• Get ready for February 7, when the Internet Service Providers Association will bestow upon some lucky figure the title of Internet Villain as part of the annual ISPA Internet Industry Awards. It is just one of many awards that will be given out at the annual ceremony, but it has an interesting twist. After a year in which British Telecom has been more maligned and lambasted by the internet industry than any company in history, the telecoms juggernaut has pre-empted critics by sponsoring the villain of the year category. Why? Well the rules for the awards specifically stipulate that a sponsor cannot win a category they are sponsoring. Thanks to clever footwork by BT, the prize may yet go to nominee Andy Mitchell, beloved ex-boss of Altavista.
• Back before Freeserve, or Breathe, or any of the pretenders, there was FreeDotNet, a company that launched free internet service in 1997. This week, however, customers of that pioneering company are furious: they've been unable to access email since December 22, the company's phone is permanently engaged, and its websites are out of commission. This is the same FreeDotNet taken to court last December by the Serious Fraud Office on charges of conspiracy to deceive investors. The SFO, some may remember, had had its own share of blunders with the FreeDotNet case, when it accidentally revealed the name of the whistleblower who had tipped them off to the company's activities. His name mistakenly appeared in the SFO's annual report as someone charged with offences in connection with the case. With friends like these?
• The tragedy at Edgewater Technologies in Massachusetts on Boxing Day has sent a ripple of sympathy and support through internet companies around the globe, and inspired the big-hearted folk at fuckedcompany.com to start a collection for the families of the victims. The site, which chronicles the metaphoric death of dot.coms (not usually the literal death), has even set up a credit card payment system for net-heads who want to contribute. You may as well leave your sympathy at home, however, if you live outside the US. Irked Britons discovered the system would only accept contributions from within the US of A.
• In the battle of the internet business magazines, the question for many is whose head is next on the block? Fast company made an early exit with a December sale to German publishers Gruner + Jahr while Red Herring has been content to carve some 50 redundancies out of its 300+ staff. Meanwhile, Future Networks, publishers of Business 2.0, has released a bleary statement predicting a sales shortfall for last year. New year's resolution for Business 2.0 staff: brush up your German.
