The following is a British non-government site.

http://www.taskforce2000.co.uk/leadstory.htm

A warm welcome to our new web site

Welcome to Taskforce 2000's Y2k On-line Information Network. This site is designed to help you access the information you want on the Year 2000 Computer Problem - the so called "Millennium Bug".

The Year 2000 Problem is a serious issue, with potentially serious ramifications on the economy and society. It is not a trivial problem, caused by a silly "bug".

The Governments "Facts not Fiction" campaign addresses scare stories such as planes falling out of the sky and bank machines not working. However, it ignores more fundamental issues such as international air traffic control systems or the compliance of the financial sector trading systems.

Public confidence is all important. But it is unlikely to be achieved by superficial leaflets in cartoon style. This is a serious issue as underlined recently by people such as the Prime Minister, Rt Hon Margaret Beckett MP, and by Don Cruikshank, chairman of Action 2000.

Trivialising it now, may allay concern in the very short term. But as the end of the year approaches and this issue starts to dominate public discussion, realisation may dawn that this is not trivia. If people realise too late, in say November or December, that this problem is serious, them they could indeed start to panic, at a time when little can be done.

If however, they have information made available to them now; if we have a sensible and informed public debate; if they are made aware of the time and resources that have been devoted to making computer systems millennium compliant; if essential services like the utilities and the emergency services, openly show us what progress they have made and what contingency plans are in place: THEN the public can be confident that everything possible has been done to minimise disruption, that the wool has not been pulled over their eyes, and they will be ready if major things do go wrong.

That is the purpose of this site. We are providing access to a huge amount of information that is available on the internet with links to hundreds of sites in the UK and internationally, together with details of our views and concerns.

So if you are a sensible person who wants more than a cartoon leaflet to find out what is happening to tackle the year 2000 problem and to try to assure yourself that this real problem has been tackled effectively, this site is for you.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), August 09, 1999

Answers

Tis to laugh, this site is full of end-of-the-worlders, looking and hoping for the end of makind. What you wil find here,for the most part, are inane conspiracy theories and witless, drooling Doomers, such as...

"So, of course I want to see y2k bring down the system, all over the world. I have hoped for this all of my adult life." -- Gary North

-- Y2K Pro (y2kpro1@hotmail.com), August 09, 1999.

As usual, absolutely, utterly wrong, Y2K Pro. You cannot possibly have gone to the site and read it. I think the BBC report below would have included information such as you present--if it were true.

Friday, July 30, 1999 Published at 13:58 GMT 14:58 UK

Why two bug busters battle...

Action 2000 and Taskforce 2000 continue to bug each other

They may be doing heroic work but the two bodies attempting to ensure the UK's computers are ready for the millennium are anything but compliant with each other. BBC News Online's Alex Hunt reports.

It may have the potential to end the world as we know it, but rarely has a subject outside of politics been such an instant switch-off for the majority of people in the UK.

That is despite hundreds of millions of pounds being spent employing computer experts to tackle the millennium bug - the computer glitch that could switch off millions of computers when they reach the date 1 January 2000 (otherwise known as the Year 2000 (Y2K) problem).

The deal seems to be that the experts get their bumper pay packages so that most of the rest of us can forget all about it.

This general lack of interest - particularly among business people battling to survive into September let alone January 2000 - has made the task of raising awareness of the problem a major challenge.

One of the increasingly newsworthy elements of the subject in the UK has been the almost constant bickering between two rival taskforces: the independent Taskforce 2000 and the Government funded Action 2000.

The two protagonists are Robin Guenier, cast aside with Taskforce 2000 by a new government stung by his criticism; and Gwynneth Flower, the executive brought in to rescue a faltering start by Action 2000.

They are bitter rivals - one who believes in scare tactics, and the other in sweet reason.

Russian Roulette or complacency?

The depth of their mutual antagonism was demonstrated when the two were brought together in the BBC's Money Programme studios.

Watching the broadcast the tension was tangible. They appeared not to look at each other. Anyone viewing will know there is little chance of these two ever working together.

The fireworks started when Ms Flower was asked whether her rival's latest research was an accurate representation of readiness for Y2K:

"No it isn't ... we need to keep this in context," she said before quoting what she said was a much larger survey carried out by her own Action 2000 team.

But Mr Guenier of Taskforce 2000 retorted: "Ours is a very robust survey. There are companies playing Russian Roulette with the millennium bug. They are threatening the economy of the whole county. Just to cast it to one side as irrelevant is a big mistake."

So what should the Government be doing?: "We would like to see them take it much more seriously. Complacency is dangerous."

Ms Flower replies that they are "far from complacent" before claiming that the UK has the best anti-Bug programme around.

Momentum lost

The bad blood dates back to October 1997, when Mr Guenier's Taskforce 2000 team was axed by the new Labour government as its millennium bug awareness body.

A man with the knack of attracting headlines, he had had a stormy relationship with Whitehall officials, whom he criticised for not doing enough to tackle the problem.

But if they thought this might be the last they saw of Mr Guenier, they were mistaken as he vowed to carry on his campaign after an "astonishing" vote of support from industry.

Private funding allowed Taskforce 2000 to continue while "Inaction 2000" (as dubbed by Mr Guenier) got off to a slow start. Industry concern grew at the loss of momentum for six months in a crucial stage of the campaign.

Since then Action 2000 has increased its funding and embarked on large scale advertising and awareness campaigns. But it always operates in more restrained manner than its predecessor.

It apparently wants to avoid public panic, which, if unleashed could cause almost as much trouble as the failure of computers themselves.

Sharing bubbly

Although there is little love lost between the two organisations, the truth is that they actually seem to complement each other.

Providing colourful criticism makes each survey newsworthy and helps raise awareness. One stokes up concern, and action through fear, while the other also attempts to keep the public calm.

We will not know whether this has worked until a peaceful and largely disaster-less UK has passed into the next millennium.

It would be nice to think that the two rivals may then gather to celebrate with a glass of champagne should the big day pass smoothly...

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), August 09, 1999.