Picking apart the Coalition’s NBN misinformation
Whether or not any of us is a supporter of the NBN, I think we as the Australian people would be much better served by some fair and reasonable debate based on facts, rather than the spewing out of inaccurate, and misinformed spin! Where do they get such dumb ideas?
Will smart meters benefit consumers?
There are pros and cons of all forms of roll-outs. Network led geographic roll-outs may offer economies of scale but retailer led roll-outs may allow for more effective targeting of smart meters (for example, large users could get meters first). Whoever rolls out smart meters however, it is the consumer who will pay the costs. Consumers, therefore, should see some benefits.
US ‘choke-points’ for Australian telecoms data are no surprise
So, what can we conclude from the latest developments? There are no real surprises. We know that lawful interception has been a highly valued (if at times shockingly misused) tool of law enforcement and intelligence agencies for decades. Perhaps the most important conclusion we can draw is that the law enforcement and intelligence agencies will not surrender such access easily.
Oh dear: McDonald’s rejects Kogan job application
Ruslan Kogan just might be the Australian technology sector's version of Richard Branson. The 27-year-old entrepreneur still has his youthful good looks and enjoys going out, he is skilled at making millions, and everywhere he seems to go, he generates controversy.
The ‘myth’ of the Australian entrepreneur
A better understanding of the realities of entrepreneurial life in Australia will lead to better informed industry policy, and perhaps increased support for an ecosystem that is a key driver of future growth and development for Australia.
Trade pact would make internet services more expensive
If the foreign music and movie industries are worried about piracy, they can decide to invest in improving their product’s security – like any other business does. It is neither fair nor right they should ask any other industry to pay what should rightly be their own expense.
Does the MTM CBN model place “wholesale-only” at risk?
Australian telecommunications analyst Paul Budde has penned an extensive blog post discussing the need for the Coalition's Broadband Network (CBN) to remain on a 'wholesale-only' basis, despite the fact that the network's architecture is set to radically change due to the 'Multi-Technology Mix' model proposed by NBN Co.
NBN: Is $109 the magic triple play price?
Most of Australia's major fixed-line telcos have standardised their pricing on mid-range bundled broadband, telephone and IPTV plans around the $109 mark.
Sayonara Steve: Today I ditch the iPhone
This afternoon I will march down to Telstra's store in Sydney's central business district and replace my much-loved Apple iPhone 4 with a HTC One XL. I'm leaving the cosy embrace of the Apple mobile empire and entering into a new relationship with Android. And here's why.
Despite experts’ fears, Australia should be moving to electronic online voting
Australia’s current election proves that there has never been a greater need for online electronic voting. The country has come to a political standstill as the laborious process of manual counting of ballot papers is conducted by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).
Has Labor already given up on its NBN?
The new Coalition Government appears dead set on drastically winding back, modifying, selling off or otherwise destroying Labor's comprehensive National Broadband Network vision. But the party which started the project in the first place appears to have already given up fighting this demolition job, with the exception of dogmatic former Communications Minister Stephen Conroy.
Has Apple’s iPhone jumped the shark?
Apple only has a brief interval of time in which to attract our middle class attention with shiny new toys before we start to feel guilty for not joining the faster, broader and increasingly more innovative and open Android upgrade cycle.
Australian CS5 pricing: Adobe responds
Delimiter invited Adobe to respond in a letter to the editor on the issue of the disparity in pricing between the US and Australia regarding its new Creative Suite 5.
House Foxtel: Unbowed, Unbent and Unreasonable
The argument by pay television giant Foxtel that the launch of its new Play IPTV streaming video service will cause Australians' objections about the lack of legitimate access to popular shows such as Game of Thrones to "vanish" is nothing short of ridiculous and strongly indicates that the company still has no idea why the nation is so frustrated with it.
Australia’s got ICT talent: So how do we make the most of it?
AUSTRALIA 2025: How will science address the challenges of the future? In collaboration with Australia’s chief scientist Ian Chubb, the Conversation is asking how each science discipline will contribute to Australia now and in the future. Written by luminaries and accompanied by two expert commentaries to ensure a broader perspective, these articles run fortnightly and focus on each of the major scientific areas. This instalment takes a look at ICT’s role.
Blowouts? No. The NBN is very much on track
Last week the majority of Australia's media reported that the National Broadband Network Company's corporate plan showed it had blown its budget and was running late. But the truth is that the document actually paints a picture of a sensible and mature operation which is hitting almost all of its targets.
Turnbull’s right: ‘Under construction’ NBN stats are worthless
Malcolm Turnbull is absolutely correct in his claim that NBN Co’s focus on nebulous statistics regarding the number of premises where it has commenced or completed construction are “complete nonsense”. The company should stop using this figure as a measure of its progress, and focus only on areas where it has actually finished building the NBN.
Turnbull: NBN is a business, not a public good
Dealing as they are with other people’s money, trustees as they are for the financial security of generations to come, Governments must be rigorously transparent and accountable in their investment decisions.
Peter Dutton MP are you for or against the filter?
Peter, seriously if you cared what I thought you would notice I am not overly interested in a stock standard response letter. I get that from my bank and let me tell you I don’t like them much.
Why I’m starting Delimiter
The reason that I'm starting Delimiter (and may launch other sites in the future) is that like that 25 per cent, I love Australia. While I do follow international news, what I'm really fascinated with is Australia's technology sector in all its facets (IT, telco, gaming, consumer gadgets and so on). I've worked in that sector myself. I wanted to found a site that would cover that sector in minute detail. A site that would tell the stories of Australians, for an Australian audience.
Conroy must apologise to Google for appalling attack
Stephen Conroy must immediately stop his vicious public attacks on Google and apologise for his clear lack of understanding of the technical details of the recent potential privacy breach in the collection of Wi-Fi data by the search giant’s Street View cars.
We’re running out of wireless spectrum … so what can we do?
Australia is in a prime position to address the challenges and develop world-leading applications for ubiquitous wireless connectivity. The pedigree of our wireless laboratories and researchers in all parts of the country is second to none.
Retail service providers an endangered species
When the NBN rollout comes past your premise, you will have a choice of which retail service provider you sign up with. But that choice may be limited -- and the plans not as broad as you would like.
Biggest ever? Optus penalty just another “parking fine”
It’s possible to view the Optus penalty this week as nothing more than a cost of doing business, a slap on the wrist, a quick 10min in the corner of the room with its face to the wall. This isn’t a substantial fine — and it shouldn’t be treated as such.
Dogmatic: MPs’ tech tours merely reinforce existing prejudices
The fundamental aim of overseas study tours undertaken by Members of Parliament is to help educate and give our political leaders a broader context within which to make better policy decisions, as well as opening substantive policy discussions with high-level figures. But the latest examples this month in Silicon Valley and other trips over the past several years starkly display the fact that in practice, that they merely serve as propaganda and to reinforce existing beliefs arrayed along dogmatic political lines.
WA shared services disaster a warning to others
The decision by the West Australian (WA) government to abandon its shared corporate services is a salutary reminder of the governance realities of the Westminster system of government. Portfolio and agency autonomy is the dominant force whatever the desires of central agencies and the grand plans cooked up for them by consultants. Just because benefits appear compelling in a spreadsheet does not mean that they can be realised in practice.
Telcos can’t have their femto-cake and eat it too
Telcos cannot have their cake and eat it too. The commercial model guiding how customers will pay for any femtocell service must be fair. And right now, it’s clear that it simply is not.
How does fibre over powerlines stack up against other potential NBN technologies?
Tasmania’s assertive push to keep up deployment of optical fibre, and make it cost effective by using overhead rollout, makes a lot of sense. In urban areas, no other technology has a feasible lifetime beyond 2025, and many of the existing broadband technologies are already obsolete with no hope of evolution. It will work for the vast majority of urban areas.
Opinion: The Roy/BlueChilli policy hack is a great concept, but poorly executed
I hope that the guys at Blue Chilli can pull together something valuable, with outcomes that encourage further policy hacks and a more inclusive approach that reflects the broader community- however I don't expect it.
Conroy’s filter: To be or not to be?
Two and a half years ago, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy announced a significant delay to Labor's controversial mandatory Internet filter project, pending a review into the Refused Classification category of content which the filter was to block.The results of that review were published yesterday and contain very little guidance for the Minister. What will Conroy do now?
Conroy needs to grow a set and censure Fifield for his NBN OPD nonsense
Stephen Conroy needs to stop dithering about with wishy washy attempts to extract basic information from the closed shop that the NBN company has become under the Coalition and actually use the full powers of the Senate to hold the Government to account over the tragic mess it has made of the project.
Memo to Minister Turnbull: NBN dissent is “democracy”
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull needs to stop engaging in attacks on those who support a Fibre to the Premises model for the NBN and commit to an open and transparent review process for the network, according to telecommunications blogger and IT technician James Archer.
Senate circus shows politics has no place in NBN
As Stephen Conroy interrogated the incoming NBN Co chief Ziggy Switkowski in last week’s Senate hearing into the network’s rollout, it became increasingly clear that politics is getting in the way of good policy.
Implementation study gets the NBN numbers wrong
The McKinsey-KPMG national broadband network implementation study released last week by Stephen Conroy is deeply flawed. Even if we overlook very optimistic assumptions and logical inconsistencies, its fatal flaw is that it fails Finance 101.
