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.
Voda Win: Australia’s mobile problem child emerges from its deep depression
The easiest way to view the departure of Vodafone Australia's turnaround specialist Bill Morrow to take the reins of NBN Co is as the final nail in the extremely troubled mobile telco's fortunes. But the truth is that Morrow is leaving the company just as it's getting to its knees again. Finally, after three years in the wilderness, Vodafone is showing signs that it may be competitive in Australia's mobile landscape again -- and heading towards a sustainable footing.
Conroy’s wrong on net filtering
Take the money allocated to the technical path and distribute it across the other goals of the overall cyber safety policy of the government, and we'll all be in a better place.
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.
‘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.
Clueless Telstra iPhone buyers get what they deserve
Take some responsibility, people. It's only common sense to know what you're buying and what you're signing. It's not Telstra's fault that you're an idiot. So shut the frack up. OK?
Connecting to Australia’s first digital technology curriculum
Australia finally has its first digital technology curriculum which is mandatory for all Australian children from Foundation, the name replacing kindergarten, to Year 8.
Evil descends on the NBN? Erm, not quite
Another day, another hacking exploit makes headlines.
In defence of an honourable man
It is completely legitimate to debate the merits of the NBN; like many others, I myself have been a long-term critic of the project, particularly its economic model. But it is not legitimate to link an innocent man with bribery and corruption simply to serve those ends.
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.
Oh dear: Alan Jones, Chika, Steve Waugh and VMWare?
The trustees list of the of the Sydney Cricket & Sports Ground Trust reads like a roll call of Sydney blue blood royalty.
Why is Anonymous hacking Australia?
We are in a new phase online where the blind are leading the blind, trying to find a path towards a more secure and regulated internet that enshrines our right to privacy.
Corporate highs: The US P-TECH model for schools in Australia?
Prime Minister Tony Abbott visited a P-TECH (Pathways in Technology Early Career High) school in New York last week, hinting it’s a model of education we should consider implementing in Australia. The school, partly funded by IBM and training students to suit the company’s needs, is different to anything we have in Australia. While the P-TECH model would be feasible here, the model risks confusing economic needs with educational ones.
Election rant 4: Labor’s three NBN strikes
The Coalition might not have an entirely workable broadband policy of its own. But Tony Abbott's camp is right to state that Labor's NBN is a "dog's breakfast" and that the Government's performance in this area is not to be trusted.
‘Cloud first’ a circuit-breaker, says Ovum
Taking a “cloud-first” policy has the potential to act as game changer to allow departments and agencies to break out of their current restrictive ICT procurement practices, technology analyst firm Ovum said this week, as discussion continues to swirl about how Australian governments are handling the new cloud computing paradigm.
Vodafone should buy iiNet before TPG can
The exit of Michael Malone from the company he founded 20 years ago has re-opened long-running speculation that top-tier broadband player iiNet could be acquired, and it's a valid idea. But the telco most suited to buying the powerhouse from Perth is not hostile rival TPG; it's ailing mobile telco Vodafone, which still has plenty of cash up its sleeves.
Oh dear: How many Aussie CIOs did NOT buy an iPad?
When Delimiter started snooping around this week to work out which Australian chief information officers had bought an Apple iPad, we expected to find quite a few that had. What we didn't expect to find is that almost every chief information officer that we checked out had picked up one of the hyped Apple tablets.
I tried to buy a Samsung Galaxy Tab … but failed
The scene: Deep in the dungeon of a Federal Government agency. Our protagonist, a mild mannered government worker by day, intrepid reporter at night, sees the Delimiter article on Vodafone releasing the Samsung Galaxy Tab on this date! Hallelujah!
Decentralised NBN key to unlocking bush potential
Decentralisation is the key to unlocking the potential of our regions while making life in both "Sydney and the Bush" just that little more bearable.
Aaron’s Army fights the Trans-Pacific Partnership
The case of Aaron Swartz highlights the need for a reconsideration of punitive and excessive intellectual property enforcement provisions in trade agreements.
It’s on: Foxtel to meet IPTV challenge head-on
Most of Australia's younger generation of Internet-focused media consumers probably think Pay TV giant Foxtel is merely a blast from the past; a mouldering old dinosaur with no tricks left up its sleeve. But if revelations by the company last week are any indication, Foxtel 'gets' the Internet and has exactly the right moves planned to tackle it.
Good news, flyers: ‘Flight mode’ is safe during take-off and landing
Earlier this year, the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) put together a panel of aviation experts to look at whether personal electronic devices (PEDs) could be used on planes without compromising safety. The results are in: the committee is recommending that electronic devices – such as tablets, e-readers and other PEDs – be allowed during all phases of flight (including take-off and landing).
R18+ game classification: The quest continues
The battle for an R18+ classification for videogames in Australia has been something of an epic, but the journey’s not over yet. There are still plenty more rocks and potholes to navigate before we start seeing R18+ games in local stores.
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.
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’.
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.
In the Airbnb world we need a new productivity measure
Our productivity problem is a like an epidemic. It affects many businesses and threatens the prosperity of future Australians yet it is poorly understood and goes largely unnoticed, especially in a service economy. If a problem of this size and scale were to affect people’s health, money would be raised for further research to isolate the causes and cures for the malady.
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.
Australia’s IT startup scene: Blooming, not dying
This morning the Sydney Morning Herald published a series of articles claiming that Australia's technology startup ecosystem is unable to support local entrepreneurs, causing them to increasingly head to the US in search of the financial backing they are unable to attract in Australia. The only problem is, the evidence doesn't support this assertion.
Will hidden taxes and competitive pressures make the NBN unsustainable?
