Virgin start trials of Detica Cview, the new Phorm

Virgin Media is set to delve into users’ traffic looking for copyright infringement, in the online equivalent of opening your post and not telling you. It’s the first ISP to try deep packet inspection with the controversial Detica CView technology, which will ascertain levels of illegal music file sharing across the Virgin network.

Phorm shares fall

Shares in the online ad firm Phorm have fallen by more than 40% after BT said it had no immediate plans to use the service that tracks online behaviour.

EC warns gov’t over Phorm foot-dragging

The European Commission has threatened to take formal action against the UK government, which it says has not provided information it needs in its probe into Phorm ad-serving technology.

Microsoft puts $250,000 bounty on Conficker worm author’s head

Microsoft puts $250,000 bounty on Conficker worm author’s head, The ‘criminal attack’ on millions of computers worldwide deserves to be punished, says Microsoft

Government may offer cash-back to owners who scrap old cars

The government is poised to offer consumers a large “scrappage” premium to get rid of old cars and buy new, eco-friendly models in a move to revitalise the ailing market. Manufacturers are pressing Lord Mandelson, business secretary, and the Treasury to offer as much as £2,000 under a “scrappage incentive scheme” before March’s half-yearly new registrations.

Virgin Atlantic to cut 600 jobs to ‘remain strong’

The recession made a further impact on the airline industry today as Virgin Atlantic announced a possible 600 redundancies and Ryanair cut 200 at its Dublin airport base, adding to plans to reduce staff at its Shannon hub by 100.

UK’s £7.5bn train order lost to Japan’s Hitachi

The promise of many new jobs is not enough to placate critics who wanted the deal to go to Hitachi’s rival Bombardier, in Derby.

John Lewis sales down 17.1%

John Lewis has reported a 17.1 per cent drop in sales last week, providing the first indication of the hit to Britain’s retailers of recent heavy snowfall.

Panasonic axes 15,000 staff on profit warning

Panasonic, the Japanese electronics group, is to cut 15,000 jobs and close 27 factories after warning that it will report an annual loss of 380 billion yen (£2.92 billion).

Panasonic orders staff to buy £1,000 in products

Its electronic gadgetry is gathering dust on the shelves of high street stores, nobody is buying new fridges and the mountain of unsold plasma televisions is growing by the day.