Oh dear: Telstra exec banter and Yes, Minister
At Delimiter we're big fans of iTnews weekly video the Crunch. This week's episode refers to the bantering we reported on between Telstra chief information officer John McInerney and chief technology officer Hugh Bradlow, as well as some rather unusual footage of NSW Education Minister Verity Firth at an Adobe event.
No, Minister: The Tasmanian NBN rollout has not stopped
Amidst the ramping up of the new Australian government, and with reviews of just about everything under the sun underway, we see yet more incorrect statements from incoming federal Communications Minister, Malcolm Turnbull in regards to the rollout of the National Broadband Network (NBN).
Google’s US-centricity is starting to grate
In short, if Google Australia wants to take the high road, it has to earn it and show Australia that its local presence is not just a sales and marketing office.
Sir Humphrey Appleby on the internet filter
To understand the situation that we find ourselves in regarding the internet filter, we need to refer to the great political textbook of our age: Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister.
iPad shock and awe
What is a bit unbelievable there is that we're getting remarkably close pricing to the US, at least on this spin of Apple's magical wheel of price fixing. But getting the local Telcos — and especially Telstra — to deliver some surprisingly good and genuinely competitive 3G data pricing? Now that is unbelievable.
How much did Gillard’s endorsement cost IBM?
This morning IBM achieved what can only be described as a sensational marketing coup: It convinced Australia's Prime Minister to get up on a stage and enthusiastically sing the praises of its corporate brand in front of a national audience.
Correction: NBN wireless isn’t ‘replacing’ ADSL
Calm down, everyone. The fact that the National Broadband Network is rolling out wireless broadband services in your area doesn't mean that your existing ADSL broadband service will be shut down. You won't be left in the lurch with inferior speeds and latency.
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 international agency Interpol. But the project hasn’t exactly come up smelling like roses. Here’s five things we find disturbing about the whole thing.
Coalition NBN notes: Some truth, mostly fiction
Last week Crikey leaked a confidential document which appeared to contain a large number of speaking tips for Coalition politicians to help them discuss policy areas in public, including with respect to the National Broadband Network. But to what extent is the document accurate when it comes to the NBN? Read on to find out.
Higher 100Mbps uptake will spur NBN price cuts
If Australians continue to buy 100Mbps NBN services at the current rate, it is likely that the real-world consumer cost of accessing the NBN will come down substantially over time, as the network will pay for its own construction much faster than the National Broadband Network Company had been anticipating.
Foxtel is becoming a content monopolist
The decline in power of Australia's free to air television networks and the failure of IPTV players to enter or grow substantially in the local market have left pay TV giant Foxtel with an incredibly strong position in the nation's content landscape. As some industry executives have feared for years, the company is now on the verge of becoming a content monopolist.
Double standards: When filtering is not always mandatory
Two completely separate policies, both designed to protect children from "bad stuff", but with completely different implications.
What Apple’s incredible quarter means for Australia
$46 billion in revenue. 64 percent quarter on quarter growth. 37 million iPhones shipped. Apple just stunned the world with some incredible financial growth over the last three months of 2011. But what do these results mean for Australia?
The final leaked TPP text is all that we feared
Today's release by Wikileaks of what is believed to be the current and essentially final version of the intellectual property (IP) chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) confirms our worst fears about the agreement, and dashes the few hopes that we held out that its most onerous provisions wouldn't survive to the end of the negotiations.
End of April approaches
My feelings is that all of this secrecy is bad for us poor consumers in Australia. We almost always pay a “premium” for Apple products, I reckon we’re going to get slugged this time.
Apple’s Samsung lawsuit raises wider patent questions
The mobile patent wars, it seems, have reached Australian shores.
How do Labor and the Coalition differ on NBN policy?
The NBN has been a key issue in the past two elections, so will Labor’s new policy be a vote winner? The policy to move back to FTTP provides a clear differentiation from the Coalition’s FTTN-centric strategy.
Crazy spectrum prices? No. Historically consistent.
The flagrantly worded argument by Liberal MP Paul Fletcher and others that the Federal Government has badly mismanaged the process of auctioning off 4G wireless spectrum is overly simplistic and does not well-represent the complex dynamic involved in this commercial bidding process.
What it means: Five key points from the Senate’s Digital Currency report
Last week the Senate Standing Committee on Economics handed down a detailed report following its inquiry into Australia’s emerging digital or crypto-currency sector. The release was hailed as a “watershed” moment for this financial technology — here’s why it matters, in five succinct points.
Five reasons the iPad needs to succeed in Australia
Let's take a different tack, five reasons we NEED the iPad to succeed in Australia!
The rage building over Telstra
At some point, Telstra shareholders are going to have to decide whether the cost of not doing a deal with Conroy and Rudd is too high, or, alternatively, whether the cost of doing a deal is too high. Either way, compared to the current situation, they lose.
Why iiNet won’t be acquired: No buyers
Speculation that iiNet will be acquired following a decision last week by Amcom to divest its 23 percent stake in the ISP is simply ill-informed. Our favourite Perth-based broadband provider isn’t going anywhere — and over the next week, every day we’ll publish one major reason why.
Five ways NZ is smarter than Australia on broadband
In Australia, poking fun at our New Zealand cousins has become more than just a hobby over the years; these days it enjoys the status of a national sport. However, when it becomes to broadband, the situation has been turned on its head: New Zealand is doing everything right that we are doing wrong. Here's five ways the Kiwis are smarter than us in this critical area.
Telstra’s David Thodey is on top of the world
Everything about Thodey's approach screams that he is enjoying his position in life to the absolute maximum. That he loves running Australia's great warhorse of a telco and wouldn't give it up for anything. That he really believes in his mission to take back the hearts and minds of Australians and stop them using the word "Telstra" as a swearword.
Intelligence apologists fast running out of excuses
Politicians from Australia's major parties need to stop issuing ludicrous blanket pardons for the intelligence community's ongoing misdemeanours and start applying a basic modicum of transparency and accountability to this important national security function.
Reality check: Appointing “Dr Ziggy” to run NBN Co is a terrible idea
Communications Minister-elect Malcolm Turnbull reportedly thinks Ziggy Switkowski would make a great choice to run the National Broadband Network Company. Can I please have some of what he's smoking?
How bad are things at IBM Australia?
Just for right now, I would like to entreat IBM to stop and think about several things. Is it treating its staff the right way? Are its processes for evaluating new work – such as Queensland Health's payroll system – adequate? And most of all … will it learn from its mistakes?
Chaos: Coalition a total shambles on NBN policy
Up until now, I've been willing to give the Coalition the benefit of the doubt when it comes to national broadband policy, due primarily to the intelligence and experience of its Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull. But events last week starkly demonstrated the Coalition is currently a complete mess when it comes to this critical portfolio.
NBN: Sorry Mr Hockey, you’re still wrong
Yesterday Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey issued an extensive statement attempting to show that comments he had made about 4G mobile broadband having the potential to be "far superior" to the National Broadband Network's fibre had been taken out of context. Unfortunately, he only succeeded in digging himself a bigger hole.
Reality check: Turnbull’s not “trashing” the NBN
The level of hysteria over the past 24 hours over Malcolm Turnbull's entirely predictable decision to refresh NBN Co's board has been laughably absurd, and starkly demonstrates the lack of understanding the media has about the National Broadband Network in general. Take a chill pill, people: The Coalition is not "trashing" the NBN or "setting it up to fail". The sky is not falling.
Lock down cybersecurity or face another Heartbleed – or worse
The recently released Commission of Audit report recommends that the Australian government needs to become “digital by default”. The continued shift to digital service delivery is intended to reduce costs, improve quality of service and provide greater transparency. But it will also open up new vulnerabilities to cyber attacks that could be used to access secure and confidential data, compromise the integrity of trusted authorities and disrupt critical services.
New copyright laws not the answer to illegal downloads
New laws are not the answer. Rather, we need to look at education, technical mechanisms, licensing solutions and responsibility of ISPs and search engines to find a workable balance between the right to own and creative content and the ability of users (and intermediaries) to access and reuse such content.
Five reasons Australians shouldn’t buy an iPad 2
Here's five reasons why Australians, specifically, shouldn't buy the iPad 2. Treat it as an antidote to the mega-hype that will be circulating today in Australia's media-sphere about Steve Jobs' latest masterpiece. We're calling it anti-marketing.
TV Now: Why the AFL should be grateful
More eyeballs in front of live sport broadcasts are what matter. The AFL should be encouraging people to watch their product. Trying to stop them is just completely counter-productive.
I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore. Let’s fix...
For far too long, Australia's political sector has gotten technology policy completely wrong. I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore. Let's take Delimiter into the Canberra Press Gallery and literally write the book on tech policy while we're there.
Governments undermining encryption will do more harm than good
Western governments, notably the UK and the US, are pushing the software industry to open “backdoors” into our encrypted communications.
Why major IT projects fail: A basic primer
New South Wales' outgoing auditor-general has published a brief whitepaper outlining the major causes of project failure in the state government and what can be done to address the issue, specifically calling out IT projects as having a bad track record in the area.
Open government: By the people, for the people
What I would like to see is the public service standing up for itself and taking accountability for Open Government itself.
Relax: Conroy’s filter can be safely ignored
The government does not care, in the least, whether you reconfigure your system to bypass the filter, or teach a hundred people to each teach a hundred others to do it.
