The Government’s plan to introduce mandatory internet censorship has effectively been scuttled, following an independent senator’s decision to join the Greens and Opposition in blocking any legislation required to get the scheme started. The Opposition’s communications spokesman Nick Minchin has this week obtained independent legal advice saying that if the Government is to pursue a mandatory filtering regime legislation of some sort will almost certainly be required
. Senator Nick Xenophon previously indicated he may support a filter that blocks online gambling websites but in a phone interview today he withdrew all support, saying the more evidence that’s come out, the more questions there are on this
Internode has announced it will offer fibre to the home Internet at up to 100Mbps to homes in OptiComm estates. The fibre connection is installed by OptiComm when building the estates, and Internode will offer retail broadband and phone services on it. Broadband will be available at 25, 50 and 100Mbps, and the speeds will not vary depending on distance
Ireland’s largest ISP won’t block The Pirate Bay — the embattled BitTorrent search engine and tracker — absent a court order. Eircom is aware of copyright infringement issues but will not block The Pirate Bay unless major record labels can obtain a court order requiring it and other ISPs (Internet service providers) to do so
The University of Adelaide has decided to replace an in-house email system with Gmail for its more than 16,000 students. The non-financial
agreement with Google will allow all undergraduate, honours and postgraduate coursework students to change over from their University of Adelaide email account to a new Google account from 16 March this year and will also allow them to use Google Calendar and Google Talk instant messaging
The Met Police got a short sharp rap over the knuckles yesterday, as the Office of the Information Commissioner questioned what looks very much like a blanket policy to force CCTV onto public houses in certain parts of London
Some 120 protesters descended upon the parliament in the capital, Wellington, and handed over an e-petition against the amendments with over 12,000 signatories, and a traditional one with 148 names, to the United Future party leader Peter Dunne. Section 92A which will force ISPs to disconnect customers who have allegedly infringed copyright. The demonstrators were waving black placards reading ISPs are not a court
and Fair go, not Fear go
Federal regulators tweaked recommendations for how web sites should collect, save and share information about users, extending them to internet service providers and mobile users. The US Federal Trade Commission issued new guidance for the self-regulated industry that urges web sites to tell consumers that data is being collected during their searches and to allow them to opt out. This guidance recommends that mobile companies and internet service providers also inform customers about data collection and allow users to decline
Blackwater Worldwide is abandoning the brand name that has been tarnished by its work in Iraq, settling on Xe (pronounced zee) as the new name for its family of two dozen businesses. Blackwater Lodge and Training Center, the subsidiary that conducts much of the company’s overseas operations and domestic training, has been renamed US Training Center Inc
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy this afternoon announced the names of six ISPs that will participate in the Federal Government’s internet filter trial — but the nation’s largest ISPs are not on the list. Primus Telecommunications, Tech 2U, Webshield, OMNIconnect, Netforce and Highway 1 are set to take part in the six week live
ISP filtering tests
The Victorian Government’s refusal to provide data for Google’s bushfire map mashup limited its scope and highlighted glaring problems with Crown copyright provisions, the search giant’s top Australian engineer said yesterday
The first phase of the federal government’s ISP filtering trial has been confirmed with an initial rollout to six participating ISPs
Tough economic times have triggered an upheaval in Australia’s $13 billion a year mobile sector with its number three and four players Vodafone Australia and Hutchison 3
forced into merger. The unexpected move will see hundreds of jobs cut as the two companies streamline their combined $4 billion a year businesses and take aim at SingTel Optus’s number two market position
It’s no secret that red light cameras are often used to generate more ticket revenue for the cities that implement them, but a scam has been uncovered in Italy that has led to one arrest and 108 investigations over traffic systems being rigged to stop sooner for the sole purpose of ticketing more motorists
2009 will force New Zealand’s ISPs to come to grips with an amended Copyright Act, which includes a provision forcing them to disconnect customers who have allegedly infringed copyright
A new university is sprouting up in the Bay Area this summer with quite an ambitious charter: solving the world’s biggest problems. Singularity University, which will be housed on the NASA Ames base near Mountain View and begin classes in June, is the brainchild of Ray Kurzweil and Peter Diamandis
Freeview will be coming to a television near you from March this year, but the organisation’s head has said that you may need to buy a new TV to get the most out of it. Freeview CEO Robin Parkes said that the Electronic Program Guide (EPG) due to launch at the end of 2009 would not work with existing televisions: It’s not backwards compatible
Despite numerous warnings from industry experts, the Rudd Labor Government continues to push ahead with its plan to censor Australia’s internet
One of the largest social networking sites in the world is based in Sydney but most Australians probably don’t even know it exists. Friendster, which has nearly 100 million registered users and, according to ComScore, more than 30 million monthly visitors worldwide, is run out of an office in The Rocks
Complete power failure in a Melbourne data centre has affected numerous ISPs such as iiNet, Internode, Netspace and Westnet
Netspace has released the results of its customer survey on ISP level filtering, which shows strong opposition to the federal government’s plan. The survey found that 78.9% of the almost 10,000
respondents disagreed with the federal government’s plan to mandate ISP level filtering for all Australians, with 61.8% of those strongly
disagreeing. Over 70% of Netspace customers also showed strong opposition to the potential for increased broadband prices and a reduction in Internet performance as a result of filtering
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