WIRED:INTERNET SERVICE providers (ISPs) represent to me the very model of what has been right and wrong with tech companies over the last decade, writes Danny O'Brien.

The ISPs I've known have always had brilliant folk working for them, at every level. They've done a fantastic job at growing businesses from a time when a few thousand people even knew what an internet connection was to the millions that depend on them today. And - partly because of that incredible growth spurt - they've learnt to live on the very edge of chaos, making difficult and snap decisions about how to grow, and keeping just one step ahead of their customers and demand.

But occasionally, like temperamental golfers, they suddenly lose their nerve, and start scoring triple bogies. Take BT, Carphone Warehouse and my old employer Virgin Media in the UK. For some crazy reason, these giants of the British broadband scene decided to hook up with an ex-adware company called Phorm. The business plan? To monitor all of the websites that their customers visit and the pages they see, turn them into "advertising categories", and use that to sell targeted ads aimed at their customers.

It's an appalling idea, as much because when it was originally proposed, ISP customers weren't even given the option to opt in. Instead, you had to specifically tell your ISP that, no, you didn't want a machine between you and your private e-mail, your private websites, and your browsing habits, sniffing every packet that went between you and where you surfed online. BT and Virgin Net instead planned to do this by default, burying the existence of Phorm's surveillance under their terms and conditions.

Unsurprisingly, the press and internet user community in the UK have gone ballistic, with threats of boycotts and legal action. Dignitaries such as Tim Berners-Lee have made it clear that this is not what the web was intended to bear. Phorm and their customers in the ISP community have slunk into damage limitation mode.

Will the ISPs in Ireland and here in the US follow suit? I sincerely hope not: opening up their networks to prying third-parties is a betrayal of their customers' trust - and a can of worms to boot. If they allow spying for advertisers, who will be next to want their cut of their customers' viewing habits?

You don't have to go much further than the headlines in the Irish tech news to know the answer to that one. Earlier this month, four major record companies sued Eircom to compel it to take action against its customers who might be downloading the music industry's songs. ISPs have strong protection against such liability, and have a strong interest in protecting their own customers: but there's no guarantee that they will all fight these copyright battles all the way.

Instead, what better route to the quiet life than to give into the embattled music companies, and let them spy on the to-and-fro of computer traffic within the ISPs themselves. If what Phorm claims is really true (or goes unchallenged), then as long as the data stays in the ISPs, then it is not truly surveillance - merely the same administrative monitoring as ISPs currently do for spam-filtering or virus-hunting. And what better way to combat infringement than to have the music industry's spy systems inform and shut down any customer it suspects of being up to no good?

Even if you are sympathetic to the music industry, there's another group with a great fascination in your internet communications. In the UK and US, the government has to pursue legal due process before it can tap your phone or collect your e-mails. If an adware company can do it without a problem, perhaps it's time that law enforcement had the same powers. Phorm claims that its work isn't spying in the UK, because it's not really sending out copies of your private data (just advertising-friendly summaries). So perhaps governments that data-mine all our communications and send out just the summaries of what you've been talking to with your friends are acceptable?

Here's the rule that every ISP should live by. Stand by your customers. When anyone approaches you with a deal or a lawsuit, ask yourself, what would you customers prefer? And if necessary, when dealing with government interference, represent your customers to them. It's the best way to see yourself to a good profitable business. And it's what we pay you to do - not snoop on our data for the benefit of others.