NBN competition will rest almost solely on price
Retail competition on the National Broadband Network will rest almost solely on price, in my opinion, as the importance of other differentiating factors between telcos like Telstra, Optus, TPG and iiNet will diminish almost to zero. And here's why.
Oh dear: Conroy’s like a boss
It looks like some enterprising souls on YouTube have taken The Lonely Island’s already hilarious satirical video “Like a Boss” and applied it to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy. We’re sure many people have already seen this video, as it aired on January 23rd this year. We recommend you watch both videos, the original first, to get the full effect.
History is the key to understanding Huawei
Up until last week, many Australians were probably unaware of Chinese telcommunications company Huawei. But the decision by the federal government to ban Huawei from any involvement in the National Broadband Network has shone the spotlight on the company and its remarkable rise to prominence.
NBN Senate Committee politicised from start
The Senate's move to force senior executives from the National Broadband Network Company to appear before its new NBN committee starkly demonstrates the extreme degree of politicisation which the NBN project as a whole is subject to.
Australia losing out in global internet marketplaces
The internet is a global marketplace. If you want to truly take advantage of it you need to treat it as such. Attempting to shoe-horn old ways of doing business into it isn’t going to work. It needs to be approached from outside the traditional ways of selling to consumers. The first person to start doing that right is going to win. Big.
At least two web browsers for every Australian desktop: It should be mandatory
In mid-2008, a government staffer at an employee town hall meeting being held by the US State Department got up to ask Secretary of State Hilary Clinton what appeared to be a rather unusual question for the venue. "Can you please let the staff use an alternative web browser called Firefox?" asked public affairs officer Jim Finkle.
Is our SAP user group too close to SAP?
I’d love to hear from some IT managers and CIOs out there about what they think of SAUG’s latest moves. Is it just me, or this one vendor relationship that is a little too close?
Prediction: Groupon will buy Jump On It
All of this adds up to a clear picture: If Groupon is planning to expand into Australia, acquiring Jump On It would give it an instant presence, staff on the ground and established contacts with business -- not to mention the company's not-inconsiderable revenue.
‘Digital play’ is here to stay … but don’t let go of real Lego...
Ensuring access to both physical and digital methods of building block construction where children can move freely from one to another is crucial for their development in the early years.
Who’s open sourcing in Australian government?
Unfortunately though in Australia we don't seem to have any comprehensive list of which governments and councils are creating and releasing open source materials. So e-government expert Craig Thomler has created a spreadsheet, which he'll add to over time, of open sourcing going on across the Australian public sector.
Oh dear: Generation Y, meet Stephen Conroy
Oh dear. We're fairly sure this meeting would have been punctuated by long, uncomfortable silences.
Forget “shareholders”, what about Telstra’s stakeholders?
Shareholders are important in the thinking of companies, because without them there would be no company. But they are not the only ones who should be important. Other parties exist and their stake in a company's future plans should also be considered.
Conroy’s temporary filter all Australia needs
Research has consistently demonstrated that Australians don't want their internet to be censored. But if the Government feels it must, let it learn a lesson from last week's experience and change its policy towards one that is voluntary and only tackles a very limited field of content. That's something we can all agree on.
Is Google+ building a cathedral or a bazaar?
The more you control the way the information is presented and, more importantly, the links between that information (i.e. people’s identifiers), the easier that information is to collect. The last thing Google wants is the messy, anarchic environment of the Bazaar, where people can be anonymous, have multiple identities, interact with anyone they please, and remain unobserved.
The Department for ACTA
A key player in Australia’s negotiations to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) revealed itself last Monday and surprisingly it wasn’t News Ltd, the US Embassy in Canberra or even a reigning political party. The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade emerged as ACTA’s cheerleader-in-chief in Australia, trumpeting the benefits of the treaty before a rare open federal parliamentary committee.
Telstra’s 3G network is dying in CBDs
Popularity has its downside. Reports from around Australia over the past week have made it very clear that Telstra's flagship Next G network is often struggling to function at all in the CBDs of capital cities such as Sydney and Melbourne during peak load times, leaving customers in the lurch without any access to wireless broadband.
ISP: Secret anti-BitTorrent piracy talks failing
It’s perhaps understandable that the rightsholders and ISPs don’t want their personal arguments heard in public. But by not allowing the people whose habits they hope to change get involved, it leads away from greater cooperation and understanding and towards suspicion and isolation. Piracy reductions definitely won’t be found at the end of that road.
MTM broadband plan a “dog’s breakfast”, says Budde
Respected telecommunications analyst Paul Budde has heavily criticised the Coalition's new preferred broadband deployment model, describing its "Multi-Technology Mix" approach as "a dog's breakfast" of different technologies, which could turn out to be a "logistical nightmare" to deliver in practice.
Will Australia’s digital divide – fast for the city, slow in the country –...
As the Productivity Commission grapples with the question of what the USO should look like in 2016 it will really need to consider what it should look like in a decade or two. This question will challenge the Commission’s rationalist economic predilections.
NBN: Disastrous for the music industry … really?
The time has come for the music industry to find common ground with consumers, not do business in spite of them.
Can wireless replace fixed broadband? Yes … and no.
Over the past week, I’ve been conducting a little experiment with respect to my household broadband situation.
Dear Mark, in Australia we love “the Facebook”
I know that your team is sorting through everything, day and night. You can't post just anything on 'the Facebook" and get away with it, can you Mark? You guys notice everything. And are you on Twitter yet?
Five ways the NBN is better than Google Fiber
This week Google finally launched its Google Fiber service in the US. But don't be lured by the company's sweet, sweet promises of cheap, unlimited fibre broadband to your home. Australia's National Broadband Network will be five times as good as Google Fiber. And here's why.
Has Gov 2.0 in Australia gotten too boring too fast?
So has Gov 2.0 become boring too fast in Australia? Shouldn't we see more conversation, more voices, more blogs, more tweets, more people packing out events seeking the latest information in what is one of the most rapidly changing environments in history - the internet?
With Bradley Manning convicted, what now for Julian Assange?
Bradley Manning’s conviction for espionage marks the closing stages in the US Army private’s personal battle. Yet for Julian Assange, founder of whistleblower website WikiLeaks and Australian Senate candidate, Manning is but a casualty in a much grander mission.
Private cloud ball is now in IBM’s court
There is one factor which IBM's cloud computing strategy appears to be lacking at the moment.
Gary McLaren’s last email to the NBN troops
Yesterday the National Broadband Network Company revealed it had made its long-time and respected chief technology officer Gary McLaren and several other senior executives redundant. This email was sent by McLaren to staff at NBN Co.
“Way of the future”: Turnbull confirms “optimised” NBN rollout model
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull today confirmed the Federal Government would follow NBN Co's recommendation in adopting an "optimised" model for deploying the National Broadband Network "sooner, cheaper and more affordably", in a move that will see the company roll out the "maximum" amount of existing network infrastructure.
AFP questions Attorney-General for not switching off phone on plane
Oh, dear. It appears as though Australia's new Federal Attorney-General is at least as arrogant as the previous two. An article in the Daily Telegraph published late last week tells us that Mark Dreyfus, who replaced Nicola Roxon in the portfolio in February, refused to turn off his mobile phone in a recent flight and was subsequently met by the AFP when the plane landed.
It’ll always be Quigley’s NBN
Mike Quigley last week exited the role of NBN Co chief executive the way he held it: With a relentless, implacable dignity. But the executive will leave more behind him than just a memory; like Steve Jobs with Apple, Quigley's legacy will be the company and project that grew from infancy around him. Australia's greatest ever infrastructure rollout will forever bear his mark; and NBN Co's culture will forever be coloured with his impeccable personal integrity.
Let’s face it, Gerry Harvey has a point
But in the meantime, let’s not simply tell Gerry Harvey to STFU because he has a dud website and is a rich old fatcat billionaire having a whinge in public. He didn’t get to where he is by being ignorant — unlike most of the people buying his products.
Only at the movies? Home truths about cinema ticket pricing
In the last fortnight, senior executives from cinema operators in Australia, including Village Roadshow and Palace Cinemas, have come out defending their decision to raise movie ticket prices. But do their arguments hold water?
Watching the detectives: the case for restricting access to your social media data
Let’s hasten slowly in considering calls to free the state from administrative inconveniences such as warrants and rules of evidence.
The Coalition’s NBN policy is a triumph of short-termism over long-term vision
Malcolm Turnbull has moved the Coalition light years – or at least several million fibre optic kilometres – from the Luddite criticisms thrown up by the Opposition during the 2010 federal election campaign. That said, it was sad to see the number of debating tricks employed in launching his national broadband policy.
Conroy vs Lundy: A 14-year comparison study
It's important to look back at the history since Conroy and Lundy both joined the Senate in 1996 to learn why one has maintained a strong reputation in Australia's technology sector while the other is having theirs torn further into shreds every day.
Devil in the details: Tasmania’s 12-year FTTP failure demonstrates political incompetence
Politicians in Tasmania and in Canberra have been promising residents of the Apple Isle fibre broadband for at least 12 years. The abject failure to deliver almost any improvement to the state's basic telecommunications infrastructure in that time starkly demonstrates the rank incompetence of Australia's political class in setting and deliverying broadband policy.
