Orange, Android and POP mail.

I changed my mobile phone recently and like most people there is a period between getting it and being able to do what you want and I have been struggling. The new phone is an HTC Android, provided by Orange. Orange have put a mail client app on the phone, which you can’t uninstall and want to charge me £5.00 per month to use. Given that there are free mail clients on the Android Marketplace and one comes free with the phone from HTC who is going to pay this outrageous tax?

This attempted scam has undone (some of the ) two years worth of great support  and service that I have had. This has not been helped by the fact that the Orange Technical Support have a shit script when speaking to them about this. It took me 4 calls over 30 days to find someone who knew that to avoid this fee, you just need to avoid using the app.

I know it’s not just Orange though. …

Censoring the Internet

In August, earlier this month, Vince Cable announced the Government’s response to the Hargreaves Review aka the Google review into intellectual property law. Some of the UK’s IT companies, including Google together with many economists, strongly believe that the current intellectual property laws in the UK inhibit innovation and growth and persuaded Cameron to launch a review into the intellectual property laws. The review was chaired and directed by Professor Hargreaves and it published its report “Digital Opportunity, A review of intellectual property and growth” earlier in the year. This article looks at the Hargreaves Review’s recommendations and reactions to the report and comments on Cable’s speech which de-committed the Government from pursuing the web bocking clauses of the Digital Economy Act. …