedom of expression and the protection of reputation. ISPA has been lobbying in this area for some time working to improve the defences for intermediaries.
Peers debated Clause 5 of the Bill which is creating a new procedure for dealing with allegedly defamatory material online and opinions were divided on whether or not to give online intermediaries more of a defence. The Ministry of Justice is currently consulting on the Clause 5 procedure and ISPA will be submitting its response shortly.
--------------------
Communications White Paper later this year
The Minister for Communications this month confirmed that a Communications Bill White Paper will be published later this year. After deciding that a wholesale review of the communications industry was not needed it remains to be seen what issues are included in the White Paper.
ISPA has consistently argued that the digital economy represents one of the most important growth areas (internet contributes over 8% the UK economy) and it is important that any review of the framework allows industry to continue to flourish.
--------------------
ISPA in the news
The latest magazine of the Federation of Small Businesses featured an article by ISPA on what small businesses need to look for in an ISP, and how businesses offline can use the web effectively.
We also featured in Computer Active magazine discussing active choice and online safety.
Furthermore, ISPA gave an interview to Deutche Welle's English service (the German equivalent of the BBC World Service) on the Communications Data Bill. The interview can be heard here .
You can get regular updates from ISPA by following us on Twitter using the @ISPAUK handle