Verizon Wireless vs Telstra: The great mobile rip-off continues
Does the recent announcement by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) of a new code of practice to prevent bill shock for “long-suffering telco customers”, and improve product marketing practices, bring Australia up to par with its international cousins? In a word: no.
We must determine how the $15bn NBN cost blow-out occurred
The full resources of the Federal Parliament and other Government accountability mechanisms must be deployed to determine how a cost blowout of between $5 billion and $15 billion was allowed to occur in the National Broadband Network, and how to stop a similar situation from occurring again in future.
KPMG waffle obscures Qld’s payroll disaster
It reminds me of Franz Kafka's classic satire The Trial. Reading KPMG's report released today is more or less an exercise of letting your mind run around and around in circles and reading out words that have no context and no meaning.
Oh dear: Phil Burgess is … totally a bikie
We knew that former Telstra group managing director of public policy and communications Phil Burgess -- one of former CEO Sol Trujillo's team of 'amigos' had taken a trip with his son on Harleys during a US spring break. But we didn't have the evidence, until now.
Oh dear: Twitter.com.au’s great Australian web design
Australia has a long-running history of sheltering cybersquatters. Various international giants such as YouTube and Facebook have, over the years, been forced into action on our shores to retrieve the .au versions of their domain names.
Election rant 2: NBN Co’s outrageous Labor favour
During an election, public servants had better keep their head down -- unless they want it to be chopped off.
Smacking down online piracy; does New Zealand know best?
We know online piracy exists; we know governments want to stop it – but what are the options?
Oh dear: The Chaser on Coalition broadband policy
The Chaser has been putting in a stellar appearance during the election period with its new show Yes We Canberra. So it's encouraging to see the comedy group is keeping up with the Coalition's broadband policy.
Now it gets interesting: Australia has its first digitally literate Prime Minister
Australia has never before in its history had a digitally literate Prime Minister of the likes of Malcolm Turnbull.
Voluntary filter: Why I’m dumping Telstra
I cannot and will not be a party to online censorship, and that is why I left Telstra.
We like e-readers – but library users are still borrowing books
What place do e-readers – and in particular ebooks – hold in the reading behaviour of Australia’s 10 million public library borrowers? There are some 181 million items loaned every year by the nation’s 1,500 public libraries, branches, mobile libraries and other service points but, according to the latest survey-based report from the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), for the majority of these libraries, ebook loans represent less than 1% of the total.
Budget a harsh wake-up call for the tech sector
Listening to the shrieks and squeals of tech sector commentators over the past few weeks, you’d be forgiven for thinking Joe Hockey’s first budget contained nothing for the industry. A more measured inspection of the budget entrails and you will find the Coalition has delivered a lot. A lot of pain, and a lot of lessons.
“Technology-neutral policy” can be a dangerous fallacy
"Technology-neutral policy" is a useful but treacherous concept that has led many Australian politicians into making poor decisions about important technology issues over the past decade. It's still a very useful framework, but it's time this theory was re-examined by our policymakers in light of those failures and the importance of learning from the past to better inform the future.
Productivity Commission IP reform recommendations likely to be lost in election haze
The Commission’s recommendations as a whole are thus very unlikely to be embraced by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, by his colleagues or by Bill Shorten. The Commission states that “Australia’s intellectual property system has lost sight of users”. We should ensure that the Government does not lose sight of the report.
BT FTTN rollout shows what Australia could have had
The success of BT's fibre to the node rollout must come as a stark reminder of what could have been achieved in Australia over the past eight years if the various players had stopped their incessant, poisoned infighting on the broadband issue.
They did it
From this day on, whenever Australian engineers are facing a tough task, they should look up into the skies and remind themselves of the power of the Australian mind. If Australian ingenuity can put such a hunk of incredibly complex communications infrastructure into orbit to serve our broadband needs, purely on the strength of some clear thinking and a lot of hard work, then we truly can do anything. And we will.
BitTorrent war: Will ‘six strikes’ policy come to Australia?
Forget 'three strikes and you're out'; Internet users in the US are about to have a total of six warnings about downloading pirated content before their ISPs get fed up with them and disconnect their broadband connection for good. But could such a scheme ever be implemented in Australia?
Oh dear: Kogan’s all-out war on Harvey Norman
Not content to have successfully lampooned Labor's mandatory internet filtering project, the bad boys at Australian electronics manufacturer Kogan have taken aim squarely at Harvey Norman. Mumbrella points out the company is planning a satirical advertisement aimed at the retailer.
Asbestos: Let’s just fix it
Despite its bluff and bluster about the dangers of asbestos, the Coalition is proposing to just leave it in the ground – for someone else to fix another day. Their plans to kill the current NBN look more irresponsible as time goes by, and we deserve so much better than that. This is a chance to fix it, and to fix it now.
Atkinson: Are gamers celebrating too soon?
It may take another couple of elections before those in favour of game censorship run out of credits.
Trolling our way to national security
Yesterday's Daily Telegraph features a call to action – an Internet petition to stop trolling (the media definition of any offensive or deliberately hurtful behaviour online, not the traditional definition). This is both terrible journalism and falling for a trap.
Reality check: Internode is not ‘price gouging’
Those who are currently having a big fat whinge about Internode's new broadband plans need to harden up and realise that the ISP isn't trying to gouge users for profits; in fact, it's one of the only truly honest and transparent companies in Australia's telecommunications sector.
Lotus fans: Show me the money or shut the hell up
If there is one thing I am absolutely sick to death of, it is the pathetic rantings of die-hard Lotus Notes fanboys about how technically superior their product is, and how everyone else who isn't drinking the IBM kool-aid are somehow "biased" and don't understand Notes' obvious superiority.
Australian IT security firms should stop scaremongering
I was disappointed yesterday morning to read yet another scaremongering plea for business dressed up as an informed commentary piece by a high-profile member of Australia's IT security community.
Telstra Health will hold Australians’ cancer details, so we need to ensure their privacy...
Clearly, the cancer screening registry contract is only the first of the potential outsourcing of health programs. It creates a precedent that needs to be right.
Malcolm’s Blacktown visit: Silly tweets, a ridiculous video and technical inaccuracies
Malcolm Turnbull's site visit to a National Broadband Network location in Blacktown was primarily notable for the Communications Minister's silly tweets, his "ridiculous" video and technical inaccuracies in his comments, according to Shadow Assisting Communications Minister Michelle Rowland, who is also an MP for the area.
Valleys, alleys and roundabouts: Innovating beyond a precinct
In Australia, the Australian Technology Park in Sydney, Parkville Knowledge Precinct in Melbourne, and Kelvin Grove Urban Village in Brisbane are certainly emerging urban knowledge precincts.
How the NBN could boost Australia’s GDP by 2 percent
This article is by Leith Campbell, Honorary Fellow, Melbourne School of Engineering and Sascha Suessspeck, Economist and Ph.D. Electronic and Electrical Engineering student, both...
$1.4m of Bitcoin stolen. Another tale from the cyber frontier of … Hornsby, NSW?
In another episode of the ongoing rollercoaster of a story that is Bitcoin, about 4,100 of them have been stolen from an online bitcoin wallet site inputs.io. What makes this particular story more interesting is the fact that the person behind the site inputs.io is allegedly an 18 year old Australian going by the alias “TradeFortress” living in Hornsby, NSW.
UK piracy ruling will affect Australia
It’s only a matter of time before the internet is fully regulated in Australia. The English High Court decision brings this reality one step closer.
Making Don Malone an offer he can’t refuse
This week we're running a series of articles looking at why it's unlikely that iiNet will be acquired anytime soon, despite Amcom's decision to divest its 23 percent stake in the ISP. Yesterday we looked at potential buyers; today we're looking at iiNet's executive team.
Wi-Fi patent has driven CSIRO money mad
The CSIRO should give up its pointless chase of global technology giants and telcos, and let sleeping laptops lie.
Internet control: Conroy’s not fooling anyone
Today, Senator Conroy has was asked about the crisis in Egypt, where a desperate government cut internet access in order to hinder protestors. The minister in response declared his undying love for an Internet free of government control and assured us that such a thing could never happen in Australia.
Um, HP? You might want to kill the TouchPad ads
Um, HP? You might want to stop advertising the TouchPad, seeing as your exclusive Australian partner Harvey Norman has now run out of stock following the $98 fire sale and you’re not planning to make any more. I know it’s short notice, but surely something can be done about this series of ads plastered around the country?
Coldplay: No paradise in Australia for Huawei
Placing barriers to entry in the government space for the building of a network when Huawei operates extensively in the corporate sphere here in Australia seems more than a little political. It mirrors the overtly partisan nature of the debate in the United States, which is mired in assertion rather than evidence and procedures for determining investment occluded rather than transparent. A Coldplay indeed.
An overview of Officeworks’ eBook readers
My recommendation, if you don’t care about buying books through Australian eBook stores is that the Pico and Stash are very good value. If you do want to purchase commercial books in Australia, this is not the device to use with our DCMA-inspired Free Trade Agreement legislation.
iiNet and Netspace? Hell, it’s about time
Having known the principals at both the ISPs -- iiNet chief Michael Malone and Netspace MD Stuart Marburg -- for some time, I would be surprised if the pair hadn't flirted occasionally with the idea of a merger on and off for the past decade.
What makes a great Australian iPhone app?
