"I found the article at http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/16740008 to be very misleading, the article states that: "Newsbeat's been in touch with hundreds of users and nearly three-quarters say they want to change their handsets." On the radio show, this was changed to "hundreds of users have contacted us". This has been compressed into a headline used on your site as: "Three-quarters of BlackBerry users want to switch phones". This is deeply inaccurate, it may be the case that 71% of the "hundreds" of people that contacted newsbeat were unhappy with their blackberries but to then scale this up to a %'age of all blackberry users is wrong. I also fail to see how this is a story, the figures themselves show that there is only a small drop in sales(100,000 per quarter). I look forward to hearing back from you."

Many thanks for getting in touch. We take comments and complaints about our output seriously so your feedback is welcome. You're absolutely right to say the headline on this story was misleading - we should not have extrapolated the 'three-quarters' figure and applied it to the entire population of Blackberry users. As a result of this, and some of the other issues you talk about in the statistics, I have reminded the entire team of the importance of fully understanding how to apply research statistics to stories. As to your further point about sales figures, we have run a follow up piece to the item today, in which we have reported a further set of sales figures which apply to Blackberry which the company itself claims shows sales are holding up.

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In mid-September I went to a great conference organised by Brian Cleland. The amount of gov.uk organisations was reasonably heartening although their message was less so. Essentially it boiled down to "don't call us, we'll call you". GIS data being released in 2019 for instance and everything waiting on the publication of a report from Whitehall.

One of the local organisations which I, and I believe many others, feel is really dragging in terms of open data is Translink who operate the trains/buses etc here in Northern Ireland on behalf of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company which is a Public Corporation(essentially, I believe, a company owned by our government). There have been efforts in the past by some brave local individuals to access the data from Translink but with very little success, I believe some PDFs were acquired at one point but nothing which was easily machine readable. I wrote to Translink on the day of the event and received the following in response:

Thank you for your email of 22 September 2011 to our Feedback facility. Prompted by your e-mail I checked across our organisation and have not been able to confirm that any of the Translink team received an invitation to the event to which you refer.

That said, it would be wrong to conclude that Translink is not actively involved in the task of making its data more available to the public. The following lists some of the areas where Translink is making a valuable contribution in this sphere:

1. We are working with the EU Inspire team to ensure Translink is fully compliant in the area of data share
2. We have an ongoing programme in place to update our data across Metro, Goldline, Ulsterbus and NIR services  
3. We are working with our sponsor department (DRD) and with representatives from DETI to explore ways in which we can make our data available to mobile apps developers I trust this brief response serves to assure you that Translink is playing an active role in this area.

The note I received highlights what I believe are some of the problems with Translink's view on open data:

1. Fully Compliant - why be fully compliant when you can exceed the standards required easily. Open the data up and you will be fully compliant.
2. Programme in place to update the data - the data is there, open it up and the community will probably help you to keep it up to date. 
3. Exploring ways to make the data available - It seems they have been exploring for a while. Why not check out this and more specifically this from the MTA in NYC? Free data available for developers to use.

It's about time that the data was opened so that something can be done with it - there are some great apps out there already which have been pulled together from a screenscraping session but there should be more.

Why not tweet @translink_ni or write to them and ask them to open up the data?

Update 24th Oct 21:56: I have just done an FOI request  to ask for a bit more information from NITHC.

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Update 09/02/11 - 16:00

Thanks to @moonpo we now know it was created by Shahed Syed - brilliant work Shahed! Article on it is here

I'm not sure who created this image so can't credit them - whoever it
was - great work!

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Dublin Marathon pictures are now available - thought I'd screengrab the one which shows we actually completed it(in case this was in doubt!!)

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I use Google's myTracks a lot and found it really useful today while running the Dublin Marathon to keep track of times and distances. It seems to be slightly inaccurate today as it is saying that we actually did 26.9 miles but gives a good idea of what we did. You can click through to see the larger map and even times(the geek in me fricking loves this). 

We raised a great amount of cash for the MS Society - totals are on here and here - thanks to all of our sponsors!!

View Dublin Marathon in a larger map

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: NewsOnline Comments <newsonline.suggestions@bbc.co.uk>
Date: 7 October 2010 17:20
Subject: FW: Feedback [NewsWatch]
To: <removed>

Dear Mr Whittaker

Many thanks for your e-mail.

