Graduated Piracy Response Coming To Australia, Or Else

Under the banner of the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft, the big Hollywood studios are flexing their muscles down-under. If the latest rhetoric is to be believed, the country’s ISPs have less than 48 hours to commit to talks on a graduated response system to tackle illicit downloads. Failure to comply, they warn, will result in yet more legal action of the type being suffered by iiNet — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Dick Smith New Zealand web glitch offers free goods

Electronics retailer Dick Smith has taken its New Zealand homepage offline after apparently being hit by a glitch that allowed customers to shop for free.

Twitter users wrote on Monday morning that purchasers using the retailer’s site, dicksmith.co.nz, were told to pay only the cost for the delivery with no charge for the goods ordered.

The Australian-based company sells electronics, including big plasma TVs, laptop computers and iPhones, worth thousands of dollars — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Vodafone chops New Zealand data roaming prices

As the Australian and New Zealand governments look to crack down on global roaming rorts, Vodafone has unveiled new global roaming data packs for travellers headed to our Trans-Tasman neighbours.

The packs, aimed at reducing the high costs associated with checking email or accessing the internet through an Australian Vodafone phone while in New Zealand, come in four varieties that last one month each: $25 for 100 megabytes (MB); $50 for 300MB; $100 for 1 gigabytes(GB); and $200 for 2GB — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Five disturbing things about the Interpol filter

This month, Australia gets its first mandatory Internet filtering scheme, courtesy of a project which is seeing the nation’s largest ISPs Telstra and Optus block their users from visiting a worst of the worst list of child pornography sites defined by nternational agency Interpol. But the project hasn’t exactly come up smelling like roses. Here’s five things we find disturbing about the whole thing — via redwolf.newsvine.com

eBay boosts mobile payments with Zong acquisition

Mobile payments outfit Zong is to be assimilated into the PayPal world, following the announcement that eBay is handing over US$240 million in cash to acquire the company.

Zong runs the kind of operation that looks like someone anybody could manage: buyers enter their mobile phone numbers when they want to buy something from a site, receive a transaction code, complete the purchase, and pay for the purchase on their phone bill. Proving that it’s not such a tough nut to crack, Zong claims 250 carriers worldwide, but developed its system on a fairly frugal $27.5 million in fundin– via redwolf.newsvine.com

Bionic glasses for poor vision

A set of glasses packed with technology normally seen in smartphones and games consoles is the main draw at one of the featured stands at this year’s Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition.

But the exhibit isn’t about the latest gadget must-have, it’s all about aiding those with poor vision and giving them greater independence — via redwolf.newsvine.com

A high-tech ordering system removes the middleman from restaurants

A London restaurant has created a high-tech solution for unpronounceable ingredients and tardy wait staff.

Asian-themed restaurant Inamo, in London’s theatre district is projecting images of dragon rolls, black cod, and other dishes directly onto diners’ plates.

Ready to place your order? Just tap the touchpad — your sashimi will be with you shortly — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Teen finds free net hole on Voda, Optus

A 19-year-old from Grafton, New South Wales has found a hole in the mobile broadband networks of both Optus and Vodafone that allows users free access to the internet.

Tim Williams, manager of Black Hat Computers, told ZDNet Australia that he was able to gain free access to any website using an Optus prepaid account, which includes free access to social sites such as Facebook.com, as part of its plan — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Google Multiple Sign-in Supports 10 Accounts

When Google started to support multiple sign-in, many people complained that the feature was limited to 3 Google accounts. Now you can sign in to 10 accounts at the same time and use services like Gmail, Google Calendar or Google Reader.

After signing in to 10 accounts, Google shows this error message: You are already signed in to the maximum number of accounts. If you want to use another account you must sign out of all Google Accounts then sign in to the account you want — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Amazon swallows UK online bookseller

The world of online book retailing is about to get that little bit less competitive, with Amazon announcing that it’s reached agreement to buy UK seller The Book Depository.

Perhaps recognising the importance of the brand, the 900-pound gorilla has faithfully promised that it’s not going to squash The Book Depository brand. Customer disquiet has also led The Book Depository to reassure people that it will continue to operate independently — via redwolf.newsvine.com