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Under fire targeted advertising company Phorm has today revealed a new chairman in the shape of ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont, and a new strategy to help the image of the business. Since moving from a beta stage system to a full working order targeted advertising service the company has received significant criticism from those fighting for privacy.

In simple terms, the service allows Internet service providers to anonymously monitor the websites visited by their customers and use the system to target adverts which they are more than likely to act upon. There are issues regarding privacy with some parties suggesting individual clients can be traced while the company is adamant the system uses anonymous tags and is non-traceable.

However, today saw an interesting development with an attack on Google and other search engines on the Internet. The company is trying to highlight that they are not the only online service which should be dragged into the privacy storm with Google, amongst many, known to operate a similar target type of system. The company argues that it has set the “gold standard” with regards to online privacy and others need to follow suit. As the Phorm system moves closer to full release we are sure to see many fireworks over the coming days, months and years.

The controversial UK Data Retention (EC directive) Regulations 2009 come into play this week and will ensure that Internet service providers retain details of your every movement on the Internet. This is an enhancement of the 2007 act which has been updated to include Internet use as well as mobile and fixed line communications.

In summary, ISPs will need to retain details of every e-mail you send, when it was sent, who it was sent to, sites you visited and sites you tried to visit for a 12 month rolling period. Internet phone calls also come under the new act with ISPs again forced to retain 12 month rolling data regarding each and every phone call you make via the Internet. When you add in the data already collected by mobile telephone and landline telephone service providers it seems as though Big Brother really is watching each and every person across the UK.

While there have been various attempts to block the introduction of the act on the grounds of privacy, these have so far failed to cut any ice with the UK courts. Slowly but surely public trust in the UK authorities is falling to record lows but unfortunately there seems little likelihood of any changes in the short to medium term.

As anarchists, environmentalists and those from the Green parties around the world gather at today’s G20 meeting, scientists in Ireland have been working on a system to reduce the emission of methane from cows. It is well-known that cows are a major source of the world’s methane gas which is highly detrimental to the environment and 20 times as effective at retaining heat as CO2.

It appears as though the omega 3 fatty acids present in fish, and other foods, work well at reducing the methane content of a cow’s wind – test have shown it to be 21 per cent less than that produced by cows on a traditional diet. The new diet reduces the production of methane in the stomachs of a cow and could in due course lead to a significant reduction in environmentally unfriendly gases.

While many may see this as some kind of April Fools joke we assure you there is substance behind this bizarre experiment. The subject of CO2 and methane gas emissions is often centred round industry although it is common knowledge that your everyday cow has sent more than its fair share into the atmosphere!

Those who have followed the advent of Cloud Computing, the system which allows user to access programs from a remote central server rather than retain on their hard drives, will know that Microsoft was never very keen on the concept and in the very early days was seen to mock the idea by many. However, times have changed and we are seeing a new U-turn from the worlds leading computing giant. But is this about turn going to impact on Microsoft's long term success?

The one thing which any new system needs, whether it be a computer, software, hardware or any consumer related product, is an endorsement by the major players in that field. When Microsoft was against the Cloud concept it did not receive much coverage in the press, it was new and exciting but deemed to be something for the future, until Microsoft joined the party!

Many are now suggesting that Microsoft has shot itself in the foot and even though the group is now fully embracing the concept in some ways they appear to be well behind the industry learning curve. If the company is unable to extract the same income levels out of the new system as the ones they will ultimately be looking to replace we could see something of a future power struggle in the sector.

In a report which will warm the heart of the music industry it has been reported that legal music downloads have overtaken illegal music downloads for the first time ever. The industry now seems to be having lot more success in pushing people in the direction of legal downloads, but why the change? Why now?

While the percentage of legal downloads is up from 47% in 2007 to 51% in 2008 there are a number of factors which have come into play. In general illegal downloads are estimated to be down 10% in the UK but it seems the honesty of the older generation is behind the sea change more and more people in the 35 to 44 and 45 plus age brackets ?playing it by the book'.

Normally this would indicate little change in the younger end of the market but this is not really a true reflection. While the number of illegal downloads in this age bracket may not have fallen too much as yet, more and more younger surfers have claimed they would stop illegal downloads if contacted by their ISP.

The ISP's proposed ?3 strikes and you are out' policy has been criticised and may never reach the market, but it seems as though the younger generation are ready to take more notice ? or perhaps the threat of legal action has finally done the trick?

In a move which has somewhat weakened the move towards internet TV it has been revealed that US giant the Discovery channel will be introducing a new free to air TV channel next year. It seems as though the group has made a conscious effort to stay out the internet TV sector for the moment at least, but why?

Discovery believes that there is still not a strong enough business model for internet TV and so far, despite all of the hype in the newspapers, the take-up for internet TV is still very low. Let us not lose sight that first and foremost these TV companies are in the industry to make a profit. While there are options with internet TV the basis for each potential income stream is a little shaky at the moment.

In summary, viewers are not ready to subscribe in their masses to internet TV and the advertising income model for the sector has yet to be created ? or at least one which offers the same as the free to air TV medium. However, when all said and done it seems inevitable that internet TV will play a larger part in the sector in the future ? when? We are not to sure yet………..