Google Maps app returns to iPhone

12 December 2012 Last updated at 23:19 ET By Leo Kelion Technology reporter

Google has released its Maps app for the iPhone, in the wake of complaints about Apple's software.

Apple controversially replaced the search giant's mapping service with its own when it released its latest handset, the iPhone 5.

The move was widely criticised after numerous mistakes were found in Apple Maps' search results.

Google's app introduces functions previously restricted to Android devices.

One analyst said it would prove popular, but added that Nokia still posed a challenge.

The Finnish company recently launched its own free maps app for the iPhone.

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Apple's mapping nightmare

When Apple announced in June that it was launching its own maps app - using licensed data and its own software - developers cheered.

But soon after it launched in September, the complaints began.

The UK's historic town Stratford-upon-Avon was missing, a farm in Dublin had been labelled as an airport and Hong Kong's Queen's Pier boat terminal was in the wrong location.

Satellite images were sometimes blurry or only showed cloud cover, and the much-vaunted Flyover facility had created surreal views of landmarks including the Brooklyn Bridge and Hoover Dam.

Facing growing criticism, Apple boss Tim Cook penned an apology acknowledging users' frustration.

It did not seem to dampen early iPhones sales, but the affair was linked to the high-profile ousting of iOS software chief Scott Forstall, who had reportedly refused to sign the apology himself.

Mr Cook recently acknowledged that the firm had "screwed up", but promised Apple had a "huge plan" to improve the app.

The firms are motivated in part by a desire to gather data automatically generated by handsets using their respective software, as well as users' own feedback.

This allows them to fine-tune their services and improve the accuracy of features such as traffic status updates.

Android's advantage

Features Google has introduced that were not available in its earlier iPhone app include:

• Voice guided turn-by-turn directions, with estimated travel times.
• Indoor panoramic images of buildings that have signed up to its Street View Business Photos service
• 3D representations of the outlines of buildings that can be viewed from different angles
• Vector-based graphics based on mathematical lines and points rather than pre-created bitmap graphics, making it quicker to zoom in and out of an area.

Among the facilities Google's iPhone app lacks that are present in its Android equivalent are indoor maps, the ability to download maps for offline viewing, and voice search.

However, over time, project manager Kai Hansen told the BBC that what was on one platform should be on the other.

"The goal is clearly to make it as unified and consistent an experience as possible," he said.

Ground Truth

One area Apple's own software still has an edge is its integration of Flyover which offers interactive photo-realistic views of selected cities using 3D-rendered graphics within its maps app.

Google offers a similar facility via Google Earth which is promoted in its main maps app, but involves switching into a separate program.

However, for many users the key feature will be the level of accuracy that Google offers.

Since 2008, the firm's Ground Truth project has mashed together licensed data with information gathered by its own fleet of Street View cars and bicycles.

The images and sensor data they collect are analysed by computers and humans to identify street signs, business names, road junctions and other key features. To date, more than five million miles (eight million km) of roads across 45 countries have been covered.

This information is supplemented by the public filing their own reports. iPhone users are encouraged to do likewise by shaking their handsets to activate a feedback function.

"Google Maps, as much as any other map application, lives from the data that we receive," Mr Hansen explained.

"If a road is closed for the next six months, or a road was opened two days ago - these are things that somebody who lives next to the road immediately notices, but if you're not in the area it becomes hard to know.

"The more we can give you the ability to let us know about things that are changing on the map, the more other users will benefit from that corrected information."

He added that once operators verify these reports, changes can be made "within minutes, rather than hours".

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Making money from maps

Google says the new iPhone app does not feature advertising - unlike some promoted results in its web browser map pages.

Suggestions for specific locations - such as restaurants or shops - are instead based on a user's search history and other information gathered from their Google account.

Google will cover some of its costs by charging certain third-party developers who embed its maps in their products.

But for now, the biggest benefit is likely to be brand loyalty, helping to drive users to its main search engine, which is profitable.

That may change in the future.

Earlier this year, Google's mapping chief Brian McClendon told the BBC that "local advertising is going to be a critical part of any mapping or local search experience" in the long term.

Apple is also seeking to improve its own data through user feedback, but risks having less to work with if iPhone users switch to another product.

