HOWARD DAVIS takes a look at yet another turbulent week for the internet

The saga of the internet twins rumbles on.

Imagine my shame-faced surprise when, after I prophesied last week that the internet twins debacle would turn into a media frenzy with the twins coming off worse, the Flintshire social services actually went and did the right thing, taking the children into custody.

After the awful story of how the child protection agencies failed Anna Climbie it restored a little faith in our public services.

But the circus did not stop. As the old saying goes, the show must go on.

The Kilshaws dusted themselves off and went on the offensive, bleating about the unfairness of it all, like a child who has had their favourite toy removed for reasons they don't really understand.

And in some ways it is rather unfair. Unlike many other couples, they got caught. The tabloids have removed any shred of dignity the Kilshaws had left. But threatening to sue the papers that printed 'libellous' articles makes me think that the Kilshaws are destined to spend their life railing at the iniquities of life as if their actions are blemish- free, only taking a superficial view of the entire charade without ever questioning the moral and ethical conundrum they have created.

And in a surprise move nobody saw coming, the St Louis Court in Missouri granted custody of the twins to Aaron Wecker, the twins' natural father. Wecker, who claimed that his ex-wife had neglected the twins by trying to sell them, already has custody of the twins' three-year-old sister after splitting from Tranda Wecker before the twins were born.

This custody will actually have little affect as the twins are in the care of the social services in England.

So, if you can buy babies on line, is there nothing you can't buy?

One magazine this week trawled the information super-highway to see what you can and can't buy, and the results were:

- kusa.guns.ru - a Russian web site aimed at the West, selling Kalashnikovs and other surplus military hardware

- www.termpapers-on-file.com - this site sells essays for research purposes only, at around $10 a page. Allegedly, this and porn are the greatest boom industries on the web.

- www.rxpalace.com sells viagra and other prescription drugs; there are also sites that will send marijuana and other illegal substances to your house.

- Ebay.com is auctioning weapons grade uranium at about $20.

- And urineforsale.com does exactly what it says on the tin: 'urine so pure it could easily pass a urine drug test'.

Elsewhere on the world wide web the annual Guardian/ ICM poll shows that over the last year nearly half of all adults now have on-line access, making the internet the fasting growing technological invention of all time, far out-stripping the television and radio.

However, even this was beaten by a total of 63 per cent of people who now use mobile phones. Of these, 43 per cent said they used their phone to send and receive text messages (this figure rose to 73 per cent when those questioned were 18-24 year olds). However, the poll also showed worry about the health risks surrounding using mobile phones.

The so-called digital divide was also highlighted. There was a distinct 'e-gap' appearing between young and old (63 per cent vs 13 per cent), rich and poor (73 per cent vs 21 per cent), and even north and south (43 per cent vs 54 per cent).

These findings were compounded by this week's annual World Employment Report from the International Labour Organisation, which pointed out that while the digital revolution has created growth in business and jobs in the industrialised nations, this has failed to penetrate the developing nations properly.

Juan Somavia, ILO director general, said: "The ICT revolution offers genuine potential, but also raises the risk that a significant portion of the world will lose out."

And finally, the Chanel web site was hacked this week just before the fashion house unveiled its new Spring-Summer collection.

Anti-fur protesters posted images of mutilated animals onto the site. There was no fur on the catwalk when the Chanel show took place.