I can only concur - when I spotted the story on Wednesday morning on the
website, I had it changed immediately.

The story now focuses on the company's results.

I believe it is ok to mention that Gregg's is now selling croissants and
similar fare, not least as this is not the kind of food that one would
associate with this store chain.

But the original headline and lead of the story was clearly not in
order.

I have had words with both the author and the sub editor who published
the story.

Regards

Tim Weber
Business editor
BBC News - interactive + radio   http://bbc.co.uk/business
<direct phone etc removed>

-----Original Message-----
From: <removed
Sent: 06 October 2010 09:45
To: NewsOnline Comments
Subject: Feedback [NewsWatch]

From:           Simon whittaker
Email address:  <removed>
Country:        UK

COMMENTS: This is not a news story, it is a regurgitated press release.
Absolutely ridiculous...
Simon whittaker, UK

URL:    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11482293

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From: "FOI Enquiries" <foi@bbc.co.uk>
Date: 6 September 2010 16:10:31 GMT+01:00
Subject: FOIA - Internal Review - IR2010026

Please find attached the response to your internal review request considered under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act. 

Information Policy and Compliance Team 

BBC Freedom of Information
Room 2252
BBC White City
201 Wood Lane
London W12 7TS, UK

Website: www.bbc.co.uk/foi/
Email: mailto:foi@bbc.co.uk
Tel: 020 8008 2883
Fax: 020 8008 2398

http://www.bbc.co.uk
This e-mail (and any attachments) is confidential and may contain personal views which are not the views of the BBC unless specifically stated.
If you have received it in error, please delete it from your system.
Do not use, copy or disclose the information in any way nor act in reliance on it and notify the sender immediately.
Please note that the BBC monitors e-mails sent or received.
Further communication will signify your consent to this.

IR2010026 - dislcoure emails.pdf Download this file

Internal Review Decision Note - 2010-09-02.pdf Download this file

IR2010026 - disclosure - RFI20100948 - final response.pdf Download this file

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RFI20200835 - final response.pdf Download this file

I was intrigued to see that the beebplayer application had been removed from the android marketplace and submitted an FOI request to discover more. The response back from them was not especially helpful and I have responded asking for further information. I find it very annoying that the beebplayer app was removed - it is the one I use the most on my HTC hero. I will probably not be able to upgrade my phone to 2.2  and therefore will not be able to use the services I have paid for in the license fee :( There is an interesting thread here about the removal of the beebplayer from the marketplace.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: FOI Enquiries <foi@bbc.co.uk>
Date: 13 July 2010 17:33
Subject: RFI20100835 - request for information
To:

Dear Mr Whittaker,

Please find attached the response to your request for information, reference RFI20100835.

<<RFI20200835 - final response.pdf>>

Kind regards

Louise Wright
Information Policy and Compliance    

BBC Freedom of Information
Room 2252, White City
201 Wood Lane
London W12 7TS, UK

Website: www.bbc.co.uk/foi
Email: foi@bbc.co.uk
Tel: 020 8008 2883
Fax: 020 8008 2398

 
http://www.bbc.co.uk
This e-mail (and any attachments) is confidential and may contain personal views which are not the views of the BBC unless specifically stated.
If you have received it in error, please delete it from your system.
Do not use, copy or disclose the information in any way nor act in reliance on it and notify the sender immediately.
Please note that the BBC monitors e-mails sent or received.
Further communication will signify your consent to this.

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On October 25th the wife I will be running the Dublin marathon and are going to try and raise a bunch of money for the MS Society. We'd really appreciate your assistance with raising as much money as possible and have set ourselves a target of trying to raise £1000 each. If anyone would like to join us on the run that would be brilliant but if not then if you could spare a few gbp/ausd/usd or any other currency you have then the link is http://bit.ly/simonrunsdublin. THANK YOU!!!!

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Simon Whittaker
Date: 17 June 2010 21:31
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information Request 10/0699 - Internal Review
To: "REMOVED"

HI David,

Many thanks for your respose, what I am interested in discovering is
the process by which the Digital economy Bill was modified to include
items such as net disconnection and the incredible powers which Lord
Mandleson wanted to be granted to Secretary of State and which were
quite sensibly refused by the due process, I am also interested to
discover if it was planned to always implement this as a washup bill.
Therefore, I would like to rephrase my request as:

Please can you provide all communication(such as memoranda, email &
minutes of meetings) relating to the proposed digital economy bill
from August 2009, September 2009, October 2009, & November 2009 which
included Sion Simon, Lord Mandleson or Stephen Timms as participants
or recipients.