On Thursday this week, Delimiter will publish its first eBook. Entitled The best Australian iPhone apps (under $5), this 40 page effort will list and review over 30 of the best iPhone apps focused on Australia, as well as featuring a introduction by well-known Australian iPhone developer Graham Dawson – creator of the popular Oz Weather app, among others.
Technological change should spur privacy law update
Last month’s data breach at Medvet – the South Australian state government enterprise that dominates the workplace drug and alcohol testing industry – suggests your expectations of information privacy are misplaced.
I hate you Telstra … more than Steve Jobs
This article is by Darryl Adams, a government worker and internet tragic. A former IT worker, he still pines for the days of IBM...
McAfee is calm, collected … and doomed
The bug that McAfee suffered last week has the potential to very seriously undermine its business prospects in Australia in the medium term.
Fair suck of the sav, Blizzard
Blizzard, I suggest that you need to put at least one character in StarCraft II with an Australian accent. The Protoss seem a bit up themselves and the Zerg are quite weird, so it would have to be a Terran character.
Why the drop in illegal movie downloads in Australia?
This article is by Marc C-Scott, Lecturer in Screen Media, Victoria University. It originally appeared on The Conversation.
analysis There has been a decline in...
The end is nigh for Windows XP: Are you ready?
Almost 13 years after its release in October 2001 to a world still in shock after the 9/11 terror attacks, the sun is finally setting on Microsoft’s Windows XP. The operating system has been the software in many home and work PCs but for die-hard users who continue to use XP, danger that way lies.
History repeating: Five ways data retention is like Conroy’s filter
Like history repeating, the Australian Government just keeps on coming up with disturbing new ways it wants to control and censor the Internet. Here's five ways the current controversial data retention proposal is similar to its predecessor in infamy: Senator Conroy's mandatory ISP-based Internet filter, which was shot down in flames in 2010.
Online GST push places an unfair burden on pop culture lovers
Will the long tail of the internet be docked by the fastidious imposition of GST to online purchases?
Do we even need a fibre National Broadband Network?
As someone who is very pro-technology and likes to be on the cutting edge, I find myself staring at many of my colleagues and acquaintances in the industry with disbelief when the topic of the National Broadband Network comes up. People I know (and some who just email or tweet me) ask if I've bumped my head and forgotten what I do for a living. It even has had me re-thinking my views, but ultimately I keep coming to the same place.
Gmail vs Outlook/Exchange: Round Two
Yesterday I dipped my proverbial toe in the water of public opinion about the respective merits of different email platforms, and boy -- did I get burnt. That calm-looking summer pool was actually boiling hot with conviction.
Election rant 5: Can we even use a Terabyte a month?
The Coalition got a lot of things wrong with its election broadband policy, wireless being the chief one. But Finance Spokesperson Andrew Robb got one thing dead right: Australia's telecommunications market has not failed.
Twitter, newspapers + new media: Some observations
The winners online will not be those with the best technology, but with the best technological imagination. Very little that has happened online in the last ten years would have been predicted ten years before, so be bold and dream big dreams. They are more likely to be realised than you think.
Turnbull’s ‘agnostic’ approach could restore faith in the NBN
My frank assessment is that we will probably see a lot more fibre being delivered than we were expecting under the new government. DSL technologies on copper will be exploited where these can deliver a better connection than existing arrangements, even if it means these customers wait longer for their inevitable fibre connection.
Cranky Telstra wants its champagne glass back
Telstra's response so far to concerns about its Structural Separation Undertaking has been conciliatory by its own standards; but has not yet come anywhere near to substantially addressing issues with the document expressed by its rivals and the competition regulator over the past several months.
I don’t know how to cover the NBN anymore
Australia's National Broadband Network project is now in uncharted territory. Beyond a joke, beyond a politicised mess, and even beyond farce, the incredibly inconsistent handling of the project by Liberal Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has led it far outside the bounds of rational discourse or intelligent consideration.
Why DRM hurts eBook sales: A piracy analysis
Piracy of eBooks is real. It is also an element of the marketplace and is market forces at work.
It’s nice to see government agencies share with each other
One of the most frustrating and, I think, silliest things I found when working in Australian government agencies was how almost every department, agency and statutory body developed almost all of its own policies, procedures, software and tools.
NBN2 pricing no clearer now it’s published
So the lower-end pricing from iiNet is uncompetitive with ADSL2 and the higher end pricing that gets you the 'headline 100Mbps speed' is way beyond any of the current high end ADSL2 plans available from any number of ISPs.
Oh dear: Masterchef contestants at Telstra with giant Apple tree
Looks like contestants from Ten's Masterchef show are already at Telstra's flagship T-Life store in Sydney's CBD preparing for the launch of the iPhone 4 at midnight tonight.
Buying Pipe … a good decision?
I read a couple of speculation pieces in the Australian financial press over the last two days as to whether the required 75 percent of Pipe shareholders would approve the $6.30 per share offer made by TPG to buy the company.
FTTN or FTTP? Both. The NBN should be hybrid.
It's time to get away from the Fibre to the Premises/Fibre to the Node debate, writes Progressive Democratic Party director and IT consultant Michael Berry, and acknowledge that Australia's National Broadband Network should include elements of both.
Ten reasons Gillard should promote Conroy
Senator Stephen Conroy has done such a good job as Communications Minister that he should be promoted to take over the Finance Ministry even before incumbent Lindsay Tanner retires at the next election.
Linux to dominate Australia through T-Box and Android
In only a couple of years, millions of Australians will directly be using the open source Linux operating system in their everyday personal and professional lives.
Better public Wi-Fi in Australia? Let’s send a signal
If you can’t get a satisfactory mobile signal in Martin Place or Collins Street during peak hour, perhaps you should lobby the Sydney or Melbourne city councils, as well as your mobile phone provider.
Huawei’s NBN blockout raises fundamental questions
As I have argued for several years now – and Alexander Downer himself has stated in recent weeks – the argument that Huawei is some sort of quasi-intelligence gathering arm of the Beijing government is so ludicrous that it should scarcely be tolerated in serious company.
Surviving the zombie apocalypse: the DayZ experiment
Amid the resurgent popularity of zombies in recent years – think The Walking Dead, I Am Legend, Shaun of the Dead and so on – the 2011 publication of Dan Drezner’s Theories of International Politics and Zombies showed we might be able to learn something useful from the lumbering horde. In short, Drezner poses the question: how would we deal with a zombie outbreak?
Australia’s blue collar ICT challenge
The bottom line is that Australia lacks call centres, cloud computing hubs, ICT hardware and software manufacturing capability not because we don't have high-speed broadband. Rather it is the lack of a definable understanding of how ICT services and their supporting labour force will take its place in the roll-out, development and economic benefit of the NBN that represents the real issue needing to be addressed.
‘Justice’ isn’t a ‘right’ in NSW …
We have another issue, involving 'incorrect' billing that we will be pursuing over the next week or so and doubtless Telstra will display the same attitude and tactics as they have done in the issue just concluded. We are also pursuing a similar issue against the TIO, an organisation that displays identical attitudes and tactics as Telstra does.
Give Turnbull a break, he’s a funny bastard
This intelligent, responsive, charismatic, technologically savvy and ambitious politician is currently barking up the wrong tree with respect to the NBN and feeding the public a lot of crap about speeds -- even if his financial arguments are sound. But the last thing I want to say about Turnbull, is, let's give the poor man a break.
Why NBN ISPs won’t all perform the same
opinion This week, Exetel chief executive John Linton made the audacious claim that all ISPs reselling National Broadband Network services would deliver the exact same performance to customers. However, I believe the claim to be broadly wrong – and in this article I’ll attempt to demonstrate why.
Refer the matter to an “Online Retail Forum”?Yes, Minister.
As a complete waste of time, as Sir Humphrey would no doubt say, Conroy's Online Retail Forum will be a stunning success. I'm fairly sure that everyone's answer to whether or not it should be held will arrive shortly: "Yes, Minister".
Why AFACT is wrong (and always will be)
The expression ‘copyright theft’ is a paradox: it is impossible to take away a person’s right to copy information or ideas. ‘Theft’ is used to misinform the public, media and, most importantly, lawmakers, in order to outlaw what many see as perfectly normal behaviour.
Commonwealth Bank gets on board with the blockchain
In an attempt to ride the tsunami of disruption that is reshaping the financial services industry, Commonwealth Bank of Australia has joined forces with eight major banks to develop applications based on blockchain, the technology underpinning Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies.
NEHTA — On the road to nowhere?
The NEHTA plan, as it stands will deliver fragile single purpose interconnectivity with little or no interoperability ... As it stands they are on a road to nowhere. We have been down that road and we know where it leads.
Conroy’s R18+ decision
A feeble Delimiter Friday afternoon attempt at humour, based on the Rage Guy and other memes floating around at the moment online.
Conroy is right to question Google’s privacy record
Google should not expect to be beyond international criticism while it offers the US Government access to its data on request but lambasts other governments for interfering with the rights of online users.
The NBN, service providers and you … what could go wrong?
The NBN will provide Australians with a raft of exciting new opportunities. For services providers, it will provide a much-needed chance to improve their customer relations and procedures. And who wouldn’t welcome that?
