1. Judging by the early reactions to the news on www.cableforum.co.uk, this will get a very firm thumbs down from VM users.

So far only 80 readers have voted in the straw poll: "Virgin Media Ad Deal - Would you be opting out?" with only 6 indicating they'd have no problem sharing their surfing habits.

Over 90% seem set to reject the idea out of hand.

This select band of techno-heads are without doubt better informed than the average VM subscriber but it's possible that even they will have an inkling just how valuable this personal information could be to advertisers.