Sharp Practice by Internet Provider
The Paper Boy's current ADSL provider, Nildram, was taken over some time ago by Pipex - advertised heavily by David Hasselhoff. All has been as it was at Nildram before - fast network, total reliability.
Pipex management has decided that it needed to sneak in some changes to their network, completely without warning over the last few weeks. The result of these changes is small for the Paper Boy and strictly the changes are allowable within the Terms & Conditions of Nildram, so there is no legal redress available.
The question is raised in many minds - if they make this change and there is no challenge what will they do next? Start restricting people with green eyes? Start restricting people who have a username starting with a 'b'?
The Paper Boy and many others in the same boat feel that morally Nildram should have given notice, which would have been in line with how most people read the relevant clauses in the terms and conditions - certainly it's how the Clapham Omnibus test would see it.
Nildram was previously always rated in the top 3 on DSLZoneUK, but is now languishing somewhere around half-way down the list, going back a year or two Pipex were another always contending in the top 3, but no longer.
This fall from grace has taken no more than 3 days from a confirmation email being sent to a forum member by Nildram's support function - a miracle in itself recently when it's taken over 4 weeks not to get a reply from what used to be a near-instant support email address. Such is the depth of feeling amongst users that in excess of 30 users in that forum are quitting Nildram in protest mainly at the way in which the change was made rather than for the change itself, the Paper Boy amongst them.
Further investigation reveals tha Pipex have done similar things to other ISPs that they have taken over - Freedom2Surf being another - and of course they have made these changes to their own network too. So users of the former Cable & Wireless ADSL ISP Bulldog had better watch out. The Hoff is gonna start strangling your connection.
Pipex management has decided that it needed to sneak in some changes to their network, completely without warning over the last few weeks. The result of these changes is small for the Paper Boy and strictly the changes are allowable within the Terms & Conditions of Nildram, so there is no legal redress available.
The question is raised in many minds - if they make this change and there is no challenge what will they do next? Start restricting people with green eyes? Start restricting people who have a username starting with a 'b'?
The Paper Boy and many others in the same boat feel that morally Nildram should have given notice, which would have been in line with how most people read the relevant clauses in the terms and conditions - certainly it's how the Clapham Omnibus test would see it.
Nildram was previously always rated in the top 3 on DSLZoneUK, but is now languishing somewhere around half-way down the list, going back a year or two Pipex were another always contending in the top 3, but no longer.
This fall from grace has taken no more than 3 days from a confirmation email being sent to a forum member by Nildram's support function - a miracle in itself recently when it's taken over 4 weeks not to get a reply from what used to be a near-instant support email address. Such is the depth of feeling amongst users that in excess of 30 users in that forum are quitting Nildram in protest mainly at the way in which the change was made rather than for the change itself, the Paper Boy amongst them.
Further investigation reveals tha Pipex have done similar things to other ISPs that they have taken over - Freedom2Surf being another - and of course they have made these changes to their own network too. So users of the former Cable & Wireless ADSL ISP Bulldog had better watch out. The Hoff is gonna start strangling your connection.
EYEMOUTH REVOLTING - harsh words from this week's 
At Sheriff K's court a lady sheriff presiding (where on earth is Sir K off to now?) over the usual splurge of criminality: A Newcastle driver banned for 6 months after driving without insurance. Sheriff Fiona Tait applied a £250 fine. An Innerleithen man fined £200 for breaching a curfew order whilst helping look for a friend's son who had gone missing. Police stopped a vehicle he was in on an unrelated matter and he volunteered that he was on curfew and was thus arrested at the scene. Seems a little harsh that he turned himself in and seemingly had reasonable mitigation but the law is the law. A Chirnside youth pleaded guilty by letter to a charge of allowing his 16-year old friend to drive his bike without insurance. Sheriff Tait wielding the iron fist in the velvet glove fined him £125 and gave him six penalty points. A Hawick man appeared from custody and pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting his seven-month pregnant wife by seizing her by the arm and neck. Sentence was deferred for 6 months pending good behaviour as the man and his wife were both keen to work out their problems.
LBAlert will apparently become your home for information on things like flooding, winter school closures, traffic etc. Right now it's been launched with not much content, hopefully that will change as places flood, schools close and there are roadworks and traffic jams.