The ACCC is falling too far in love with the NBN
In rubber-stamping the uncompetitive $800 million deal which Optus has signed with NBN Co, the national competition regulator has signalled a disturbing loss of independence and an obsequious willingness to make the Federal Government's National Broadband Network project succeed at all costs.
iiNet’s piracy authority is only half a solution
The problem with iiNet's scheme is that its 'traffic police' analogy is far from apt for the situation which Australians find themselves in with respect to watching TV and movie content.
How Australia created the technology election
This election, online issues finally got the attention they deserve. And the situation is here to stay.
Oh dear: Conroy watched the soccer during the spill
Draped in the colours of his favoured soccer teams (Chelsea and the Socceroos), Conroy made it clear he was quite busy on the night of the spill.
Can T-Hub-thumping save the landline?
T-Hub is a heavier, bulkier, less appealing version of the iPad that will in no way lure customers to Telstra home services.
Election rant 6: NBN envy – or apathy?
In the end game, politically and economically, the NBN is a nice thing to have. But it's not an essential thing. And that's the other thing about the problem of the grass always being greener on the other side of the fence.
NBN: Can we trust either side to actually deliver on their promises?
Can either side be trusted to live up to their promises? History and analysis of the plans suggest that no matter who wins the election, very little will go as planned.
Forget 3DTV … buy an IPTV instead
If there is one thing I am sick of, it is receiving proud press releases from TV stations and manufacturers about how they have created some tiny piece of obscure content in three dimensions.
A voice in mainstream media on NBN
Senior Victorian IT professional George Fong encourages fellow technologists to get involved in commenting on the National Broadband Network, after the success of a segment he was involved with on 3AW last week.
NBN 2.6 million times too slow, says Alan Jones
Radio shock jock Alan Jones appears to have gotten his technologies a little confused, in an analysis this week of how a new data speed record set by scientists in Germany might affect the National Broadband Network.
Facebook continues to stonewall Australia
When you hold unimaginable personal details about much of the civilised world, you need to be transparent about how you use that information. Any other approach will eventually see you relegated to the dustbin of corporate history.
Anti-piracy lobby still suffering from self-delusion
Most Australians understand that the only solution to the nation's record Internet piracy rates is for the film and TV industry to follow the music, book and gaming sectors and make their content available online in a timely, affordable and convenient manner. But that's a truth rights holders and their lobbyists seem unwilling to accept.
Reports of the filter’s death are premature
This is a temporary cessation of the filter policy, but the storm clouds of round two are gathering in the distance.
Did Apple shaft Aussie telcos on the iPad?
I was shocked by the revelation yesterday that neither Telstra or Optus would be directly selling the iPad from their retail stores (we don’t know about VHA yet). As I wrote the news stories about the telcos, just one thought was crossing my mind: Are they completely insane? Don’t they want to make money? What the hell is going on here?
Why Pirate Party members are not ‘whiny brats’
There appears to be an assumption within the broader intellectual property industries that members of Pirate Parties are just whiny brats who “want everything for free.” They consider us uneducated idiots who have not really given any thought into what we advocate. I find this odd.
Oh dear: David Thodey finds out about the iPad
Telstra chief executive David Thodey wasn't happy when he found out that the Apple iPad launched in Australia six months before Telstra's T-Touch Android tablet.
Commission of Audit: Digital disruption needed (business as usual not an option)
What does it take to deliver on a digital transformation agenda that the National Commission of Audit has explicitly described as “not business as usual”? As we transition from a 60 to 100 year old operating model of government, a fundamental re-imagining of what is meant by “public service” is needed.
Was the Coalition’s Huawei debate just political theatre?
If you believe everything you read, over the past several weeks a ferocious debate took place between senior Government Ministers about whether Huawei should be allowed to bid for National Broadband Network contracts. But the discipline and unity historically displayed by Tony Abbott's Cabinet hints at a more nuanced process, and one that may have all just been for show.
Five reasons the iPad will fail in Australia
There's just not enough information yet to know whether the iPad will succeed or fail yet in Australia. But here's five reasons why it might.
Will Telstra give iiNet one 4G ring to rule Optus?
Like a cluster of ancient elves residing deep within the sheltered enclaves of evergreen forest glades, the worthy folk of SingTel subsidiary Optus have long focused their gaze to the far north, where the dark lords of mighty Telstra have ruled Australia's telecommunications sector from their fiery thrones.
Break up the NBN? Wow. How about we actually build the damn thing first.
The National Broadband Network should not be broken up into smaller parts. It should not be set up to compete with itself. And it should most definitely not be sold off to the private market. There is only one thing that the Government should do with the NBN. It should damn well get on with the job of building it.
Be sceptical of vague new ‘National Security’ powers
Any proposal by the government to increase its own power should be treated with scepticism. Double that scepticism when the government is vague about why it needs that extra power. Double again when those powers are in the area of law and order. And double again every time the words "national security" are used.
Oh dear: Kogan creates “spams & scams” portal protector
Kogan Technologies has created what it describes as a "portector" -- a device designed to protect Australians from what Communications Minister Stephen Conroy recently...
Oh dear: The iAbbott cometh
Ah, YouTube. We love you so.
Is Nintendo being too harsh?
All I’m saying, Nintendo, is that the law and order thing is fine … but maybe your princess is in another castle?
The real reason The Hoff is in Sydney
Delimiter can exclusively reveal that the iconic American actor has been in Australia for the past six months, on a secretive mission to aid Australia's technology sector in its quest to finally overtake Silicon Valley and become the premiere global market for technology companies.
For whom the Whirlpool trolls? Stephen Conroy and the NBN
Is Whirlpool or the Financial Review more accurate when it comes to reporting on the National Broadband Network? Two Canberra journalism professors analyse the situation.
Orgies of self-interest leave no room for sober justice
This week, I have become increasingly embarassed at the incredible callousness with which our society has seized upon an unproven crime to further its own diverse naked self-interest, with scant regard for apparent defunct concepts such as 'truth', 'justice' and that archaic concept which was once labelled 'the presumption of innocence'.
Vale Stephen Conroy: Australia’s greatest ever Communications Minister
For all his flaws and missteps, Stephen Conroy has been an incredible reformer and revolutionary force for change in Australia's technology sector over most of the past decade. He will ultimately be remembered as Australia's greatest ever Communications Minister; a visionary who almost single-handedly drove the creation of the National Broadband Network.
Oh dear: Mario gets jiggy with it
When Nintendo invited us to a harbour cruise to celebrate the launch of its flagship new game Super Mario Galaxy 2, we knew it was going to be big. After all, the Japanese gaming giant pulled out all the stops and organised Ministry of Sound's DJ Goodwill to "mash a mix of Mario tunes".
Correction: NBN prices will not be higher
In several radio interviews this week, Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull stated that the National Broadband Network project would cause consumer broadband prices to rise higher than those currently on the market. However, unfortunately this statement was factually incorrect.
Dated Treasury advice does not invalidate the NBN
If there is one thing we can absolutely rely on with respect to the debate about the National Broadband Network, it is that every week, some minor interest group, technically illiterate Coalition politician or blow-in journalist will find some new and completely spurious reason why the project shouldn't go ahead.
The only winner from the IT price hike inquiry is Ed Husic
The price hike inquiry has already benefited one individual very strongly: Ed Husic, the passionate first term MP who may very well be leading Labor's broadband portfolio following the Federal Election.
The iPhone 15 is (almost) unimaginable
With half the worlds population now connected by mobile phone and even short periods of time disconnected from the global network leaving many with withdrawal symptoms, the next stage of human evolution is approaching fast and if you're having trouble keeping up, look to nature.
Remember, Telstra isn’t that expensive any more
Here at Delimiter, we’ve created this handy motivational poster to help Optus mobile customers through the bad times.
Tick tock, NBN Co. Where are the rollout stats?
By continually declining to release hard statistics about how the rollout and uptake of its network are proceeding, the National Broadband Network Company risks portraying itself as exactly the kind of negligent and overly bureaucratic monopoly which the Federal Opposition has long accused it of being.
Telstra’s NBN plans: Just universally awful
Telstra's National Broadband Network plans released today are the broadband equivalent of Kryptonite. With less choice, less download quotas and less value than any other provider on the market, but for a higher price, Telstra's NBN options do more than stink -- they glow with a sickly radioactive foulness and should be avoided at all costs.
Internet: ignorance is the real threat
In the 21st century it should be utterly unacceptable to elect representatives who wilfully fail to understand how our country has changed in the presence of technology.
DRM is clouding Australia’s eBook market
I started to look at eBook retailers. And cried. Big Fat Girly Tears. DRM. Lots of DRM. Lots of formats with DRM.
How long before Vodafone hangs up?
Vodafone Australia is spending hundreds of millions of dollars re-building its troubled 3G mobile network, boosting its customer service levels and trying to win customers back with attractive marketing offers. But the sad truth is that all of its efforts appear to be having little impact on its dismal future.
Narrowband – it’s all we’re getting
I don’t want to be a pessimist, but it's becoming increasingly clear that the rollout of the National Broadband Network is never going to be completed. That grand vision of a fibre-to-the-home network providing high-bandwidth, cheap, accessible internet access is never going to reach the 90% of households the government said it would.
FttX chaos: NBN Co won’t be able to price everything the same
If the Coalition orders NBN Co to pursue a heterogenuous National Broadband Network rollout which features different rollout styles from Fibre to the Premises, to the Node and to the Basement, the company will face a fundamentally new challenge: How to fairly set wholesale prices on technologies which are fundamentally different?