Many thanks

Simon

On 16 June 2010 09:59, REMOVED wrote:
> Simon
>
> I am unclear whether I replied to this.  I believe I started to do so, but can't see an email in my sent box, so may not have finished it.
>
> Laura Williams has moved on to a new job now and so she wouldn't be handling any further FOI requests about the Digital Economy Act.  If you send any adjusted request to me then I will pass it on to an action official.
>
> To be frank though, I really doubt that there is any information of the sort you are seeking to find at BIS or DCMS - for example we don't hold any information at all about what Lord Mandelson may or may not have done other than as Ministerial business, for instance in his private capacity.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> REMOVED
>

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: REMOVED
Date: 9 June 2010 19:05
Subject: Freedom of Information Request 10/0699 - Internal Review
To:

Dear Mr Whittaker,

I am writing to you in response to your request for an internal review
in relation to FOI request 10/0699. Your original FOI request, made on
23 April 2010, asked for:

“Minutes of meetings which took place in August 2009 between Lord
Mandelson and David Geffen. I would also like to see all emails
relating to the proposed digital economy bill from August 2009,
September 2009 & October 2009 which were sent between Sion Simon, Lord
Mandleson & Stephen Timms.”

Following searches of relevant electronic and paper records, I confirm
what was said in Laura Williams’s email of 17th May to you, that we
have found that the information you requested on both parts of your
request is not held by this department, because there is no record of
such a meeting taking place as Ministerial business. Nor has any
information been withheld or subject to exemptions.

By way of explanation:
“Holding” information means information held relating to the business
of the Department that:
• we have created, or
• we have received from another body or person, or
• held by another body on our behalf

As the Digital Economy Bill was run as a joint Bill between the
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for
Culture, Media and Sport, searches also included any relevant
information held or created on our behalf by the Department for
Culture, Media and Sport.

BIS use an email system that auto-deletes email after 12 months.
However, staff are asked to individually select and store emails which
document evidence of government activity and decisions in the
department’s electronic records and document management system, where
they are treated as a record, and usually deleted at about 7 years.

There is no specific policy relating to taking note or minutes of
meetings.  However, I refer you to Guidance on the Management of
Private Office Papers, published jointly by the Cabinet Office and The
National Archives which can be found on the National Archives’ website
at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/popapersguidance2009.pdf.
In particular paragraphs 4 and 13 (ii) are relevant.

But having reasonably searched our records, we found first that there
is no record of such a meeting you referred to as having taken place
as Ministerial business. Therefore no minutes would be held by the
Department(s) and I confirm that there are none. Second, we found that
no such emails were sent using BIS’s Departmental email systems
between the Ministers and within the constraints listed in your
request.

Lastly we would not be able to refer you to another Department(s) as
we are unaware of any records they keep regarding the subject of your
request apart from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which
we have been in contact with as mentioned above.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you
have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

          Information Commissioner’s Office
          Wycliffe House
          Water Lane
          Wilmslow
          Cheshire
          SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely

REMOVED

REMOVED | Director Information Economy | Business Group | Department
for Business, Innovation & Skills | REMOVED@bis.gsi.gov.uk | | |
www.bis.gov.uk

The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) is building a
dynamic and competitive UK economy by creating the conditions for
business success; promoting innovation, enterprise and science; and
giving everyone the skills and opportunities to succeed. To achieve
this we will foster world-class universities and promote an open
global economy.

BIS - Investing in our future

The original of this email was scanned for viruses by the Government
Secure Intranet virus scanning service supplied by Cable&Wireless
Worldwide in partnership with MessageLabs. (CCTM Certificate Number
2009/09/0052.) On leaving the GSi this email was certified virus free.
Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored
and/or recorded for legal purposes.

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For Immediate Release

28 May 2010

 

Draft code of practice to reduce online copyright infringement

A proposed code of practice which implements legislative measures aimed at reducing online copyright infringement has today been published by Ofcom, as part of its new duties under the Digital Economy Act 2010 (the Act).