Is the National Broadband Network sustainable? I do not mean this in a technical sense. While I am wary of the government using taxpayers' money to ‘pick winners’ in technology, there are many people better placed than I am to crystal ball gaze into the best technology for the internet. Rather is the NBN economically sustainable?
Unfixable: Time to ditch e-health record scheme
Federal health minister Peter Dutton has commissioned a review of Labor’s troubled Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) project. It’s unclear whether the review committee is to decide whether to scrap the project altogether or to try and fix it. Hopefully it is not the latter because if the past year has taught us anything, it is that this is not a fixable problem. It needs to go.
Dirty dealings: Suddenly, corruption is an issue in Australia’s technology sector
It's something which nobody wants to talk about, but which everybody knows is going on. A number of very high profile cases have starkly demonstrated over the past several years that dishonest and unethical behaviour in some cases extending as far as corrupt practice is on the rise in Australia’s technology sector.
Oh dear: Customer service, NetRegistry-style
It was apparent right from the start of this Whirlpool thread that NetRegistry chief operating officer Brett Fenton wasn't having a good day.
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.
Why Australia’s tablet market is still Apple’s bitch
The mobile device market in Australia – even more so than in many other markets – has become, if I may quote Ruslan Kogan, Apple’s bitch. Hoping to tap into an as-yet-untapped vein of anti-Apple sentiment, retailers are dutifully stocking alternatives as one contender after another launches heavily-marketed iPad alternatives – but I don’t get the impression many people are buying them.
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?
CommBank’s deep innovation is redefining our notion of what a bank is
The remarkable wave of technological innovation emanating from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia is forcing Australians to redefine their fundamental concept of what a bank is, and reimagine what their basic relationship to such an institution should be.
Warning: Telstra is killing off Australia’s mobile competition
In five years' time, just how much market share will Telstra have in Australia's mobile phone industry? If it keeps on adding 900,000 new mobile connections every six months while its rivals do diddly squat, I would have to say the answer will be: Most of it.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
New World Order: IBM’s Qld Health disaster places project governance focus back on vendors
The disastrous, billion-dollar failure of Queensland Health's project to replace its payroll systems delivers a stark warning to technology giants such as IBM that they must start to take a much stronger role in governing government IT projects.
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 NBN must have a cost/benefit analysis (October 2010 re-print)
This article by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull first appeared on Delimiter in October 2010, shortly after Turnbull was appointed Shadow Communications Minister. Delimiter re-prints this article today for the edification of readers, in light of the news that Turnbull has approved NBN Co to go ahead with the controversial ‘Multi-Technology Mix’ option for its broadband rollout, despite the fact that the cost/benefit analysis being conducted into the project will not be completed until the middle of 2014.
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?
NBN Co business case: A big fat load of nothing
I just wasted twenty minutes of my life poring through one of the most boring and vacuous documents which I have had the privilege to read in my career as a journalist. And I want that time back.
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.
Praise the Sun
In the critically acclaimed video game Dark Souls, there is a mysterious character known as Solaire of Astora who has developed something of a global cult following which may give us some insight into this human existence.
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 NBN should be opt-out — not opt-in
There are already plenty of good reasons why all Australians should have to actively opt-out from having their houses connected to the NBN, rather than having to opt-in.
When Agile doesn’t work
I am a huge fan of Agile software development and since becoming Elcom's Technical Director I have made it my business to push us to become more Agile at every step. But a few months ago I realised I was pushing a square block into a round hole.
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.
Voice from the outer world: Five questions Simon Hackett should be asking NBN Co
That moment which many Australian technologists fervently hoped for but never expected to see has come to pass: Simon Hackett has been appointed to the board of the National Broadband Network Company. But what questions should the Internode founder be asking NBN Co's executive management team? Here's five ideas to start with.
Government response to the Government 2.0 Taskforce Report – my thoughts
Overall, I give the response a good B+, though I think it could have been stronger in part with clearer commitments. It’s missing information on where the digitally disconnected are helped and connected with offline (Government 2.0, after all, isn’t just online), as well as concrete commitments with timelines. It’s also missing anything on measurement of success and how this will be done.
The sorry story of Finance’s Windows Vista fail
A month before Windows 7 is released, the Federal Department of Finance and Deregulation upgrades to Vista. Fail.
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.
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.
It’s the internet, stupid: WikiLeaks and the modern state
Many have speculated that the internet, fully realised, would bring forward an era of global citizenship and the permanent fracturing of the nation-state. Whether this is folly or fact will only be understood in hindsight, but for now, we'll have to be content with watching the world's governments grappling with more immediate questions of what they have tried to hide, and what they now have to fear.
Software is officially a rip-off in Australia, So what can you do?
It’s official: Australia isn’t the “lucky country” in the IT sector. Consumers, government and industry down under are charged typically 50% more for software and hardware compared to their American counterparts. Why is this the case and, more importantly, what can affected customers do about it?
Media companies don’t get it: Open market = sales
The running gag on the interwebs is that Aussies are the best BitTorrent downloaders in the world. When will companies realise that there are people willing to pay for content, and that piracy is a market correction to supply an obvious demand?
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.
iiNet’s BoB Lite: Insecure by design
While testing iiNet's new Bob Lite integrated ADSL router yesterday, I became aware that it ships with an extremely insecure default Wi-Fi setup.
Explainer: what is 4G?
If you’re looking to buy a new smartphone or computer you’ve probably seen advertisements and offers for 4G-compatible devices. You might even own a 4G-compatible device already. But just what is 4G? How does it compare to existing 3G networks? And what is the current availability of 4G networks in 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.