Tasmania’s dirty bunyip not the last
There's more dodgy laws in the swamp where Tasmania's ridiculous electoral online comment legislation came from.
Turnbull: Praising the mistakes of Alstons past
Malcolm Turnbull's knee-jerk rejection last week of proposed changes to local telco infrastructure planning laws starkly demonstrates how far the Coalition is right now from understanding the fundamental and underlying changes required to implement its own new telecommunications policy.
Freeplay reminds us videogames matter: The ‘culture’ debate is over
Videogames are already here, are already culturally and politically active, and have been for quite some time. We no longer need to debate if they deserve a spot at the cultural dinner table. We just need to recognise they are already there.
Hoist by his own petard: How Labor can take on Turnbull
To a Federal Labor Party exhausted from several bitter years of internal struggle and a vicious election campaign, it must seem like slipping into Opposition might be a good chance for a hard-earned rest. But the truth is that the long fight to keep one of its key policies intact has just begun. Here’s some ideas for how Labor can take on Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull on the National Broadband Network issue — and win.
Aussie Govts don’t know how to buy open source
There is huge potential for governments to reduce costs and increase community value by embracing the collaborative technologies of Open Source and Open Standards. But in order to achieve this, governments need to make fundamental changes to funding practices in order to recognise the cross-agency value of collaborative technologies.
Govt to upgrade filter to new SOPA version
The Federal Government today confirmed plans to upgrade its controversial mandatory Internet filtering scheme with the new Stop Online Piracy Act module released in the United States this week, with Communications Minister Stephen Conroy confirming the new functionality would be ready ahead of the next Federal Election.
Our NBN debate: Where everyone is partly wrong
Like a blade out of the dark, this week ex-ACCC chief Graeme Samuel came from nowhere to drive a stake into the heart of the Coalition’s rival NBN policy, arguing that the FTTN technology it’s based on is “obsolete”. And just as viciously, Malcolm Turnbull fired back. But who is objectively on the side of truth in this storm in a teacup? As is so often in our flawed NBN debate, the answer is: ‘Nobody’.
If Nicola Roxon doesn’t believe in her own policy, why should we?
Contrary to utopians such as Julian Assange, there is a place for secrecy in national security. But we need to be able to trust the spooks and police. Proposals that are vague, extraordinary and unsubstantiated do not induce trust. Neither does an Attorney-General who confuses kite-flying with an own goal.
Apple and the enterprise – Are you ready?
Apple isn't ready for the enterprise. Apple has been ready for years. Now, the enterprise is ready for Apple.
Coalition reveals new FTTN broadband policy
The Federal Opposition today released a comprehensive new broadband policy to rival Labor's big-spending National Broadband Network project, describing its own initiative as a landmark 'Fibre to the Nothing' (FTTN) proposal.
R18+ rating added for videogames … but are children protected?
New guidelines for the classification of videogames have been released by Federal Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare and, despite being a step in the right direction, the revisions are largely disappointing and a missed opportunity.
Does the NBN even need a voice port?
If there is one thing which has always surprised me about the National Broadband Network project, it is the dogged insistence of the network's designers on building a legacy voice telephony port into what is supposed to be next-generation infrastructure.
Does IT matter … in Australian supermarkets?
But leading with technology doesn’t mean throwing technology at the problem. You need to do something different with it. That’s the challenge for Woolworths.
It’s too soon for Windows 8
Many organisations upgrading to Windows 7 probably clandestinely expect their new desktop operating system to last as long as the last one -- a decade or so.
Forget ‘cloud-first’: Australia’s public sector is following the globe into ‘cloud-only’
Burned by a decade's worth of failures of major on-premises IT projects, 2013 was the year that Australia's State Governments almost universally declared they would take a "cloud-first" approach to IT procurement. But there are already signs that the next stage of this process is underway, and that "cloud-first" may inevitably become "cloud-only".
Using SurveyMonkey? Be careful … if you’re an Australian Govt organisation
I've had an interesting and robust conversation online in the last day regarding how Australian councils and governments are using overseas services like SurveyMonkey to collect information from citizens and residents.
Fiery telco expert with a fibre passion: Michelle Rowland gets a licence to terminate...
With a lengthy history as a telco regulatory lawyer and a passion for the National Broadband Network bordering on an obsession, Labor MP Michelle Rowland is well-qualified indeed to be Labor's Shadow Assistant Communications Minister. But it's the Member for Greenway's penchant for taking Malcolm Turnbull down a notch or five on the floor of the House of Representatives that will have pro-fibre NBN fanbois falling in love with her.
Mental shift: The way Australians buy and upgrade smartphones is changing
The end of two year mobile contracts; the end of smartphones on contracts at all; the rise of phablets; domination of the market by just two vendors; domination by only a handful of models: All of these are constituent parts of a revolutionary shift sweeping the nation's smartphone market at the moment. Get ready to upgrade your thinking: The way Australians buy and use mobile devices is about to change massively, and it's a wonderful thing indeed.
Internode up shit creek? Bullcrap. Here’s why.
Those currently running around like Chicken Little with their heads cut off and proclaiming that the sky is going to fall on national broadband provider Internode need to take a swift injection of reality juice directly to the frontal lobe. The loss of four of Internode's most senior technical staff and a few other "difficulties" at the company are not evidence of a pending wider collapse.
Spectacularly shortsighted: Debating 2012 NBN take-up rates
Reality check: The National Broadband Network is a project which will continue to serve Australia's telecommunications needs for at least the next fifty years. Debating take-up rates in the first year of its existence is nothing short of incredibly short-sighted and trivial.
The RBA state-sponsored hack attack (or phishing for a story)
You’ll have seen the fallout this week regarding a so-called “spearphishing” attack on the Reserve Bank of Australia in 2011. As with most media reports on cyber-attacks, this one appears to have been overhyped. So what really happened?
Telstra should build the NBN, under the Coalition or under Labor
A growing body of evidence is mounting that NBN Co should seriously consider contracting the nation's incumbent telco Telstra to build large sections of the National Broadband Network infrastructure.
Datacentre strategy a big downer
When I read the summary of the government's datacentre strategy for the next 15 years, the first thing I wondered was how it could have taken the government months to come up with this document.
Oh dear: Optus didn’t learn from Telstra’s mistake
If there’s one thing that Delimiter finds amusing, it’s when history repeats itself. As it so often does in Australia’s fickle telecommunications industry.
Dark day for the ACCC as it abandons competition
The Government and the NBN Co have decided to use our taxes to buy out Optus' competition just as they have done with Telstra’s HFC. A black day indeed for the ACCC and competition in Australia.
Dear Stephen, your site is broken
Someone -- probably someone in your IT department that is left over from when Helen Coonan was the minister -- has put this bit of code that will remove the word "ISP filtering" from your list of most popular tags.
Tasmania’s NBN tangle is a shocking mess
The ongoing stoush over how the Coalition's Broadband Network should be deployed in Tasmania shows Australia's broadband tangle at its worst: Construction contractors who don't deliver, overly optimistic promises and estimates, and politicians playing petty power games with a highly important national infrastructure project. No matter which way you look at it, it's a shocking mess.
Five reasons Australians should quit Facebook
Is this a company that Australia should be supporting? Not in my book.
Telstra’s ticking clock
NBN Co is trying to negotiate a deal based on a conviction that Telstra's copper network has already been massively devalued, while Telstra is trying to negotiate an outcome that salvages some of that value.
Australia Post, Telstra and the ‘dying business’ dilemma
Who would run a former government-owned monopoly these days? In the last week, Australia Post’s Ahmed Fahour announced 900 administration jobs were to go from its Melbourne operations, while last week Telstra’s David Thodey recounted discussions from his recent trip to the US, where he was told his “business model is dead”.
Oh dear: Simon Hackett, datacentre disco star
While researching Simon Hackett for an article on his entry into iiNet's 'Top Geek' competition, we found this amusing video of the Internode managing director entering what appears to be one of the ISP's datacentres ... in style. Hit it, boys!
Australian retailers online: Late to the party and much to do
Australian consumers are embracing digital commerce, but Australian retailers are failing to build long-term relationships with their customers online, according to new research.
Electronic voting may be risky, but what about vote counting?
The right technologies, deployed in the right way, can assist with speeding up vote counts without putting the integrity of our voting system at risk. The place for that technology is not as a replacement for the paper ballot.
As Labor and the Coalition duel over the NBN, the real winner is Telstra
The real winner out of the National Broadband Network process is Telstra, writes Gennadi Kazakevitch, Deputy Head, Department of Economics at Monash University.
Dreaming of the perfect NBN policy
In an ideal world, the perfect National Broadband Network policy would be a mix of the policies espoused by both Labor and the Coalition, taking the best ideas from both sides and ditching the bad ones. It would address Australia's short-term needs while still investing in the future. Here's how it would work.
NBN: Who will be connected last?
Now that Labor's ambitious National Broadband Network project has finally cleared all of the regulatory, commercial and political hurdles that have stood in the way of its path to universal bandwidth nirvana, it's time to ask the most important question of all about the project. Who will be connected last?
SPC Ardmona: Let’s replace these tin cans with high fibre
The Federal Government's decision to reject a $25 million plea for financial assistance for SPC Ardmona's troubled fruit processing plant in Shepparton should be seen in the context of the long-term and very necessary war to lessen the reliance of Australia's economy on legacy industries and to push it towards the next-generation of knowledge-based smart businesses.