 

The Act requires that the code of practice is implemented no later than eight months from Royal Assent, including approval from the European Commission. Subject to consultation and approval, Ofcom expects the code to come into force in early 2011.

 

The code of practice

The draft code sets out how and when Internet Service Providers (ISPs) covered by the code will send notifications to their subscribers to inform them of allegations that their accounts have been used for copyright infringement. 

 

In passing the Act, Parliament’s intention was that Ofcom should apply the obligations in a proportionate way, with the code initially covering only the larger fixed-line ISPs, but with the clear message that, should levels of copyright infringement on other networks, including mobile, increase then those ISPs will similarly be required to comply with the obligations.  Ofcom proposes, therefore, that fixed-line ISPs with over 400,000 subscribers will be covered initially.  This would mean that the seven largest ISPs – BT, Talk Talk, Virgin Media, Sky, Orange, O2 and Post Office – will be covered by the code from the outset.  Ofcom proposes to regularly review evidence of online copyright infringement across all service providers and to extend the scope of the code if appropriate. 

 

The code also sets out the threshold for including subscribers on a copyright infringers list which must be compiled by ISPs.  ISPs will have to record the number of notifications sent to their subscribers and maintain an anonymised list of alleged serial copyright infringers.  Copyright holders can then request information on this list and pursue a court order to identify serial infringers and take legal action against them.  Ofcom is proposing a three stage notification process for ISPs to inform subscribers of copyright infringements and proposes that subscribers which have received three notifications within a year may be included in a list requested by a copyright owner.

 

Appeals process

Ofcom’s approach is guided by the need to protect the interests of consumers and citizens.  Ofcom will establish an independent, robust subscriber appeals mechanism for consumers who believe they have received incorrect notifications, arrangements for enforcement and dealing with industry disputes, as well as sharing the costs arising from the code.

 

Additional measures to reduce copyright infringement

The code of practice forms part of a wider set of industry activity to tackle online copyright infringement including consumer education, the promotion of lawful alternative services and targeted legal action against serious infringers.  Ofcom intends to monitor how these develop and will report regularly to Government on both the effectiveness of the code and on the additional measures.

 

The consultation can be found here http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/copyright-infringement/ and closes on 30 July 2010.

 

ENDS

NOTES FOR EDITORS

 

1.       Under section 124D of the Communications Act 2003 (as inserted by the Digital Economy Act 2010), Ofcom has a duty to make a code for the purpose of regulating the initial obligations of ISPs to send notifications and provide copyright infringement lists to copyright owners on request.

 

2.       The Act provides that the Secretary of State may by order impose technical measures which include bandwidth throttling and temporary account suspension 12 months after the Code comes into force.  Any such order must be approved by both Houses of Parliament.

 

3.       Ofcom is the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries, with responsibilities across television, radio, telecommunications and wireless communications services.

 

4.       For further information about Ofcom please visit: www.ofcom.org.uk.  Ofcom’s news releases can be found at: www.ofcom.org.uk/media/.

 

CONTACT

 

Amber Vassiliou

Media & Corporate Relations

Ofcom

ofcomnews@ofcom.org.uk

0300 123 4000

 

 

 

 

******************************************************************************************************************
For more information visit www.ofcom.org.uk

This email (and any attachments) is confidential and intended for the use of the addressee only.

If you have received this email in error please notify the originator of the message and delete it from your system.

This email has been scanned for viruses. However, you open any attachments at your own risk.

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Updates
Date: 28 May 2010 14:01
Subject: Ofcom Update: Draft code of practice to reduce online
copyright infringement
To:

A proposed code of practice which implements legislative measures
aimed at reducing online copyright infringement has today been
published by Ofcom, as part of its new duties under the Digital
Economy Act 2010.

Subject to consultation and approval, Ofcom expects the code to come
into force in early 2011.

The consultation can be found here:
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/copyright-infringement/

...........................................................................

Please do not respond to this email. To remove yourself from this
update list, use the online forms:
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/subscribe/select_list.htm

******************************************************************************************************************
For more information visit www.ofcom.org.uk

This email (and any attachments) is confidential and intended for the
use of the addressee only.

If you have received this email in error please notify the originator
of the message and delete it from your system.