Huawei & the NBN: Beware the CCP’s long arm
Huawei Australia’s local company men appear to have little idea of how China’s political economy, the Chinese telecommunications sector, or the Shenzhen-based parent company operates.
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.
‘War’ on tax avoidance overlooks some obvious legal fixes
This article is by Antony Ting, Associate Professor, University of Sydney. It originally appeared on The Conversation.
opinion/analysis The war on tax avoidance by multinational...
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.
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.
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.
Tense Telstra times
After last year's resignations of David Moffatt and Holly Kramer, who along with Milne were favourites within former chief executive Sol Trujillo’s regime, it would appear the stresses within the ‘new’ Telstra are starting to show.
Why wasn’t Maxine McKew Labor’s Old Spice guy?
It was clear from the result that the people where not buying the messages either major party was selling. Social media as a network is the cheapest network to utilise, and by failing to tap into the social media users’ goodwill, both parties made themselves look inept and outsiders.
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.
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.
NBN Co’s senior hiring process now completely politicised
The rapid replacement of respected NBN Co chief operating officer Ralph Steffens with a Telstra executive who appears less experienced with fibre rollouts but better politically connected represents a key signal that NBN Co's senior executive hiring process has now become completely politicised and is no longer independent from the Federal Government.
ISP filtering policy is not evidence-based
The principle objection I have is that the policy mandates that ISPs spend a huge sum of money to deploy and maintain masses of new infrastructure. Whether this burden is passed onto Australians via taxes or via increased ISP fees, we will end up paying for it. We will end up paying, and it won't do anything.
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.
What’s your favourite beer?
Over on the Delimiter forums, talk of the National Broadband Network has quietened down while another, far more serious issue has been being debated since last Friday afternoon: What is everyone’s favourite beer? And judging from the results, you are all a bunch of picky bastards with expensive tastes.
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.
Optus proves: Coalition wrong on NBN pricing
The release of Optus' National Broadband Network plans yesterday represents the final nail in the coffin for the Coalition's patently untrue claim that the rollout of the NBN will cause broadband prices around Australia to rise above current ADSL levels.
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?
Electoral silence on digital rights from both politicians and journalists
We’ve had #stopthenotes, #suppositories, and #sexappeal to keep us amused, but since the election campaign period began there has been very limited reporting in the mainstream media (MSM) of the electoral relevance of the digital rights issues faced by Australian citizens.
It’s time for transparency: Show us the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement
Only in Australia could the phrase “public briefing” mean that the meeting will be held behind closed doors, where journalists are not welcome.
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.
First impressions of the new Realestate.com.au
Certainly they could have done more, and I am not a fan of everything that they have changed but with the number one site in the space you have to be mindful of the "If it ain't broke don’t fix it" rule.
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?
A decade of neglect: Why Tasmania deserves a FTTP rollout
Malcolm Turnbull never specifically promised Tasmanians that the all-fibre NBN rollout in the state would be completed as originally planned. But if there is any one state in Australia that deserves to have a universal Fibre to the Premises National Broadband Network, it's the Apple Isle, which has been a perpetual broadband backwater for the past decade and more.
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.
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.
Dotcom turns twenty-five
Whether it's an effort to block Google access in China, an effort toward mandatory internet censorship in Australia, or otherwise, these efforts are truly futile.
Forget it: Turnbull won’t return the NBN to a FTTP model
Prime Minister or not, there is simply no way that Malcolm Turnbull is going to reverse five years of bitter campaigning and return the National Broadband Network to its previous near-universal Fibre to the Premises model. So let’s give up hope on that misguided delusion right now and save ourselves a great deal of painful mental anguish.
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...
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
Gillard is ripping up Labor’s NBN credibility
No matter how hard the Australian Labor Party tries, when it comes to the telecommunications sector it just keeps on shooting itself in the foot -- a fact demonstrated starkly by Prime Minister Julia Gillard's appalling comments on the NBN over the past week.
Why is Microsoft dropping support for Windows 8.1?
In a move certain to raise the ire of users of Microsoft’s Windows operating system the software giant has announced that next month it will cease support for Windows 8.1. But that operating system is barely eight months old and already an upgraded version of the Windows 8 system that failed to impress many users since its release in 2012.
$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.
Scoping the NBN cost crater
NBN Co’s Mike Quigley has confirmed what most rational analysts have long taken for granted by telling a Senate committee yesterday that it would probably take decades for the new National Broadband Network to generate a satisfactory return on the capital invested by the Federal Government.
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?
Has the Coalition concluded its Quigley witch-hunt?
If Malcolm Turnbull or anyone else in the Coalition wants to be effective in setting telecommunications policy in future, they had better start to demonstrate a little more respect for those who will be implementing it.
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.
News Corp Australia vs the NBN: Is it really all about Foxtel?
In its arguments against the NBN, it would seem News Corp Australia’s campaign is less than wholly transparent in representing its own interests.
The ABC must now deal with its NBN problem
Over the past month, the evidence has become overwhelming that the ABC is actively censoring coverage of the National Broadband Network issue in a way that runs counter to the public interest. The broadcaster must now face the issue squarely and deal with it head-on, or run the risk of losing credibility with its highly informed and vocal audience.
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.
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.
Turnbull responds to FTTN concerns
It's taken four months, but Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has finally answered a series of key questions regarding his focus on using fibre to the node (FTTN) technology to roll out the NBN. But has the Member for Wentworth provided enough details to answer his critics? Read on to find out.
Delimiter (draft) Statement of Principles
As regular Delimiter readers will know, I have made mistakes in the past. Not all of the articles I have written have been on...