Apologies: The iPhone 5 won’t run on Telstra’s 4G
Right, you're thinking. Telstra has just launched its 4G/LTE network around Australia and Apple is planning to unveil the iPhone 5 next month. There's every reason to believe these two beautiful facts could come together in one glorious orgy of speed-filled smartphone goodness, right? Wrong.
Turnbull again misleads public on NBN
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has this week made a number of misleading and factually inaccurate statements in a series of interviews and comments about the Government's National Broadband Network project, on topics ranging from the technology used in the project to its cost and retail broadband prices.
Please Father Steve, unlock Telstra iPhone video calling
There was one thing that stood out from the iPhone 4 launch like a rotten blood orange smouldering at the bottom of the fruit bin full of of shiny golden delicious chunks of goodness.
Let’s talk about Telstra and the NBN … again
Telstra's "threats" of competing with an alternative access strategy are this time all nonsense. They can't get enough wireless out there, they have major building access issues with HFC and they should be cricified by sharehlders if they try to over-invest in their PSTN.
Australia’s ICT industry is fierce and strong
Australia's second technology boom is upon us, and things will never be the same again.
Conroy can safely ignore Tony Smith
As a journalist I have attended thousands of presentations, speeches and debates, and rarely have I encountered a speaker as stultifyingly boring as Tony Smith.
Coalition NBN will suffer in the long term: Experts
The federal Coalition’s new A$30 billion plan for “fast, affordable” broadband is a quick-fix strategy, which is likely to cost more and be less reliable long-term, according to experts.
How to lose a cyber war without really trying
Australia is among at least 20 countries which are not just preparing to fight a cyber war, but are already at war, day in day out, defending against incursions by both foreign states and non-state actors, and preparing its own offensive capabilities to deploy against the power grids, telecommunications services, financial networks and the wider digital infrastructure of potential adversaries.
A scent of money in the air: Australian tech IPOs are back in style
Australian technology companies have been virtually absent from the the nation's public stockmarket over the past decade as the stigma of the dot com bust took its toll on investor confidence. But a clutch of new listings planned for the closing months of 2013 shows renewed interest in the sector and that local entrepreneurs are smelling money in the air once again.
The great NBN sell-off has already begun
NBN Co, we hardly knew ye. Make no mistake: Tony Abbott's new Coalition Government does not want to own a national broadband monopoly. The process of selling NBN Co to the private sector has already begun, and will be accelerated over the next several years.
Oh dear: Optus’ “theatrical” 3G USB modems
We have always known Optus was a big fan of the higher forms of performance art, with its sponsorship of the Cirque du Soleil and even the penchant of its chief executive Paul O’Sullivan for cracking Telstra jokes on stage. But we didn’t know that even its USB modems were involved in the performance.
Innovation is key in the Asian Century
If we are to fully capitalise on the benefits of the Asian Century, we need to fully embrace Chinese innovation and R&D in exactly the same way we would with any other country. To do anything else would risk Australia not being ‘on the right side of history’.
Five questions about the Coalition’s new NBN policy
Yesterday Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull had a big splash in the media, announcing what many described as a new Coalition National Broadband Network policy. But while it has its merits, we’re not so sure the policy has been fleshed out very far; So here’s five questions for the member for Wentworth to answer at his leisure.
Monitor, Police, Control: Australian Attorney-Generals’ war on the Internet
Australia's two most recent Attorneys-General distinguished themselves during their tenure by demonstrating a complete lack of understanding of the dynamics of the modern Internet; seeking to monitor, control and contain it at all costs. Now they've both announced plans to quit politics. Will our next chief lawmaker do any better?
Fact check: The NBN wasn’t a “media stunt”
Free market thinktank the Institute of Public Affairs recently claimed Labor’s flagship National Broadband Network project was drawn up purely as a “media stunt” to drum up publicity for the Government. Unfortunately, this is a factually inaccurate statement, and here’s the evidence to prove it.
Optus and TV Now: Will copyright law catch up to the cloud?
A legal decision which forced Optus to shut down its time shifting service TV Now may eventually lead to reform of existing copyright law to cater for cloud technology.
Please accept my apologies: I was wrong about Malcolm Turnbull
I am here today to formally apologise. I was wrong to have faith in Malcolm Turnbull and the Coalition on this issue. You were all right. Turnbull does indeed appear to be attempting to "demolish" the NBN.
Why I’m ditching VoIP for the PSTN
This week I called iiNet and cancelled our VoIP service. We’re returning to the Public Switched Telephony Network. All of my calls from now on will be placed over the ageing copper infrastructure which the National Broadband Network will eventually replace. The switch will take down our broadband connection for several days, but at the end of the process it’ll be worth it.
Australia’s double dragon enterprise IT revolution
Australian workers are starting to demand that their data and applications can be delivered to any device, anywhere, at any time, and they want all this now. Cloud computing + iPad = a level of flexibility and productivity that has heretofore been impossible in the enterprise.
Oh dear: McAfee CEO is bored by his own press conference
We can understand that McAfee chief executive Dave DeWalt has a lot on his mind. He just sold his company to Intel for US$7.68 billion, his press team is running wild naming Cameron Diaz the most dangerous celebrity in cyberspace, and the internet “threat landscape” is always growing.
Spotify: Saviour of the music industry?
It says an awful lot about the music industry that the key IT companies have dominated legal sales mechanisms in providing affordable digital systems and a decent market share. Spotify will continue to be an interesting experiment in an industry that is still not relaxed and comfortable about the new century.
iPhone 4: Is a Telstra plan worth the money?
There is only one question that wannabe iPhone 4 owners need to ask themselves when gearing up to buy Apple's hyped handset when it launches in Australia at midnight Thursday night. Can you afford to pay Telstra's exorbitant prices for access to its superior network?
Evil descends on the NBN? Erm, not quite
Another day, another hacking exploit makes headlines.
Dear Stephen, your site is broken again
You know how I wrote to you in February letting you know that your website is broken? Yup, it happened again.
Quit yammering and learn to love the NBN
This article is by Darryl Adams, a government worker and internet tragic. A former IT worker, he still pines for the days of IBM...
Oh dear: Telstra’s cyber-safety quadrants
We think Australia's telcos might be taking cyber-safety a little too seriously, if this video by Telstra is any indication.
Big “Legacy” ERP being ripped apart and is almost dead, says Gartner
Enterprise IT analyst firm Gartner has warned that large, monolithic and heavily customised in-house enterprise resource planning systems will be relegated to the status of "legacy ERP" over the next several years, as smaller, nimbler and often cloud computing-based alternatives eat the lunch of this old mainstay of the IT application portfolio.
NBN study release a major Greens victory
It is perhaps fitting that as Minchin is leaving the stage, Greens Senator Ludlam is emerging as the defacto Shadow Communications Minister, in the absence of Opposition will to engage in the portfolio.
Turnbull must quickly fill his NBN policy holes
Last week Malcolm Turnbull outlined a telecommunications policy which could become a credible alternative to Labor's NBN juggernaut. But for all its surface-level attractiveness, the Liberal MP's vision is far from complete -- and unless the holes are plugged quickly, it will die a quick and painful death.
Virgin’s internet porn sackings somewhat hypocritical
I couldn’t help but feel amused by the irony on Friday when the news broke that Virgin Blue had sacked 20 staff for what the Sydney Morning Herald reported was the dastardly offence of swapping porn on the airline’s computers.
A prince in his prime: Why Simon Hackett should be on the NBN board
If Malcolm Turnbull is serious about making sure all Australians quickly get access to affordable, high-speed broadband, there is one man he must consider appointing to the board of NBN Co: The entrepreneur who was instrumental in bringing Australians broadband in the first place. Internode founder Simon Hackett.
Pro-NBN fanbois have fallen into bad habits
Like mindless junkies scrabbling for their latest fix, the virulent community of pro-NBN extremists in Australia's technology sector will do or say almost anything to prove the Coalition's NBN policy to be completely worthless, despite the fact that it shares most of its fundamental principles with Labor's own superior broadband vision.
The Cyber Security Strategy is only a small step in the right direction
Our reliance on technology is now a given and cybersecurity is as important a consideration as protecting our health, food and water sources and general environment. From that perspective, the cybersecurity strategy is a welcome but very small step in the right direction.
Advancing a competition agenda
Regulatory assessments have not acknowledged that Telstra’s dominance in fixed telephony has significant impacts on the mobile industry, according to Vodafone chief executive Bill Morrow, who argues in this opinionated article that in a converging world, this siloed approach is no longer tenable.
Reality check: Telstra’s P2P trial is no big deal
Those panic merchants jumping up and down screaming blue murder over Telstra's P2P shaping trial need to take a chill pill and go sit in the naughty corner until their blood pressure sinks a few points. The reality is that the trial isn't a big deal and it's certainly nothing out of the ordinary in the context of the Australian and international telecommunications sector.
myGov has potential but is far from finished
MyGov – or something like it – is part of a 21st century government. It is the way of the future. But it needs careful development, testing, and selling.
Govt’s treatment of Huawei is inconsistent
While it is impossible for outsiders such as Ovum to assess the merits of national security issues because there is too much we don’t know, it is clear that there has been a lack of consistency and transparency in the way that Huawei has been treated.