There had been speculation Apple would reject Google's app from its store for this reason.

But since iPhone sales are at the heart of Apple's fortunes, it may have felt it had more to lose than gain by allowing rival Android handsets to offer a popular app it lacked.

'Neutral' Nokia

Google's launch will also have consequences for Nokia, which recently launched its own Here Maps app on iOS.

The European firm's location division is decades older than Google's, and also has a strong reputation for accuracy.

However, the Here app has had a shaky start with many users complaining about problems with its interface - a consequence of it being written in the HTML5 web language rather than as a native app, specifically for the iOS system.

Even so, one telecoms analyst said it would be premature to write the company out of the game.

"I'm not convinced Nokia as a brand for maps will become a big thing in the consumer consciousness, but what I think is going to happen is that more businesses are going to quietly do deals with it for maps," said Ben Wood from CCS Insight.

"Because of the issues that Apple had, people have suddenly understood the importance of quality mapping and they may also say they don't want to go to Google as all of the data then runs through the search firm, strengthening it as a competitor. Nokia is more of a neutral partner.

"Amazon has already done a deal with Nokia on its Kindle tablets, and I wouldn't be surprised if RIM's new Blackberry devices and Facebook follow."

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Europe ends probe over e-books

13 December 2012 Last updated at 07:29 ET

The European Commission has ended an investigation into price-fixing by major e-book publishers after they pledged to keep the market competitive.

The Commission said commitments by five publishers, including Apple, had been made legally binding.

They have said they will not restrict prices, restoring "normal competitive conditions" in the books industry, it added.

Apple and others are being sued by the US over the pricing of e-books.

In Europe, the publishers are Apple, Simon & Schuster, Harper Collins, Hachette of France and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck. Apple sells books through its iBooks platform on the iPad and iPhone.

When the probe was launched in December 2011, the UK's Penguin was included. The Commission said it was in talks with the publisher on the possible commitments it could make which "would allow an early closure of proceedings".

"While each separate publisher and each retailer of e-books are free to choose the type of business relationship they prefer, any form of collusion to restrict or eliminate competition is simply unacceptable," EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said.

"The commitments proposed... will restore normal competitive conditions in this new and fast-moving market, to the benefit of the buyers and readers of e-books," he added.

In the US, Apple and Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Simon and Schuster and Penguin are accused of colluding over the prices of e-books they sell.

Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon and Schuster settled but the case is proceeding against Apple, Macmillan and Penguin "for conspiring to end e-book retailers' freedom to compete on price", the Justice Department said.

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Scientists call for Turing pardon

14 December 2012 Last updated at 04:21 ET

Some of Britain's leading scientists have called on the government to grant a posthumous pardon to Bletchley Park codebreaker Alan Turing.

Turing was convicted of gross indecency in 1952 after acknowledging a sexual relationship with a man.

Professor Stephen Hawking, Astronomer Royal Lord Rees and the Royal Society's Sir Paul Nurse are among 11 signatories to a letter in the Daily Telegraph.

They urge David Cameron to "formally forgive this British hero".

The scientists said: "We write in support of a posthumous pardon for Alan Turing, one of the most brilliant mathematicians of the modern era.

"He led the team of Enigma codebreakers at Bletchley Park, which most historians agree shortened the Second World War.

"Yet successive governments seem incapable of forgiving his conviction for the then crime of being a homosexual, which led to his suicide, aged 41."

Denying that it would set a precedent, they added: "It is time his reputation was unblemished."

The others who signed the letter are Lord Currie of Marylebone, Lord Grade of Yarmouth, Lord Faulkner of Worcester, Lord Sharkey, Lord Smith of Finsbury, Baroness Trumpington, Sir Timothy Gowers of Cambridge University and the Science Museum's Dr Douglas Gurr.

Homosexuality was illegal at the time of the mathematician's conviction.

Turing was part of the team at Bletchley Park that cracked the Nazi Enigma code, vital to the allied war effort. He is now widely recognised as a computing pioneer.

However, at the time of his death - which an inquest recorded as suicide - he was virtually unknown to the public. His work at Bletchley Park was kept secret until 1974.

