Web Round-Up W/E 13/02/98

Anyone out there planning on buying sperm via the internet (you never know), ought to first heed the warnings of the Government’s fertility watchdog: The Human Fertility and Embryology Authority (HFEA). The HFEA has warned potential sperm recipients of the dangers of the growing trade in illicit sperm. A number of reproductive services have been touting would-be mothers with catalogues of physically ‘desirable’ ‘fathers’.

Although these companies (mainly US) claim that each donor undergoes the necessary medical tests, the HFEA is concerned that strict standards might not be maintained. Not only can a number of diseases be caught from sperm but also there is no guarantee that the sperm is from the man indicated in the companies ‘brochure’. Moreover, the freezing or donation of sperm is illegal in Britain without a proper licence from the authority. The companies often target lesbian partners who are often refused fertility treatment at infertility clinics. The HFEA website can be found at http://www.hfea.gov.uk.

A survey by Datamonitor claims that the internet will be the preferred medium for interactive services, beating off the imminent digital television through to the year 2002. According to Consumer Interactive Services in the UK: The Challenge For Online And Digital TV, by 2002 the UK will have 2.6 million households with digital TV but by as early as the end of this year there will be 2.2 million homes with access to the internet; by 2002 Datamonitor predicts there will be 7.5 million.

…However, despite this prolific increase in online households, internet users are still far from content with the service they get from the world wide web. An Internet Monitor study by BMRB International found that the key way in which users would improve the Net is to reduce the cost of connection. Over half (56%) the users surveyed believed that the internet is too expensive to access at a perceived cost of around £18 per month. Although the improvement of search engines was of overall less concern, women placed more emphasis on this than men (15% vs 8%).

…In the meantime our entrepreneurial friends Mr Gates and Mr Branson have been putting their heads together in an attempt to collaborate on bringing the internet into British homes through standard TV sets. Microsoft-owned Web TV is negotiating with Branson’s VirginNet to make the set-top receiver equipment that will allow TV sets to browse the web, use interactive services and indulge in the much-touted electronic shopping. The Virgin set-top boxes are currently expected to cost around £300.

And now, some NetBites:

• An Australian company called Inforsoft has claimed to have created a ‘cure’ for the millenium bug which is set to create havoc when the in-built date in PCs reaches 00 (the year 2000). Inforsoft says that its program can detect and remedy any errors as well as convert software to avoid the problem. The program will be sold through US company Compuware for A$160,000
• Kingfisher, owner of Woolworths, has launched a website called Entertainment Express.com (http://www.entexpress.com/) which will sell music CDs and videos online. In the light of this Kingfisher has been accused of undermining its own High Street stores by drawing potential customers away from the shops and onto the Net.
• Empire‘s website has a feature on sex in films, prompted by the recent release of Boogie Nights. The site is at http://www.erack.com/empire