THE HOUSE OF LORDS has summoned Margaret Hodge, Minister of State for Industry and the Regions, and Vernon Coaker, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Home Office, to give evidence to the House of Lords inquiry into Internet security next Wednesday (March 28).

The Other Other Plaice Science and Technology Committee has been investigating Internet security since last July and has already heard evidence from witnesses including Microsoft, eBay, the banking payments organisation APACS, and child protection experts.

The MPs, together with Geoff Smith, Head of e-Business and e-Security at the DTI, and will be questioned on the costs of cyber-crime to the UK economy, whether Internet services are adequately regulated, and if the police have the skills and adequate funding to deal with cyber-crime. µ