The government rejected a call to pardon Turing in February, when it was presented with an online petition with more than 23,000 signatures.

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UK arrests over 'ransomware' scam

14 December 2012 Last updated at 06:01 ET

Three Britons have been arrested on suspicion of distributing malicious software known as "ransomware".

The program they are alleged to have used made victims believe their web browsing habits were being investigated by police.

The program stopped a PC working and displayed a warning message purportedly from the Metropolitan Police.

The message claimed illegal web use had been detected and demanded payment of a £100 fine.

The warning page used logos from both the Metropolitan Police and the Police Central Crime e-Crime Unit (PCEU) to make it look more like an official warning notice.

"I remind all computer users that police do not use such a method to impose or enforce fines, so if you are confronted by such a page do not enter any of your details," said Det Insp Jason Tunn from the PCEU in a statement.

Instead of responding, said Det Insp Tunn, people should contact the police.

All three suspects, two men and a woman, are from Stoke-on-Trent and are accused of using the malicious code to defraud victims. All three are being held in custody at a Staffordshire police station.

So-called ransomware is becoming increasingly popular with cybercriminals and more usually works by preventing a computer starting up or encrypting important documents. People often fall victim by following a link to a booby-trapped website that installs the malicious program when they visit.

Earlier this month an Australian medical centre was hit by ransomware which encrypted patient records. The malicious hackers behind the program demanded 4,000 Australian dollars (£2,610) to release the records.

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Demo plan to aid god game project

14 December 2012 Last updated at 07:21 ET

A struggling video game project on crowdsourced funding website Kickstarter is planning to release a demo to drum up support for its pitch.

Project Godus launched on 21 November seeking £450,000 in 30 days to produce a modern update of a "god-game".

In such games players are the divine power overseeing virtual people inhabiting an artificial world.

Despite backing by UK gaming legend Peter Molyneux, Godus needs to raise almost £160,000 in seven days.

The playable demo should be available on 14 December, said Mr Molyneux in an interview with tech news site Ars Technica.

The demo would give players a taste of the godly powers players enjoy by letting them mould the landscape and see how the rest of the virtual world reacts, he said. He also admitted the code was "not the most beautiful piece of computer interaction ever".

Early video of the demo has also been released by 22 Cans, the game studio Mr Molyneux founded to put Godus together.

The stress of raising almost 40% of its funding in a week had left Mr Molyneux "sitting in a corner shaking slightly with fear and trepidation", he told Ars Technica. He said he hoped the demo would be enough to get people pledging cash so 22 Cans can complete work on the game.

Mixed success

Mr Molyneux is widely seen as the creator of the god-game genre having pioneered it in a title called Populous. He was also behind later examples such as Dungeon Keeper and Black and White.

Many game firms have turned to Kickstarter to raise funds for gaming projects, saying they prefer to appeal to the public for cash rather than go to an established publisher.

However, games have enjoyed mixed success on the site. Some, such as Star Citizen, raised far more than they asked for but many others have failed to hit their targets.

Other UK games makers are finding it tough to raise cash via Kickstarter. Elite Dangerous, a reboot of the classic space trading and fighting game backed by its original creator David Braben has 21 days to raise almost 40% of its ambitious £1.25m goal.

In a worse position is Dizzy Returns, a recreation of the classic games that featured an adventuring egg also backed by its creators, that has seven days to raise more than £300,000.

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'Stalking apps' face ban in US

14 December 2012 Last updated at 07:24 ET

A US politician campaigning for tighter restrictions on location tracking via mobile devices has had his bill approved by a Senate committee.

The Location Privacy Protection Act would require firms to get customers' permission before collecting location data or sharing it with third-parties.

It would also outlaw apps from collecting or sharing location data without the consent of the owner.

Parents wishing to monitor their children's phones would be exempt.

"I believe that Americans have the fundamental right to control who can track their location, and whether or not that information can be given to third parties," Senator Franken told The Hill's technology blog.

"But right now, companies - some legitimate, some sleazy - are collecting your or your child's location and selling it to ad companies or who knows who else."

Stealth software

Some apps are actively marketed as spy software. They can record and email all smartphone activities - including GPS locations - to the software owner, while remaining invisible to the owner of the phone.

