Dear silicon.com... NHS 'savings', e-crime coppers, skills crisis?...

What's got silicon.com readers reaching for their keyboards this week? Reader Comments of the Week showcases how our users are responding to the latest tech news and views on the site...

e-cops
Businesses may be forced to pay for e-crime police

Small businesses and web start-ups will simply not be able to afford proposed costs, giving cyber criminals the knowledge of who to attack, who is likely to be the most vulnerable.
-- Calum Brannan, Coventry

With most e-crime targeting UK business coming from servers in foreign countries, how does the UK police feel it is able to do this?

I don't want to fund an expensive leaflet drop telling businesses and consumers how to avoid phishing scams.

Clamping down on international e-crime needs an international effort and unfortunately I don't think the world is quite ready for that.
-- Anonymous, London

Why not? This should have been done already 10 years ago. I am sorry, as a country we are led/managed by people who have no realistic understanding of our electronic information and most valuable asset. I think there should be budget available from the public purse as this affects all UK residents, not just businesses.
-- James Selby, London

Highest taxes in the world, but everything is "extra"? Where have our taxes gone? UK businesses and individuals pay among the highest rates of tax in the world, but many public services have been cut to be replaced by costly private services.
-- Richard, UK

Businesses and individuals already pay for our police forces via existing taxation - this basically doubles taxation.

What next?

All car owners forced to pay for a car crime police, home owners forced to pay for burglary police...
-- Guy Reynolds, Letchworth

NHS 'savings'
NHS IT savings predicted to hit £1.14bn

Hold on - a £12.4bn project that saves £1.14bn - doesn't add up to much ROI. Also, as the complexity of health service provision increases, these systems will need to be changed.

The world has moved on in terms of how innovative projects that use technology are delivered, so must the NHS and the government.
-- Gi Fernando, London

Editor's choice

silicon.com editor Steve Ranger flags up his picks on the site this week...

♦ Video: The Colossus WWII codebreaking machine
♦ How to detect data leaks
♦ Photos: The Colossus WWII codebreaking machine
♦ Photos: US military puts 'bat' spies in the sky…
♦ BlackBerry exec on women in tech, iPhones, Facebook - and finding the off switch

Who got the skillz?
UK 'seriously underestimating' tech skills crisis

I abandoned IT when it became uneconomic as PC desktops got too cheap! I was doing desktop and comms network support for SMEs and the tight so-and-so so's seemed to think that £70 per hour was far too expensive. Trouble is, you can't run a viable business on less!

Instead of that I am now a Corgi heating engineer and can't get trainees/apprentices worth having, at any sensible price. And the maths of those that DO front up is hopeless.

Because of the government 'Degrees for All' policy, even the dumbest, most unpromising students get rubbish degrees, which they then believe entitles them to a cushy job in a nice warm office. Those who are left to become plumbers etc tend to be long on ignorance and short on motivation!
-- Anonymous, London

India - you are not indispensable. Look at the UK work force for further proof! Those call centre and IT jobs originated in the UK!
-- Matt H, Staffs, UK

Please note, comments may be edited for clarity, grammar, spelling, punctuation and style. The views expressed are not necessarily the views of silicon.com. You can write to silicon.com by posting a Reader Comment below, or emailing editorial@silicon.com.