Police back British big business

The City of London police have closed their files on BT's allegedly illegal trials of spyware Phorm, the BBC reports.

"They said that there was no criminal intent on behalf of BT and that there was implied consent because the service was going to benefit customers," said Alex Hanff, one of the chief campaigners in the case.

Nicholas Bohm, a lawyer with thinktank Foundation for Information Policy Research, said the police response was "absurd".

"A driver who kills someone when drunk has no criminal intent. It is not a necessary ingredient of a crime," he said.

"As for the idea that consent is implied on the grounds that some people would like a service, that is not good enough at all," he added.

If this is true, it seems a bit odd, except that you might expect the City of London police to be reluctant to take on a company like BT.