Their developers maintain the products are designed to protect children and allow employers to monitor their staff behaviour in work time.

"It's really, really troubling that an industry would see an opportunity to make money off of strengthening someone's opportunity to control and threaten another individual," Karen Jarmoc, executive director of the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence told AP.

Under Senator Franken's proposals apps like this would be illegal without the phone owner's explicit consent.

However, David LeDuc, senior director of public policy at the Software & Information Industry Association believes that a voluntary "code of conduct" on data collection would be more beneficial to the sector than new legislation.

"This flexible, consensus process is better able to ensure that policies are not technology or platform specific," he wrote in a blog post last week.

"At a time of increasing convergence, where "applications" are seamlessly offered across a wide range of devices, fixed laws such as this would stifle technological evolution by creating a distinct privacy regime based on a specific type of device."

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US will not sign UN 'net treaty'

14 December 2012 Last updated at 07:50 ET

The US, Canada, Australia and UK have refused to sign an international communications treaty at an conference in Dubai.

The countries had objected to calls for all states to have equal rights to the governance of the internet.

But the breaking point was the addition of text relating to "human rights".

It marks a setback for the UN's International Telecommunication Union (ITU) which had said it was sure it could deliver consensus.

"It's with a heavy heart and a sense of missed opportunities that the US must communicate that it's not able to sign the agreement in the current form," said Terry Kramer the US ambassador to the World Conference on International Telecommunications (Wcit).

"The internet has given the world unimaginable economic and social benefit during these past 24 years."

Negotiators from Denmark, Italy, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Greece, Portugal, Finland, Chile, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Costa Rica and Kenya have said they would need to consult with their national governments about how to proceed and would also not be able to sign the treaty as planned on Friday.

In total 89 countries have signed the treaty and 55 have either reserved the right to do so later or ruled out ratifying it altogether.

Censorship claims

The ITU had organised the 12-day conference in order to revise a communications treaty last overhauled 24 years ago.

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Telecoms analyst Dr Jerry Sanders says reducing spam was one of the things the treaty was hoping to tackle

It said the document would help nations co-ordinate efforts against spam and widen access to the web.

However, much of the discussions ended up focusing on whether or not countries should have equal rights to the development of the internet's technical foundations.

In particular many attendees believed it was an anachronism that the US government got to decide which body should regulate the net's address system as a legacy of its funding for Arpanet - a precursor to the internet which helped form its technical core.

However, the US said this allowed it to ensure that technical experts could make "agile, rapid-fire decisions" about the net's development as part of multi-stakeholder organisations.

It added that other references to net might also be used to legitimise censorship and other interference in the operation of internet service providers (ISPs) and cloud-based operations, such as Google and Facebook.

Its view was supported by the internet and web pioneers Vint Cerf and Tim Berners-Lee who warned any changes posed a "disruptive threat to the stability of the system".

Russian proposals

A proposal from Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Sudan calling for equal rights for all governments to manage "internet numbering, naming, addressing and identification resources" was eventually shelved.

But there was fresh controversy on Wednesday night after an alternative non-binding resolution was debated which suggested the UN agency's leadership should "continue to take the necessary steps for ITU to play an active and constructive role in the development of broadband and the multi-stakeholder model of the internet."

This was opposed by the US and European nations who repeated their argument that the treaty's regulations should not stretch to internet governance.

As debate continued into the early hours of Thursday morning the conference's chairman, Mohammed Nasser al-Ghanim asked for a "feel of the room" noting afterwards that the resolution had majority support, while stressing that this was not a formal "vote".

Matters were also complicated by an African bloc of countries calling for a paragraph to be added to the treaty's preamble relating to human rights which stated that: "These regulations recognise the right of access of member states to international telecommunication services."

The US and its allies suggested this as an attempt to extend the treaty's regulations to cover internet governance and content.

'Bad agreement'

After a break for sleep, Iran called for a vote on the African proposal which was carried by 77 votes to 33. This was in spite of the ITU's earlier pledge that disputed issues would only be resolved by consensus and not a majority vote.

The organisation's secretary-general attempted to salvage discussions, but soon after the US, Canada and UK said they could no longer ratify the treaty.

