The best of 'Reader Comments': Egg gets fried...and grilled

Each week silicon.com is inundated with comments from you, our readers. This week Egg's plans for Passport generated a deluge of worried and angry mail.

Egg's Passport security plan enrages silicon.com readers
http://www.silicon.com/a48798 Tell it to the world.....and the hackers
From David Underwood
In my opinion, as an ex-egg customer (who left them 'cos their system was unavailable too often) Egg has screwed up horribly. Irrespective of whether MS security is bad or not, it is currently perceived as bad, therefore Egg + Passport = prime hacker challenge. Also, the first thing a criminal wants is knowledge of security systems in place! Did silicon.com egg-zadurate the issue?
From Anon
Oops - check your facts, guys. Egg is not 'planning' to roll out Passport. In fact, the bank has categorically stated that it will not implement the technology until all of the security issues (that it IS aware of) have been resolved. It has also said that it has no plans to ditch Entrust at the moment. So before you all start getting in a tizz, it's probably a good idea to check whether what you're reading is actually true or just irresponsible stirring (or whisking?) ...did Egg just confuse the issue?
From Nigel Atkinson
I sent a mail to egg asking them about their plans and stating my doubts about Passport. This is the reply I received: Dear Nigel, Thank you for your e-mail. I can confirm that it is optional to have this package installed on your PC and therefore, if you do not wish it, it will not be implemented. If you have any further queries please contact me again and I will be happy to help you.
Regards
Nicola Fraser-Stephenson
Internet Customer Services So that is absolutely clear then??? And that's not the end of it. The Egg saga looks set to run and run http://www.silicon.com/a48838 From Egg to spam and more concern about commercial e-marketing and how it should be controlled. 'Anti-spam' laws left up in the air by dithering DTI
http://www.silicon.com/a48715 Hit delete!
From Dennis Armstrong If we stop spam as it is called- I call it marketing - then we should stop all forms of advertising and then none of us would buy anything and we would then all lose our jobs. No one would have any money and there would be no economy. Do we live in a free society or what? Have we lost the ability to use the delete key? ...but just look at the States
From Dave Sparkes
The US situation is a perfect example of why opt-out is ineffective. I still receive dozens of junk mails which quote the US law to say that by providing an opt out they are not junk. Does anyone seriously believe that they could ever `catch up` with opting out of all junk mail? Even spam originating in the UK now quotes US law as though it absolves them of all responsibility! I guess whether opt in or opt out, it will only work at all if the law compels all spammers to check their prospective recipients against a single central registry. If there's one issue that really stirs a response, it's fat cattery. And for this week at least, Sir Peter Bonfield faced the harsh tongue of the critics. http://www.silicon.com/a48726 BT's Bonfield leaves early with £1.5m Abandon ship!
From: Bob Latham
BT is going to get a lot of stick over this payment but I think it should be more, providing that he and the rest of the board leave now. Who knows, the company may even get somebody competent. Allegedly this will only occur of course if the present management has nothing to do with the appointments. How about an engineer instead of the usual bean counters? The legacy of BT's Bonfield
http://www.silicon.com/a48756 Who'd envy Bonfield?
From Paul Coenraats
If ever there was a company that failed to communicate then BT must head the list.
Much like the P.O. it carries on thinking that it is still it. Look at all the competition (which is not always perfect) growing around them.
Now that the top/head is changing perhaps the body might also cast off its old skin and 'get with the beat'. Organisations that still retain the old ideology within will die as it cannot cope with the modern way of doing things. i.e. communicating. ...but then again...
From David Starkey I believe it is right that someone should defend Sir Peter Bonfield's performance at BT It is he who created a series of divisions, led by Ignite, that are real centres of excellence in many areas. It is he who only just failed to make BT a global company via Cable & Wireless and then MCI. And several times he was thwarted by circumstances NOT a lack of vision. It is he who has stuck to the task when faced with the telco crash that has faced all providers of communications services. If you look at any telco`s share price, it has the same downward profile and gradient! It is Sir Peter who has seen the Bland leading as if blind, rising the loss of years of expansion on all fronts, so near to its success. We who know little of what it involves to run a global telco in these times, should not cast the first stone. Especially as he can now retire if he wants to. Nice work if you can get it!