Chrome OS, like Tux, will never fly
Chrome OS may be all shiny and new now, but Google is taking a lot for granted in hoping that it can turn Australia Chrome overnight. Without some killer apps that you can't get by loading the Chrome browser on the computer you already have, I suspect the world will quickly realise that a kilogram of Chrome OS carries exactly the same weight as a kilogram of penguin feathers -- which is to say, not very much at all.
Oh dear: ACMA chief’s broadband “nightmare”
Chris Chapman, the chairman of the Australian Communications and Media Authority, yesterday went into a fair amount of detail about his personal household broadband connection.
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.
The truth about politicians and technology policy
The recent adult rating for computer games debate has raised a concept that I’ve alluded to a few times in the media recently (and if you’re unlucky enough to be someone who knows me in a private sense, you’ll have had it there too), namely the dichotomy of what democracy means – how politicians view it and how everyone else does.
Self-interest is ruling Australia’s piracy debate
Over the past few months, I have alternately been appalled, disgusted, saddened and ultimately bored at the degree to which naked self-interest is ruling the ongoing debate about how Australia will deal with the issue of online copyright infringement (Internet piracy).
Weighing the environmental costs: Buy an eReader, or a shelf of books?
Bookshelves towering floor to ceiling filled with weighty tomes, or one book-sized device holding hundreds of “books” in electronic form: which one of these options for the voracious reader creates the least damaging environmental footprint?
‘Cloud’ is now mainstream in Australia’s banking sector
It's finally happened. After years of expressing concern about the privacy risks, regulatory challenges and technical inadequacies of the new clutch of technologies broadly known as “cloud computing”, Australia's financial services sector has embraced the new paradigm wholesale. It's about time.
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.
The iiBorg are assimilating all NBN competition
You can easily imagine what coffee meetings with Michael Malone must be like these days. "Resistance is futile," the leader of the growing iiBorg empire would sternly tell anyone brave enough to enter his company's headquarters. "You will be assimilated. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own."
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.
Caption contest: Gillard and her Apple iPad
Gillard with iPad!
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.
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.
Caption contest: What is David Thodey doing?
We couldn't help but wonder what precisely David Thodey is doing here at Telstra's half-yearly financial results conference this morning. It looks like he's either planning to throttle someone, or is holding some kind of invisible ball. Or is it a new Xbox 360 Kinect move? Let us know in the comments.
Correction: Cutting the NBN won’t save money
Yesterday Opposition Leader Tony Abbott stated in a high-profile speech at the National Press Club in Canberra that cutting Labor's National Broadband Network project would free up Federal Government money to be spent in other areas such as transport. It was a nice political soundbite. However, unfortunately, this statement was factually incorrect.
Why Megan Fox should star in the NBN ads
Why the NBN is for porn and Megan Fox should star in the NBN commercials.
Politically and functionally, Turnbull’s first 100 days have been a disaster
It's hard to imagine how things could have gone worse for Malcolm Turnbull in his first three months as Communications Minister. With the public rapidly turning on the Earl of Wentworth over his horribly unpopular new NBN policy, a growing perception that he's stacking NBN Co with partisan staff and a lack of transparency verging on the hypocritical, it's hard to find positives for the Earl of Wentworth from his initial period in office. Turnbull is truly fumbling the catch on both political and functional levels.
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.
Get it right, Twitter: Conroy’s not the ACTA minister
To what extent should Senator Conroy should be aware of the ACTA negotiations? Only partially.
Australia Post digital delivery may yield few returns to spender
The big question is whether digital mail is a solution looking for a problem that hasn’t already been solved. Here, I am not convinced. The technology to achieve a digital mailbox using ordinary email with digital signatures and encryption has been around for a very long time.
Telstra has finally sealed its own doom
Telstra's management will come to regret its $11 billion deal with NBN Co signed this afternoon as the most disastrous decision it has ever made in the telco's long and tortured history in Australia's telecommunications sector.
4G: How Telstra will ROFLstomp Optus, VHA
When the reality of a working LTE deployment hits Australia through late 2011, with all mobile phone owners increasingly being smartphone owners ... Telstra's Next G network will become nothing short of irresistable.
Microsoft wants to win you back with Windows 10
The latest version of Microsoft’s Windows operating system will begin rolling out from Wednesday (July 29). And remarkably, Windows 10 will be offered as a free upgrade to those users who already have Windows 7 and 8.1 installed.
Stop the pirates? Behind Brandis’ copyright crusade
The lack of hard, unbiased research driving this debate on piracy, as well as the privileged access to the Attorney General that entertainment industry lobbyists seem to have, does not bode well for robust, evidence-based policy being adopted in the near future.
How Australia got online 25 years ago
It is a quarter-century since Australia first connected to the internet, but this technological breakthrough had a long gestation. What is now a global phenomenon was once the property of an exclusive community.
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.
Without civil liberties, government is just a criminal racket
Even if we choose to believe Senator Stephen Conroy's claim that this is only about protecting us from inadvertent access to child abuse material, once the system is in place, could a government resist the temptation not to extent the scope just a little bit? And a little bit more?
Secret data retention docs display gross technical ineptitude
A treasure trove of previously confidential documents pertaining to the Government's data retention policy and released this week under Freedom of Information laws display an astonishing technical ineptitude on the part of the Attorney-General's Department with respect to the controversial project.
Five reasons to block Woz’s Australian citizenship
A number of media outlets have reported this week that Apple co-founder and global technology sector luminary Steve Wozniak is attempting to become an Australian citizen. But is this really a good idea? Here’s five reasons why we should stop the Woz at the border and send him packing back to his home country of the United States.