This email has been scanned for viruses. However, you open any
attachments at your own risk.

Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender
and do not represent the views or opinions of Ofcom unless expressly
stated otherwise.
******************************************************************************************************************

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <EMAIL REDACTED>
Date: 25 May 2010 14:51
Subject: RE: FOI Request - Digital Economy Bill
To: Me

Simon,

Thank you for your emails.

In relation to your previous email, I realise my response may need clarifying. You are correct to say that emails are retained. However, the reason that the information is not held is because such emails were not sent (i.e. after a search, we found that emails about the Digital Economy Bill were not sent between the Ministers you referred to within the period you specified).

Also, I should have made clear that as the Digital Economy Bill was a Bill managed across both the Department for Business and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), I asked colleagues at the DCMS to conduct a search and they also had a nil return (i.e. no emails sent).

I will contact the FOI team to let them know that you would like an internal review and will let you know when the results will be available.

Best wishes

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Dear Simon,

Thank you for your email.

I have detailed some further background below on the information you requested.

The first part of your request was for "Minutes of meetings which took place in August 2009 between Lord Mandelson and David Geffen". This information is not held by this department because there is not a record of such a meeting taking place as Ministerial business. You may be interested to know that the Department regularly publishes a list of Ministerial meetings on its website.

The second part of your request was for "all emails relating to the proposed digital economy bill from August 2009, September 2009 and October 2009 which were sent between Sion Simon, Lord Mandelson & Stephen Timms." To investigate your request, we conducted a thorough search of relevant electronic records (emails) that the department holds. I have established that the information you requested is not held. Even if this information was held, it may be subject to exemption under section 35(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act which applies to communications between Ministers.

I hope that this further information is helpful and would ask that you consider it before proceeding with your request for an internal review.

Please do let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Kind regards

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: EMAIL REDACTED
Date: 17 May 2010 12:08
Subject: FOI Request - Digital Economy Bill
To:

Ref No: 10/0699

Dear Simon,

Thank you for your email of 23 April where you sent a revised request
for the following information:

“Minutes of meetings which took place in August 2009 between Lord
Mandelson and David Geffen. I would also like to see all emails
relating to the proposed digital economy bill from August 2009,
September 2009 and October 2009 which were sent between Sion Simon,
Lord Mandelson & Stephen Timms.”

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 ('the Act'), you have the right to:

·        know whether we hold the information you require

·        be provided with that information (subject to any exemptions
under the Act which may apply).

I am writing to advise you that, following a search of our paper and
electronic records, I have established that the information you
requested is not held by this Department.

Appeals procedure

If you are unhappy with the result of your request for information,
you may request an internal review within two calendar months of the
date of this letter. If you wish to request an internal review, please
contact me.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you
have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

          Information Commissioner’s Office
          Wycliffe House
          Water Lane
          Wilmslow
          Cheshire
          SK9 5AF

Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of further assistance.

Yours sincerely,

NAME REDACTED

NAME REDACTED | Digital Economy Bill Manager | Department for
Business, Innovation and Skills | 1 Victoria Street London SW1H 0ET

The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) is building a
dynamic and competitive UK economy by creating the conditions for
business success; promoting innovation, enterprise and science; and
giving everyone the skills and opportunities to succeed. To achieve
this we will foster world-class universities and promote an open
global economy. BIS - Investing in our future

The original of this email was scanned for viruses by the Government
Secure Intranet virus scanning service supplied by Cable&Wireless
Worldwide in partnership with MessageLabs. (CCTM Certificate Number
2009/09/0052.) On leaving the GSi this email was certified virus free.
Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored
and/or recorded for legal purposes.

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Guy called on landline yesterday saying he was from "windows" asking if I was aware that my computer was being seriously affected by viruses (don't think he used that word) and wanted to access the computer whilst I was sitting at it. I didn't feel convinced he was real and asked him to email his request and contact details. He said "OMG" and that he couldn't do that. I said I hadn't noticed any warnings or deterioration on my laptop. He said OMG again and that Windows couldn't email it's customers every time it notifed them of a problem. I ended the call What do you think?

Thankfully, dad is not easily fooled and didn't give the guy access but I have no doubt that someone will be fooled by it. I haven't read about this particular attempted fraud anywhere else but am sure it is happening. Anyone else experienced this?

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