"My delegation came to work for revised international telecommunication regulations, but not at any cost," said the head of the UK delegation Simon Towler.

"We prefer no resolution on the internet at all, and I'm extremely concerned that the language just adopted opens the possibility of internet and content issues."

Despite this setback, the ITU's secretary-general Dr Hamadoun Toure insisted that those countries which did sign the treaty would benefit from other achievements including " increased transparency in international mobile roaming charges and competition".

Stopping spam

At a press conference on Friday the ITU said it was "puzzled" as to why countries had objected to the human rights text and denied there was an attempt to "hijack the internet".

It highlighted a section that had been added to the treaty explicitly stating that it did not address content-related telecommunications.

The final document published on Friday does refer to an aspiration that "all governments should have an equal role and responsibility for international internet governance".

But the ITU stressed that this text was non-binding and only featured in the treaty's appendices following the US's efforts to exclude it from the main regulations.

It also reflected on the fact that the main text does say that "member states should endeavour to take necessary measures to prevent the propagation of unsolicited bulk electronic communications," a reference to email spam and other unwanted messages.

The ITU said that this was about finding technical solutions to parties sending "a million emails and flooding the pipes" rather than deciding what content should and should not be allowed to get through.

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No UK charges for Gary McKinnon

14 December 2012 Last updated at 12:12 ET

Computer hacker Gary McKinnon, whose extradition to the US was blocked, will not face charges in the UK, bringing to an end a 10-year legal battle.

Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer QC said the chances of a successful conviction were "not high".

Janis Sharp, Mr McKinnon's mother, said the news was "amazing" and she was grateful the case was "all over now".

Mr McKinnon, 46, admits accessing US government computers but says he was looking for evidence of UFOs.

The US Department of Justice said it would continue to collaborate with the UK government on a "wide range of shared concerns".

Mr Starmer announced the decision not to prosecute some three months after Home Secretary Theresa May stopped Mr McKinnon's extradition.

Low 'conviction prospects'

The US authorities tried to extradite Mr McKinnon to face charges of causing $800,000 (£487,000) worth of damage to military computer systems and he would have faced up to 60 years in prison if convicted.

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Gary McKinnon's mother: ''It's been life destroying, it's difficult to explain how bad it's been, and to have this over is amazing''

Mr McKinnon, who had been fighting extradition since 2002, has Asperger's syndrome.

In October, the Briton was permitted to stay in the UK on human rights grounds after medical reports showed he was very likely to try to kill himself if extradited.

In a statement, Mr Starmer said: "The potential difficulties in bringing a case in England and Wales now should not be underestimated, not least the passage of time, the logistics of transferring sensitive evidence prepared for a court in the US to London for trial, the participation of US government witnesses in the trial and the need fully to comply with the duties of disclosure imposed on the CPS.

"The prospects of a conviction against Mr McKinnon which reflects the full extent of his alleged criminality are not high."

He concluded: "Against this background, the joint CPS/police panel recommended to the Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police that he should not commence a new criminal investigation into Mr McKinnon. The Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police has accepted that advice."

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To have this over is amazing - Gary's gone through enough."

End Quote Janis Sharp Gary McKinnon's mother

Following the decision not to bring charges in the UK, Mr McKinnon's mother said: "I'm very pleased and glad Gary's not going to have to go through another long term of trauma.

"I would love more than anything now for Mr Obama to give Gary a Christmas pardon."

She told BBC News: "Gary admitted to the intrusion, he always denied the damage. I feel the 10 years have been gruelling, it's been life-destroying. It's difficult to explain how bad it's been.

"To have this over is amazing. Gary's gone through enough. Other people have been accused of more serious hacking in this country and they've been given a £1,000 fine and a very short community sentence.

"Gary regrets what he's done. He wishes he hadn't done it. He wishes he hadn't upset the Americans. We all regret it. But I'm grateful to Theresa May that this is all over now."

Mr McKinnon's lawyer Karen Todner said she had "mixed feelings" about the decision.

She said: "I am pleased he is not going to be prosecuted because I wouldn't want to think he would ever spend any time in prison given his mental situation.

"But I am disappointed because the extradition warrant is still outstanding because he can't travel anywhere outside of the UK and will have this hanging over him until it's resolved.