Why Michael Harte is worth $4.2 million
Harte is paid millions of dollars each year not because they run IT infrastructure and make technology strategy decisions. The truth is the modern CIO role is evolving to become more akin to the head of operations in many organisations -- with broad responsibility for ensuring that all aspects of a company's systems meet operational outcomes.
Turnbull’s FTTP on demand plan is slipping away from his grasp
Malcolm Turnbull's plan to offer Australians full fibre extensions to their premises on demand was already on extremely shaky ground, and several new developments over the past several months have made it increasingly clear that this is a concept which is extremely unlikely to see any traction in the short to medium term.
‘Shelved’? No. Data retention will be back
Yesterday it was widely reported that the Federal Government had 'shelved' its data retention plans, walking away from the controversial proposal to monitor all Australians' communications. But the reality is the complete opposite: Data retention is still being actively considered as a policy and will shortly return to plague Australia once again.
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.
Will Android kill Australia’s iPhone obsession?
The question that I and a number of other people are asking at the moment is: Is the tide starting to turn on Apple's flagship iPhone in Australia? Is it time to dump the iPhone and join the other camp?
‘Cloud protectionism’? How about ‘consumer choice’?
The reality is, a huge proportion of Australians do not know they are using the cloud when they use services such as social networking, and do not know that much of their personal data is being stored overseas as a result. When they find out, they are not happy about it.
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.
In the game of iPhone pricing, consumers are the losers
Up until this morning the telcos were only offering the pricing structures for the iPhone 5C. Why not the 5S? It turns out that they are playing a strategic game of cat-and-mouse with each other.
Basic Govt IT needs a fundamental rethink
Government systems could be redesigned from the ground-up to make it easy to reorganise, merge and demerge departments, so that a person's email system can be rapidly and easily moved from one agency to another, or the HR information of two departments can be consolidated in a merger at low cost.
Oh dear: Serkowski’s fighting words
Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey might have come out swinging against the Federal Government's internet filtering plans last week, but not everybody was impressed. Pirate Party Australia secretary Rodney Serkowski apparently thought Hockey's enlightened stance hadn't had the full force of conversion.
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).
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.
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.
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.
Conroy’s time as Comms Minister is coming to an end
There are very good reasons to suspect that Stephen Conroy's reign of fire and blood as Australia's Communications Minister is rapidly coming to an end; with the nation to receive new talent in this crucial portfolio at the next Federal Election -- or even substantially before it.
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”.
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.
What now after the Dallas Buyers Club pirate claim is rejected as ‘surreal’?
Time and again, Australians have shown they are willing to pay for reasonably priced and accessible content. Copyright owners who try to extort money from downloaders are going about this the wrong way.
TPG’s $69.99 unlimited plan shows the NBN future
The $69.99 unlimited plan revealed by cut-rate ISP TPG yesterday shows what the future of broadband plans on the National Broadband Network will look like, and it's not good news for premium ISPs such as Telstra, Optus and iiNet.
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.
Why on-premise private cloud matters
In this article, CSC Australia and Asia chief technology & innovation officer Bob Hayward responds to our critical comments about the company’s recently launched BizCloud offering. Hayward is also a former director of IT advisory at KPMG and a former senior vice president and Gartner Fellow.
Oh dear: Is there some form of CS5 event coming up?
Judging from its Twitter account, it looks like someone at Adobe Australia and New Zealand has been told to drum up support for the company’s upcoming launch of its Creative Suite 5 products (Photoshop, InDesign and so on).
One step forward, two steps back: Govt cloud policy displays classic ignorance
The Federal Government has taken many positive steps forward in the past year with respect to freeing up its departments and agencies to adopt the new class of cloud computing technologies. But the release of an overly bureaucratic policy this month on offshore data storage has the potential to set that progress back substantially, relying as it does on several outdated concepts of risk management in IT projects.
How to keep more girls in IT at schools if we’re to close the...
The world is increasingly embracing digital technology, and so too are our schools. But many girls are still missing out on developing IT and programming skills.
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.
Will Telstra will be forced to wholesale 4G?
Telstra’s aggressive moves to wind back competition in Australia’s mobile sector, coupled with the rapid decline of Vodafone and the stagnation of Optus, has re-opened a conversation about whether the telco should be forced to offer wholesale access to its Next G mobile network – including the new 4G components of it.
Oh dear: How crazy can Pamela Anderson get?
It looks like local domain name reseller Crazy Domains has got itself into a spot of bother with the Advertising Standards Bureau about its advertisement (below) featuring former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson.
Online retailers yet to harness big social data
A large volume of social media data gets created on a daily basis from these customer service interactions. Companies need to be examining both the volumes of unstructured social media data created by their own processes as well as by their competitors for a better understanding of necessary process improvements.
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.
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.
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.
Obamacare web fiasco won’t be the last big IT fail
The uncomfortable reality is that no one really knows how to design or manage large, complex IT projects.
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.
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...
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.
ANZ’s purely tactical IT strategy is short-sighted
The purely tactical IT approach which ANZ is following may seem like the right one at the moment. But down the path, the bank may find its ability to shift gears technologically has been shredded to pieces through a process involving a thousand cuts.
eBook price war: The impact on Australia
News that there is a price drop for the Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook has done the rounds with the tech pundits and Twitterverse. But we Aussies need to ask, is the price war good for us?
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?
Lining up for an iPad does not make you crazy
Embedded in much of the coverage of Australian queues for the iPad 2 several weeks ago was a not-so-subtle implication that those who lined up for hours and sometimes days to buy the hyped Apple tablet must be somewhat crazy.
