European Commission to ?Monitor? CView Trial

The EC has stated its intent to monitor the upcoming trial of the CView technology, a form of deep packet inspection developed by Detica that will be trailed by cable provider Virgin Media this year.

The CView technology was announced last year, along with news that Virgin Media would be trailing the system on their own network without prior consent from their customers. Detica and Virgin Media both claim that the service is automatic and closed and does not identified individuals, and that it will only be used to monitor the activity of the overall network, not single consumers.

The European Commission isn?t taking concerns from privacy groups and individuals lightly however, and has announced its intent to keep a firm watch on the technology during the trial:

?The Commission confirms its commitment to the protection of privacy and security of electronic communications as one of its priorities, and it keeps a close eye on the further development of technologies in favour of businesses and consumers, in order to ensure they are used in a way that complies with EU rules. The Commission’s services will closely monitor this case.”

The system is designed to monitor the level of piracy on an ISPs network, and could play a crucial role in the government?s plans to track down on piracy. After all, if you can?t monitor piracy levels online, how do you know if your tactics are working?

Of course, the only way that technology like CView can work is through a process called Deep Packet Inspection, a controversial technology that was previously used in 2008 by Phorm in order to better advertise to net consumers. Phorm lost most of its contracts with larger suppliers following a large amount of negative press and campaigning from privacy groups ? especially after it was revealed the system was tested on customers secretly by BT.

In contrast, the CView trials have been announced openly and have even been supported as way of regulating piracy by UK industry regulator, Ofcom. Unsurprisingly the music and film interest are very interested in seeing the technology in action. It?s likely that CView and Detica have some way to go yet if they are looking to convince every day net users, however.

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