Phorm, please FOAD.
That is all.
Lord Lamont joins Phorm board
Four directors have left controversial ISP adware firm Phorm, including chairman of three months Stephen Heyer. Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont is among their replacements. Heyer, a former Coca-Cola executive, was appointed non-executive chairman only in August. He replaced Ertugrul, who until then had …
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Monday 1st December 2008 12:22 GMT Ian McNee
Going forward with out of the box blue skies leveraging of envelope pushing...
"As we move into the next phase of our development, the priority will be to build momentum in the rollout of our strategy."
Hehe.
Hahahahaha!
Ahhhh-hahahaha-hehe-haa!
That would still be the strategy to provide a "service" that no-one wants and is still possibly illegal and even so is never likely to make any money. I'd wish you good luck Mr Ertugrul but neither sarcasm nor blind optimism are my strong suits.
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Monday 1st December 2008 12:22 GMT Lukin Brewer
Just the place for a vampire,
sucking the usage data out of the networks. Or sneaking into Virgin customer's bedrooms to drain their personal info.
Of course, he will be suitably cautious where bedrooms are concerned, having ended up with that "self inflicted" black eye in one well-known case.
Coincidentally, he was my constituency MP before the boundaries were redrawn, putting me in a new constituency with a Liberal majority. Fortunately, he didn't show his face around the constituency much.
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Monday 1st December 2008 12:22 GMT Richard
Sock Puppet welcomes Sock
To be fair to Lamont, Black Wednesday wasn't his fault - he'd never agreed with going into the ERM; he simply had to implement a deeply flawed policy rate. Perhaps he's got the right sort of experience after all - he knows it's screwed but is quite happy to make money out of them while the ship sinks. Nice work if you can get it.
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Monday 1st December 2008 13:09 GMT Paolo
sinister
"They bring extensive experience on government, business, regulatory matters and financial markets"
In other words they have the necessary contacts, influence and lack of morals to bribe the right people to conveniently ignore current legistation and push on with this crap regardless?...
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Monday 1st December 2008 13:09 GMT Anonymous Coward
Now they have someone from House of Lords...
I have a feeling that Norman Lamont will use his influence in the House of Lords for the government to say that Phorm is good. Any parliamentary investigation will be ruined because of Lamont's interests in the company. Let's say there is a committee to investigate Phorm and they bring the ofcom director and the communications minister (or whoever is in charge of that area), they will probably be influenced by Lamont. He will probably influence David Cameron and then he will stifle any laws against Phorm just as he brought the whole Tory party into parliament during a quiet day and initiated a parliamentary debate into lowering VAT.
I don't like Gordon Brown, but David Cameron is a bit like Tony Blair, very creepy.
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Monday 1st December 2008 13:43 GMT Ian
Lamont's Influence Is What, Exactly?
This is the sort of nonsense that allows minor political figures to supplement their pension while giving conspiracy theorists (AC@1258) a field day.
Precisely what influence do people think Lamont has over the Tory Party in 2008? He's a chancellor from fifteen years ago who is regarded as a bit of a figure of fun (offlicenses, MIss Whiplash) if you're feeling charitable, the overseer of one of the most disastrous economic periods of recent years prior to the current troubles. Lamont is the person that the Tories, desperate to regain the reputation of economic competence, have been struggling to distance themselves from since 1997. Cameron giving the time of day to Lamont in 2008 would be like Tony Blair inviting Tony Benn to campaign with him in 1997: Lamont represents everything that Cameron doesn't want to be associated with.
The general idea of ``influence'' is crap anyway. Do people seriously believe that former politicians wield such influence after they themselves have lost any vestige of power that current politicians will do electorally or politically risky favours to people they've barely met? Sure, it suits the purposes of washed up politicians to trumpet that power, and it panders to the egomania of senior managers to convince themselves that they are now close to the wheels of power because they have the junior minister without portfolio in the Campbell-Bannerman government on their board. But the real power? Really?
A bloke who used to work at your company ten years ago who you met at a Christmas party once and now works for a no-hope re-seller phones you up to tell you about the product he's now selling: do you immediately drop your existing relationships and spend big bucks with him?
Bill. Because regular lunching with Blair and Brown still hasn't got UK schools moving off Office 2003.
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Monday 1st December 2008 13:43 GMT Nic Brough
Lamont?
Oh dear. He gets trotted out on Newsnight every now and then, as an authority on finance.
Joining the board of Phorm is a clear indication of total cluelessness (unless you're the administrator brought in to sell of the remains). I just hope Paxo shreds his credibility on-screen next time...
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Monday 1st December 2008 15:36 GMT Luther Blissett
Of ships and sealing wax and bilge - and the usual mixed metaphors
> Ertugrul said: "I welcome Lord Lamont, Kip, Stefan and Stephen to the Board. They bring extensive experience on government, business, regulatory matters and financial markets
Funny to see "regulatory matters" beside "financial markets". Perhaps friend Kent might start a political party. He could be extremely popular. (Not to mention rich).
So the order is for full steam ahead for SS Phorm. Investment bankers to stroke the furnace, while meek first matey Meek will order the treacherous shoals begone, while repelling all EU boarders with a megaphone. No change of course of course.
But are the lips of the departing crew sealed? Did a perfect storm on the horizon cause mutterings and threaten a mutinous change of direction? (Cap'n, we cannae go thru it! It'll destroy the ship!). Probably there was not enough yardarm to hang the mutineers - safety in numbers. Having so survived, perhaps the salty dogs now washed up on beach may be willing to spin Reg a rum yarn over a measure of grog?
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Tuesday 2nd December 2008 14:14 GMT VulcanV5
The Influential Mister Lamont.
Contrary to an earlier post, The Great Lamont isn't regarded as a "bit of a figure of fun". In and out of politics he's seen -- correctly -- as an enormous joke. His only redeeming feature -- that, unlike fellow comedia John Major, he didn't sleep with Edwina Currie -- has still not been enough to rehabilitate him with a political elite which, as it would rather not have any reminders around of what happened back in 1992, would also rather not have The Great Lamont around, either.
Anyway. Instead of posting here, all Reg-ulars should write to the good Mr Entregul congratulating him on Norm's appointment, seeking Norm's immediate promotion to CEO. Norm's current humble capacity is such that he won't be able to bring Phorm to the brink of oblivion within a short time, whereas his elevation would ensure the whole outfit falls over the edge by mid-January.
* By the way: anyone heard the joke about a guy hoping to make squillions out of Internet advertising in the middle of a global recession????
You couldn't make it up. Rock on, Norm!
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Biting the hand that feeds IT