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.
Focus after the fact: The Lytro light field camera is in Australia
Today, nine-or-so months after its launch in the US, the Lytro camera will be available to buy in Australia – bringing with it the ability to refocus pictures in incredible detail after the fact.
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.
On folly, freedom and filters
Hannah has been using the Internet since she was four ... When Hannah uses the Internet, she uses a connection at home that is completely unfiltered, neither by the router we use nor by activating the fairly comprehensive parental controls that come as a standard part of modern operating systems. She has administrator access to the machine she uses and she also knows and understands how to access and manage the home network.
Towards a more complex NBN argument
The furious debate which took place over the weekend over National Broadband Network applications highlights the fact that the project raises fundamental questions about what the role of Government should be in our complex and multi-layered society ... and just what needs it should attempt to address.
Salesforce needs a more anti-social approach
As it continues its mega-push into what it has described as "social enterprise" technologies, Salesforce.com risks losing its focus on its core CRM products, particularly as its software as a service model has failed to prove itself in several key markets in Australia.
Hypocrisy: Turnbull’s NBN board choices belie his Labor criticism
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has spent much of the past year telling anybody who will listen that NBN Co's board needs more directors with actual telco network construction experience. Yet the candidates he's appointed or been reported to have approached so far for board positions cannot claim that background, and several have close ties to Turnbull's own Liberal Party.
Do Australia’s video game developers have a future?
While there are obviously plenty of opportunities to develop a sustainable video game industry in Australia, the key appears to be an ongoing dialogue between industry and policy advisors at a state level, and an association such as the GDAA.
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.
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: 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.
Mr Jobs, thanks for the iPads
My wife asked me the other day how much iPads would cost in Australia. "Don't worry," I said. "Just let Steve handle it. Steve knows what's best."
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.
Kogan vs Harvey Norman: Welcome to Sitzkrieg
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: “Unlimited” doesn’t mean “Unlimited”
The Delimiter office was a little surprised this afternoon when a courier appeared and handed us a copy of The Little Oxford English Ditcionary & Thesaurus. But what was inside?
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.
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.
Morrow must receive the dignity that Quigley never did
Those opposed to the Coalition's rival broadband policy must not step over the line into offensiveness in their pursuit of NBN Co chief executive Bill Morrow over past failures at US utility Pacific Gas & Electric. The better path of valor would be to treat Morrow with the same level of respect and dignity that his predecessor Mike Quigley deserved, but never got.
Not the Twitter election you were expecting
Now that the phoney war has ended and the real Federal Election is in full swing, mainstream media and blogs are debating if this will be the 'Twitter election' or some other flavour of social media revolution. I argue that it will be, but not the way the pundits are postulating.
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.
McAfee clients: do you have the guts?
McAfee customers whose systems went down yesterday should demand they get given money or an extended licence for the time they had to spend fixing the problem.
Why Delimiter is launching a forum
We have decided to keep the Delimiter forum and attempt to post content in it to attract users so that many more topics and many more Australian voices are heard. As always, it'll be a work in progress -- let us know what you think and what you want from it!
Where’s My Jetpack? An awesomely epic rant by Australia’s new CTO
If you have even the slightest interest in government IT or technology project management, we recommend you sit down with a cup of tea and your tablet and read this epic rant by Australia's new chief technology officer John Sheridan. It's worth it.
How Australia created the technology election
This election, online issues finally got the attention they deserve. And the situation is here to stay.
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.
Oh Dear: Firemen + the Church of Father Quigley
Industry lunches are generally pleasant and padded enough to bring in the bacon munchers -- but one does not expect a veritable comedy sketch and an impromptu evangelist "Hallelujah father! I am cleansed!" rejoice session.
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.
Atkinson: Are gamers celebrating too soon?
It may take another couple of elections before those in favour of game censorship run out of credits.
Optus’ stagnation begs leadership change
After seven years of leading Optus and many more in senior leadership positions at the telco before his ascension, O'Sullivan obviously still relishes his role and has a passion for the telecommunications industry. But he no longer has the energy to stay on the bleeding edge which the sector habitually operates on.
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.
Deconstructing Australia’s wireless/NBN fetish
The uncertain future development roadmap for wireless technologies and their potential to plug the broadband gap between copper and fibre means wireless will continue to be at the centre of the National Broadband Network debate for the foreseeable future.
In defence of Turnbulls’ NBN speed claims
Those blinded by Labor’s glitzy NBN vision need to rub their eyes for a second and realise that Malcolm Turnbull knows what he is talking about when he says there are few consumer applications which require the kinds of 100Mbps speeds which the fibre network will provide.
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.
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.
In secret piracy talks, iiNet risks losing its integrity
By participating in a series of highly secret, closed door negotiations with the Government and the content industry over the future of Internet piracy in Australia, national broadband provider iiNet risks losing its integrity and the trust of its customers that it will represent their best interests on the issue.
Australia is at a digital crossroads
A love of freedom is likely what terrifies me about parts of Mr Conroy's agenda. But the thing about freedom is it must be exercised to be of value.
Oh dear: NBN, ABC and … 4chan?
After our recent article on a pamphlet drop by NBN Tasmania, some readers have suggested the fledgling Taswegian company might have gone a bit far with its logo.
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.
XKeyscore + NSA surveillance leaks: Australian expert reaction
XKeyscore is an online surveillance tool run by America’s National Security Agency (NSA) that allows analysts to search contents of chats, emails and browsing histories without warrants. Australian experts respond in this article to the issue.
