This is a great endorsement of our company, products and services as Aeon will not sign up a retail supplier unless they have a first class trading history.

Furthermore, Aeon usually require that the principle company signatory and CEO is a Thai national, so that for them to accept what is essentially a �falang� run business is quite rare and is praise indeed.

So what does this mean in real terms? We can now offer easy payment options to individuals and companies wishing to purchase their IT solutions from us, spreading the payments over an extended period, so allowing you to spread the load and for companies to improve cash flow.

The full finance service will be available from after Songkran, and of course just as anywhere provision of credit is subject to acceptance by Aeon. I will publish further details and special offers after the Songkran break.

Call for a watch on the watchers

Organisations tracking net use should themselves be monitored, say MEPs.

In the week that saw the mandatory storage in Europe of what emails and messages had been send to who (but not the actual content) Euro-MPs overwhelmingly backed a statement which called on governments to list internet watching organisations and report on what they do.

The reports would name and shame organisations carrying out illegal or disproportionate amounts of surveillance. The MEPs want governments to rein in industry and criminal attempts to view digital communications.

The statement backed by the Euro-MPs drew attention to the risks citizens face as their web browsing habits are subject to greater surveillance by either companies or governments.

It recommended a recognition of the "danger of certain forms of internet surveillance and control aimed also at tracking every 'digital' step of an individual, with the aim of providing a profile of the user and of assigning 'scores'." Those that overstep the permissions users grant, or break laws governing what can be done with personal data, should suffer penalties "proportionate to the infringements committed" said the politicians.

The MEPs also want greater attention paid to the consent agreements users have to click through before using websites. Often these lead to people relinquishing control over their private information, warned the statement.

Websites should also be scrutinised to ensure that requests to delete personal data are carried out thoroughly. It also wanted governments to draw up well-defined lists of the circumstances in which websites will be asked to hand over personal data to law enforcement organisations.

The statement declared: "the overriding interest of protecting citizens' fundamental rights should determine the limits and precise circumstances under which such technologies may be used by public authorities or companies". Finally, the text called on governments to do more to protect children from online abuse. It also wants the European Commission to combat hi-tech crime and ID theft.

Following on from the above story, the UK Home Office has removed a link from its website after being alerted that it linked to what appeared to be a Japanese pornography site. The link was spotted by Mike Riley, who was trying to find out about new regulations that come in today as outlined above, which oblige internet service providers to store details of user e-mails and internet phone calls.

The link was on a page providing information about the Office for Security and Counter Terrorism. It was supposed to go to a body called the Technical Advisory Board � but actually went to a porn site.

The Home Office said that the site it was linking to had become defunct and been bought by a different company. A Home Office spokeswoman said there would be an investigation into the matter.� Red faces all round!

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