Controversial
online advertisement-serving company Phorm has ushered in
UK-based board members following the resignation of the company's
chairman, chief operating officer and two non-executive
directors.
Chairman Steven Heyer, chief operating officer Virasb Vahidi,
and two non-executive board members David Dorman and Christopher
Lawrence quit over a difference of opinion with chief executive
Kent Ertugrul.
They said there had been differences with Ertugrul about the
"mangagement and future direction of the company" according to the
Financial Times.
The move comes as the company, which serves adverts to people
based on the contents of the websites they visit, seeks to
expand operations in the UK.
All replacements for the outgoing board members announced by
Phorm are UK-based. They include former chancellor Norman Lamont
and Kip Meek, chairman of the Broadband Stakeholders Group, and
Stefan Allesch-Taylor, CEO of investment bank Fairfax.
In the UK, the Phorm system is being considered by
BT, Virgin Media and The Carphone Warehouse, but has been
criticised by privacy campaigners.
These include the Foundation for Information Policy Research
(FIPR), which said Phorm's technology breaks the Regulation of
Investigatory Powers Act.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is
reportedly considering whether to prosecute BT over the Phorm
ad targeting tests it carried out among customers in 2006.
BT allegedly breached data privacy laws in its tests by not
getting permission from broadband customers first, but BT denies it
did anything illegal.