The Shadow Minister for Technology, Michael Fabricant, has called on the
Government to intervene urgently to curb abuses by some premium rate
telephone operators.

Mr Fabricant commented: "With 2,000 complaints being logged daily, and
19,000 cases of abuse currently under investigation, Ofcom must intervene
urgently and the Government must use its powers under the Computer Misuse
Act.

"Some of these complaints arise from a bug which activates computers at
night unknown to the owner. The computer then calls up premium rate numbers
with beneficiaries in places like Moldova and the British Virgin Islands.
The first the phone customer knows about this happening is when he or she
receives the phone bill. BT and other telephone companies must be empowered
to withhold payment to such companies or else this problem will escalate.

"ICSTIS (the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of
Telephone Information Services) has its hotline jammed and complainants
cannot get through. When they do, the investigation can last longer than six
months.

"The Government cannot stand idly by. It must use its existing powers to
regulate the market. The alternative is to have to pull the plug on the
internet or to stop the 09 premium number services. Both options are just
not possible."