The ‘Crusher’ - about this site?

The ‘Crusher’ is a blog area to talk about regulatory and management issues facing Internet companies - and others!

In the last 10 years the Internet has moved from an area for technological forefront to mainstream provision. Broadband provision and take up is now at a high level and the majority of the population have access whenever and wherever they want. With the explosion in provision and content have come both positives and negatives - as would only be expected. Now, politicians and bureaucrats see the need to ‘protect’ end users from the perceived negatives and to oversee the use of the net. Remember, everything that you do in a digital environment leaves a trace and the watchers are waiting in the background!

So why the name? The term ‘Crusher’ is a Royal Naval slang term for a member of the Naval Regulating Branch - or the ship’s police (Master at Arms). Trying to catch those bending the regulations, the ‘Crusher’ would creep around the deck, his advance heralded by the crushing of cockroaches beneath his feet. Well, that is the explanation given in Rick Jolly’s excellent ‘Jackspeak’, a guide to British Naval Slang and Usage and a very useful guide to much common English idiom and expression.

Somehow, the term just seems appropriate!