Biscit/V21 granted injunction against Netservices plc

Biscit/V21 has this morning announced it obtained an injunction at the High Court yesterday against NetServices plc which requires the immediate transfer of authentication realms “v21.co.uk”,
“speeddsl.com”, “flexisurf” and “ispnet” to Biscit or any person nominated by them. They also confirm that Netservices has since provided such authority to request BT to transfer such realms to
V21.

The ‘authentication realms’ are the second part of the username that every ADSL broadband user has to provide when logging in. These may be pre-programmed in routers that connect a computer to the
Internet, or they may be specified on the computer itself. This change will mean that Biscit will regain control over the login names it was previously using which Netservices retained after a
commercial dispute between the companies following Biscit’s acquisition of V21. Changing
authentication realms on a large scale can be a time consuming process as every broadband user is required to make the change.

Biscit has agreed to provide those users who have transferred to the EzeeDSL service with continued access through the login realms until further notice, or until they are moved to an EzeeDSL
realm, or by 10th January 2007, whichever is earliest.

Biscit have advised both Ofcom and ISPA of the injunction and state their intention to proceed with a claim for damages against NetServices plc.