Date: Feburary 26. 2003

Farewell We say farewell to our readers, friends and enemies alike. Many will be glad to see the backs of us. More will urge us to go on, as the job is not finished by half. We enjoyed your company, we thank you for the support you gave, we apologize to those we neglected – it was never on purpose. The simple truth that the Internet will flourish if people are given the chance to use it in an unmetered, affordable way – that is below 20 euro for flatrate dial-up and 30 euro for adsl broadband Internet access – has almost gone through philosopher Schopenhauer’s famous three stages: "First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." Peter Weigl, site coordination. Hazel Weigl, site design.

There are a few things left wich never quite made it to the publishing stage, but are too good to be forgotten on the floor of the cutting room altogether. Take your pick:
2003 Award for Bureaucratic Incapacity goes to... Oh the suspense!	Potemkin village award goes to... Dare you to guess!	Want to work with ComReg anyone? ...but the pay is great we hear.
Bertienocchio How we made noses grow.	Musings RTE's roll, shame on the Unions, Philip Nolan spotted in the dole queue, and more ...

January 17. 2003 Dermot, tell ComReg to cut the crap A letter to Minister Dermot Ahern.

January 10. 2003 Fidgety Philip is getting very animated 532KB flash file that is worth the wait.

December 24. 2002 Letter to Dermot Ahern: Beware of pull-push mugging! The sabotage and thievery goes on.

December 24. 2002 How it all began - a revealing look back in time

December 22. 2002 Our Christmas story - A moral tale about fidgety Philip - our bit of voodoo magic Our Ministers Dermot Ahern and Mary Hanafin have just sat down for a working dinner with Eircom's new CEO Philip Nolan; can he be a little gentleman? See for yourself...

December 20. 2002 Merry Xmas everybody! - provided you can view flash

December 19. 2002

We don't need no regulation!
Eircom's Philip Nolan calls on ComReg to **ck off.

December 15. 2002

Our worst Ex Minister has at last gone "off the rails"
Mary O'Rourke has finally found her level.

December 14. 2002

Split Eircom - not the lines!
Need to "break free" from your DAC?

December 12. 2002

Dermon Ahern's Dep. of Communications (+ fish) invites you to contribute to their online forum.

December 6. 2002

Dermot asked for it
Here's what he got from us!

December 5. 2002

The rat has no shame at all
- Eircom's Internet calculator complements our counter!

December 4. 2002

French Keyboards are slightly different
- so are the prices dans les cafés d'internet.

November 3. 2002

Mary, time for a little maze solving? Letter to eMinister Mary Hanafin.

October 30. 2002

This update has been a long time coming, and it's a fat one! Things are really starting to move.
Here's what's new:

Should you be thanking Bertie?	Why the game's up for Eircom.	Our response to the ODTR's "Future Delivery of Broadband in Ireland" consultation paper.	No more favours for you, Mr. Eircom Employee. Join our second action!

September 30. 2002

Commented transcript of todays Pat Kenny interview with Etain Doyle.

September 28. 2002

On Monday, September 30, Etain Doyle of the ODTR will talk to Pat Kenny; the show begins at 10 am on RTE 1. You can fax your questions to Etain to 012082634, or email them to todaypk@rte.ie (subject: Etain Doyle-Broadband question) or phone in live at 1850715900.

We have published our questions here:

Welcome, Etain and Pat!

September 25. 2002

Check out our revamped price comparisons: Welcome to the Banana Republic.

September 24. 2002

The Office of Mary Hanafin asked us to clarify the nature of the "leaked document". We're happy to oblige by publishing their communication. We have added it to the eMinister's reply page.

September 23. 2002

There was another embarrassing leak from the government today, this time from eMinister Mary Hanafin’s office. Click here to read the leaked document, the first draft of her response to our petition.

September 22. 2002

We're still waiting for a reply from the ODTR, so in the meantime, we thought we'd try and present their side for them. Click here to read an eye-opening reply to our letter to Etain Doyle.
Visit the authors legal weblog at http://www.maccann.com

September 16. 2002

Counting the cost of EIRCOM's "free" Internet access - our new realtime counter shows how much you're paying right now for crappy modem access!
Thanks to gag for the script!

Petition!

September 8. 2002

Sign our petition to e-Minister Mary Hanafin, Communications Minister Dermot Ahern and the ODTR! Spread the word!

September 4. 2002:

Click here to read ElectricNews' commentary on our site.

September 3. 2002:

The website had a tremendous start with lots and lots of positive feedback. Thank you!
You can follow the discussion on boards.ie or read the comment of influencial the Register.

New Dossier: Welcome to Eircomland - prices compared.

Press release on September 1. 2002:

In an act of national sabotage the Irish citizen has been priced out of using the Internet. With only 32 online minutes per citizen per month, Internet Ireland is miles behind all other countries of the developed world, almost down to the level of Third World countries.

So another tribunal had to be started. For the time being it is taking place in the public courtrooms of the Internet.

EircomTribunal.com is a new initiative for Irish Internet Progress. A platform where the Irish Internet situation is analysed, debated and provocatively acted upon. Its aim is to prepare the ground for a "Counterstrike" against the saboteurs of the Internet development in Ireland.

EircomTribunal.com will approach the incompetence and gullibility on the side of the state and the lack of vision and the greediness of the de facto monopoly EIRCOM with serious argument and with satire.

Our opening salvo is the dossier Facts, lies and incompetence – The ODTR and its latest Quarterly Review, which details how the public is intentionally deceived about the dire state of the Internet in Ireland.

Visit us at www.EircomTribunal.com

Peter Weigl, coordinator Eircomtribunal.com