How’s that going to work, then? – Government 2.0 and purdah
Perhaps it's time we stopped considering departmental web sites and social tools an optional bolt-on and put them where they belong – as a part of the critical communication network government agencies rely upon to get their message out and serve their government and public.
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.
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.
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.
The company you keep: Section 313 notices and IPv4 collateral damage
Internet Protocol researcher Geoff Huston analyses the Federal Government's usage of Section 313 notices to block certain websites, with reference to the ongoing issue of how IPv4 addresses are being used on the Internet.
Having your Exchange cake and Gmail too
For the past several years, many Australian chief information officers and IT managers have been hard-locked into choosing between just two options when it comes to evaluating the future of their email systems.
4G comments taken out of context, says Hockey
Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey has described as "inaccurate and misleading" an article published by Delimiter which highlighted claims Hockey had made that 4G mobile broadband had the potential to be "far superior" than the NBN, claiming his comments were taken out of context.
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?
Opinion: Internode must slash its horrible NBN pricing
The release of iiNet's highly affordable National Broadband Network pricing this morning makes it as crystal clear as the view from Simon Hackett's glider that fellow ISP Internode must drastically slash its own prices or be left out of the NBN race altogether.
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.
The Govt should hold a referendum on the NBN
The Federal Government should hold a non-constitutional referendum during the next Federal Election on whether Labor's National Broadband Network should go ahead, in order to settle the long-term fate of this important decade-long infrastructure project once and for all and end the incessant political bickering around it.
eHealth — Where is the duty of care?
After watching the failure of the Government Home Insulation Scheme and the Payroll issues with Queensland Health unfold its clear that the eHealth issues in Australia are part of a much bigger problem.
Turnbull’s NBN hiring spree is pure election fodder
Like the fictional Frank Underwood’s ‘America Works’ program, the massive nbn hiring spree unveiled by Malcolm Turnbull in the wee hours of this morning is pure election fodder — a beguiling program designed to demonstrate to the electorate that the reigning Government is instantly responsible for thousands of new jobs.
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.
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.
Why no consumer voices for Turnbull’s ministerial council?
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull's new Ministerial Advisory Council last week features representatives from virtually every major Australian telecommunications company of any note. But the group most important to the future of the Australian telco sector -- consumers -- appear not to have been invited.
Australian court holds Google responsible for linking to defamatory websites
The South Australian Supreme Court this week found that Google is legally responsible when its search results link to defamatory content on the web.
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.
US Chinese military charges a smokescreen for its own spying
In a surprising move, a US District Court has charged five members of the Chinese military with hacking six US companies to obtain commercial secrets over the last eight years. The move has been denounced by the Chinese government and the US Ambassador has been called to Beijing as a result.
Oh dear: Turnbull’s web site wilts on first day
There's a long history of politicians and governments having problems keeping their web sites up. Conroy himself had a little spot of bother with the National Broadband Network Implementation Study back in May when the lengthy document was finally published online.
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.
A couple of important NBN corrections
Over the past several weeks, several prominent newspaper commentators have published a number of factual inaccuracies with respect to the Federal Government's National Broadband Network project. With the aim of informing good public policy debate, it seems appropriate to try and correct the record.
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.
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.
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.
The datacentres that ate NSW
Cloud computing: Surely it is time for some fresh thinking in NSW government procurement – as taxpayers, don’t we deserve it?
Free to fail: Why corporates are learning to love venture capital
Opening a venture capital branch seems to be the new “thing” in the corporate world. While Telstra and Westpac are the new big national players, Google is clearly ahead of the curve, with two distinct venture capital firms: the newly launched Google Capital and the five-year-old Google Ventures. But why are so many companies, across a range of sectors, now running to open their own venture capital funds?
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
Why NBN prices will be higher (by Malcolm Turnbull)
In this post, Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull responds to the claim that broadband pricing will not increase under Labor's National Broadband Network plan.
“Incredible” NBN debate stuck in “yesterday’s logic”, says Budde
Respected telecommunications analyst Paul Budde has called for a more constructive debate about Australia's future broadband needs, arguing that the current national conversation over the issue of the National Broadband Network is stuck using "yesterday's logic" as it fails to plan for the needs of a future only five to ten years away.
NBN Co must consider more aerial fibre deployments
NBN Co's Strategic Review process gives the company an unmissable opportunity to re-evaluate the early decision to deploy its FTTP network primarily through Telstra's underground ducts. The company and its new Coalition masters must now seriously consider deploying more fibre aerially on power poles in an effort to speed up its rollout substantially.
More blah blah blah: IT Advocate announced
The problems small and medium sized Australian companies face in winning Commonwealth IT contracts are as perennial as the grass. Two and a half years into a three year term and the Rudd Government solution is the appointment of a "respected industry figure" to "provide leadership."
Would FYX’s global mode have breached copyright?
We should think carefully about the inevitable alarmist claims regarding FYX and be wary about movie industry calls for new laws that protect their interests at the expense of Australian consumers.
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?
Give poor Huawei a break
Australians should stop making up stories about mythical back doors in Huawei code and let the company get on with selling its products to customers who clearly want to buy them.
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.
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.
Individuals not the priority in the Cyber Security Strategy
The Cyber Security Strategy announced today by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull clearly places a high priority on protecting Australian government systems from foreign powers. But when it comes to protecting citizens' personal information, it appears to be rather a mixed bag.
Cheaper hardware, software and digital downloads? Here’s how.
Australians are paying about twice as much as they should for a range of tech products including computers, software and digital downloads. It’s time for the government to act to bring this shameful situation to an end, to stop foreign multinationals from ripping us off. But until then, people should take steps to lower the cost of buying tech products. How? Read on.