"We have discussed approaching president Obama and asking for a pardon."

The US Department of Justice said its "law enforcement relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom has always been predicated on trust, respect, and the common goals of protecting our nations and eliminating safe havens for criminals".

It added: "Notwithstanding the home secretary's decision in the McKinnon case, our extradition treaty serves the interests of both our nations, and the United States values our continuing collaboration with the CPS and British law enforcement authorities on a wide range of shared concerns."

Risk of suicide

US authorities have described Glasgow-born Mr McKinnon's actions as the "biggest military computer hack of all time" that was "calculated to influence and affect the US government by intimidation and coercion".

Mr McKinnon lost appeals in the High Court and the House of Lords against his extradition, but two years ago a High Court judge ruled Mr McKinnon would be at risk of suicide if sent away.

Earlier this year Mrs May put the decision on hold, in order that Home Office appointed psychiatrists could conduct an assessment of Mr McKinnon's mental state.

The psychiatrists concluded Mr McKinnon would be likely to take his own life if he was sent to face trial in the US.

Mr McKinnon was arrested in 2002 and again in 2005 before an order for his extradition was made in July 2006 under the 2003 Extradition Act.

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Automatic net porn block rejected

15 December 2012 Last updated at 09:10 ET

Ministers have rejected plans to automatically block internet access to pornography on all computers, saying the move is not widely supported.

A public consultation found 35% of parents wanted an automatic bar while 15% wanted some content filtered, and an option to block other material.

But the government says internet providers should encourage parents to switch on parental controls.

Claire Perry, the MP who led the campaign, said she was "disappointed".

The NSPCC said parents' voices were not being heard.

There were more than 3,500 responses to the 10-week consultation - which included those from members of the public, academics, charities and communication firms as well as 757 from parents.

Respondents were asked to answer "yes", "no" or "maybe" to three separate questions about how internet service providers (ISP) could play a role in limiting access.

An automatic block would mean users would have to actively request that pornographic content was made available by their ISP.

Mrs Perry, the Conservative MP for Devizes in Wiltshire, led the campaign and handed over a petition to Downing Street containing more than 115,000 names.

She chaired the cross-party Independent Parliamentary Inquiry on Online Child Protection which concluded in April that government and ISPs needed to do more to keep children safe online.

She told BBC News she was "obviously disappointed that the opt-in option has been rejected" but she added: "Clearly that was not the preferred choice of the 3,500 people who responded to the consultation and we have to base policy on what's been received not what we want."

'Sea change'

She said she was pleased internet service providers would have to actively encourage and prompt parents to switch on filters which will block adult sites to children and verify the age of the person setting up the controls.

She said the exercise had helped to obtain a "sea change in attitude" from ISPs.

The report said there was "no great appetite among parents for the introduction of default filtering of the internet by their ISP - only 35% of the parents who responded favoured that approach".

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"Start Quote

There is also a risk from 'over-blocking' - preventing access to websites which provide helpful information on sexual health or sexual identity"

End Quote Government's report

Some 13% said they favoured "a system where you are automatically asked some questions about what you want your children to be able to access".

And 15% answered "yes" to a system that combined the previous two approaches where some harmful content, such as pornography, was automatically blocked but parents were also asked about what other content their children could access.

The NSPCC said the figures showed that half of the parents who took part in the consultation wanted some sort of automatic block on online pornography.

But the report said an automatic ban - or "opt-in" - approach could lead parents into a "false sense of security" because it could not filter "all potentially harmful content".

'Over-blocking' risk

It also did not "deal with harms such as bullying, personal abuse, grooming or sexual exploitation which arise from the behaviour of other internet users".

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"Start Quote

Hardcore pornographic videos are just a few clicks away and a quarter of children have been sent unsolicited sexual material online"

End Quote NSPCC

It added: "There is also a risk from 'over-blocking' - preventing access to websites which provide helpful information on sexual health or sexual identity, issues which young people may want information on but find difficult to talk to their parents about."

About 70% of the 78 voluntary and community sector organisations that responded answered "yes" to an automatic block while a strong majority of respondents from all other groups answered "no".

