Ahead of the London conference, the Ditchley Foundation in Britain gathered senior officials, industry experts and NGOs at its Oxfordshire retreat to discuss how best to balance the benefits of an open internet with the need for action to protect the electronic commons.

ECONOMIST: European politics

Even the House of Commons was cut off from electronic communication with the outside world, as the network was shut down to prevent the bug spreading.

BBC: You are in: UK

In his Commons statement on Monday, Mr Straw also set out controversial measures such as drug testing at arrest and electronic tagging.

BBC: Straw targets burglars