While a large majority of the 77 information and communication businesses questioned were against all forms of control, they gave most support (about 18%) to the second approach, in which parents decide what they want their children to access on the internet.

The report found that, taking respondents as a whole, the majority were against all forms of control with more than 80% answering no to each of the three questions.

It praised the the four main ISPs - BT, TalkTalk, Virgin Media and Sky - for signing up to a code of practice, offering customers a choice of whether to apply filters, but said providers should go further and actively encourage parents to turn them on.

'Right direction'

The NSPCC said that while the government's response was "a step in the right direction in making the internet safer for children" it was "disappointing" it had not gone further.

"The best option to protect children is for adult content to be automatically blocked by internet service providers," head of corporate affairs Alan Wardle said.

"Hardcore pornographic videos are just a few clicks away and a quarter of children have been sent unsolicited sexual material online."

He said it was vital new measures were rolled out to new and existing customers "quickly".

Nick Pickles, director of Big Brother Watch, which is opposed to default filtering, said: "This is a positive step that strikes the right balance between child safety and parental responsibility without infringing on civil liberties and freedom of speech.

"The policy recognises it is parents, not government, who are responsible for controlling what their children see online and rightly avoids any kind of state-mandated blocking of legal content."

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Wind farm impact to be examined

15 December 2012 Last updated at 10:20 ET By Zoe Kleinman Technology reporter, BBC News

The developer behind a planned offshore wind farm on the south coast of England says it will look to see how it can "mitigate" the concerns of campaigners.

Questions have been raised about the impact on the view and cultural significance of its location.

It will be off a stretch of coastline known as the Jurassic Coast.

Navitus Bay Development has revised its plans - the farm will be smaller and further out - but local MP Richard Drax said they were still not sufficient.

The coastline is one of just eight in the world to be awarded World Heritage Site (WHS) status by Unesco, and concerns have been raised over whether the title would be revoked if the wind farm goes ahead.

The site currently attracts 16m tourists a year to the area, according to its official website.

The 95 mile (152km) long Jurassic Coast gets its name because some 175 million years of geology are visible in its rocks.

Cultural concerns

In an interview with the BBC, Navitus Bay Development director Mike Unsworth said "regular discussions" had taken place with the local WHS steering group about maintaining the coastline's status.

"The feedback we've had is that the designation is for its natural geology," Mr Unsworth told the BBC.

"They've said it's unlikely that [the WHS] designation will be impacted by the development. But what they have also said is the setting of the WHS - in terms of how you view it or what you view from - is a concern to them. We continue to look at how we can mitigate that."

Following various criticisms, the developers now propose that the wind farm, known as Navitus Bay, should only have 218 turbines no more than 200m (600ft) high.

The firm's original plans were for 335 turbines up to 210m high.

Mr Unsworth said the site would now also be 3km (1.8 miles) further away from Bournemouth than previously planned, in order to minimise its visual impact.

The Corporation of Trinity House, which looks after sea farers, had advised that the farm could affect a popular navigational channel.

'Fresh feedback'

Mr Drax, Conservative MP for south Dorset, said the revised plans were not sufficient.

"The key problem, I think... is the fact it's so close to the coastline," he said.

"The recommendation from the EU is about 23km (14 miles). This will now be about 14km (9 miles) - it's just too close. Despite the fact there will be less of them we are still going to see these vast structures off one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world."

The new proposals will be put back out to public consultation in 2013.

"What I said to Richard [Drax] was, come to the next round of consultations, have a look at the new photo montages, take a view at that point and then provide us with fresh feedback," said Mr Unsworth.

The Corporation of Trinity House, which looks after sea farers, had also advised that the farm could affect a popular navigational channel.

The navigational channel is by a lighthouse called Hurst Point which is used by local boats and fishermen, said Trinity House.

"We have moved the northern boundary further south which provided greater navigational safety for recreational sea users," said Mr Unsworth.

The Navitus Bay project is a partnership between energy firms Eneco Wind (UK) and EDF.

The construction of the wind farm could create 1,000 jobs and bring £100m to the local economy, the developers claim.

Mike Unsworth was interviewed on BBC Radio Solent programme The Big Dorset Brunch.

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