Getting away with blue murder: How the NBN distraction is covering Telstra’s crimes
Under the cover of the NBN's madness and media hype, there's another high-wire act under way: The nation's other telco monopolist, Telstra, is successfully concentrating its market power; and that's not good news for anyone.
How high-speed wireless compares to cable in boosting our internet speeds
What’s needed is bipartisan commitment to accelerating NBN deployment along with modernising the infrastructure in the core network that will have to support increased access to broadband.
Senate run must be more than a get-out-of-jail card for Assange
What could a man like Julian Assange achieve within the orthodox structures of parliament?
Demolished? No. Turnbull’s criticism has only tempered the NBN argument
In September 2010, Tony Abbott set one of the Coalition's most senior politicians loose on Labor's flagship National Broadband Network project, with instructions to wreck and "demolish" it. Fifteen months later, with Malcolm Turnbull's credibility in the portfolio in tatters and his arguments falling on deaf ears, it is clear that mission has failed, with his criticism having only clarified and strengthened the NBN policy.
The Kindle Fire will storm Australia in 2012
Prediction: When Amazon's Kindle Fire launches in Australia next year, it will very quickly become the second most popular tablet locally behind Apple's dominant iPad, easily eclipsing rival offerings from the likes of Samsung, Motorola, Research in Motion and more.
NAB’s Bitcoin ban a symptom of the digital currency threat
Virtual currency Bitcoin is not a subject that ever draws neutral reactions. Against those who see the radical possibilities of a frictionless payment system designed for the internet, there is a growing resistance to the currencies that threaten existing business models and the perceived traceability of our current currency systems.
Curmudgeon: 3D smartphones have no depth of feel
3D smartphones won't succeed as gaming or content consumption devices, but that doesn't mean they won't find their niche.
Labor’s NBN is a natural monopoly, but the Coalition’s is not
The argument made by respected competition expert, academic and executive Fred Hilmer several weeks ago that the National Broadband Network is not a "natural monopoly" is somewhat convincing, but ultimately falls short by failing to acknowledge specific factors relevant to competition in the telecommunications sector.
Why are media giants so afraid of technology?
What our media companies should take from the popularity of piracy, even in Australia, is how this new medium (the big, bad Internet) can be used as a distribution channel for the new generation of media consumer.
BigPond broadband is cheap as chips
I stumbled upon a shocking and unbelievable truth when casually browsing around the websites of several of Australia's top internet service providers this afternoon.
Broken dreams: The NBN’s bubble has burst
With its rollout schedule significantly delayed yet again, its contractual and political relationships on the rocks and its transparency thrown out the window, it's apparent that NBN Co is not delivering the National Broadband Network the nation was promised. So what's the future of this great Australian dream?
Server vendors’ days are numbered
This week I had a conversation with an Australian chief information officer which I considered both profoundly interesting -- but also extremely disturbing.
Oh dear: Victorian town worships the god of USB
According to Wikipedia, the town of Waubra in Victoria has just 500-odd residents and was previously known as The Springs. Its Post Office opened...
Why Vodafone customers are a pack of lazy whingers
Don’t whinge about the company which is providing you with poor service, then sue them, and finally, demand the Government do something about their security problems. It’s an open, competitive market, people. DUMP THEIR ASS AND PICK ANOTHER PROVIDER. How hard can it be? Really, Vodafone customers, how long will it take you to realise you can go elsewhere?
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.
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.
Blackmailing NBN Co works best through the media
Over the past week a rather pathetic little game of bluster, bluff and ultimately blackmail has played itself out in Australia's telco sector as a handful of Australia's major ISPs have done everything in their power to demonstrate just how self-interested they can be when it comes to exploiting the National Broadband Network.
Can David Thodey escape his Big Blue shadow?
One cannot help but feel that there was a certain irony to David Thodey's life yesterday which must have been impossible for the Telstra CEO to ignore.
Abandoning the “National” Broadband Network label
It is no longer appropriate in 2014 for Australians to refer to the Coalition's radically watered down version of Labor's pet telecommunications initiative as the "National" Broadband Network project, given the fact that it will leave the long-term future of up to a third of Australians' broadband services in doubt.
Australia can’t stop multinational profit shifting in isolation
In a global economy it is logical that companies would want to structure their business to take advantage of beneficial rules in different countries. And equally each country will want a competitive corporate tax system to attract and retain economic activity. However, the policies of one country should not undermine the policies of another or cause them economic harm. Organisations such as the G20, EU and OECD must enable cooperation to make sure that countries are in agreement with each other’s policies and to pressure those countries whose policies are disadvantaging their neighbours.
Bevan and Baxter: Two more for the NBN board
Last week we proposed Internode founder Simon Hackett as a prime candidate to sit on NBN Co’s newly refreshed board under Tony Abbott’s new Coalition Government. Today we add two new prospective names to the list: PIPE Networks’ influential founders Bevan Slattery and Steve Baxter.
Don’t hang up yet: the latest study linking mobile phones to cancer has big...
You may have seen the headlines over the weekend, reporting on a new study that’s supposedly found a link between mobile phones and cancer. But all is not quite as it seems. And much of the alarm raised by the study is misplaced.
Where’s the NBN policy?
All of this leads to interesting questions about just how vertically integrated a company has to be in order to be considered in the same basket of market power as Telstra. If such a vertically integrated TPG existed, would the government then need to structurally separate them as well?
Did AGIMO censor Reinecke’s Gershon review?
When a Government entity blacks out a portion of a public document, it always sparks intense speculation as to what has been censored and why. Is the hidden information dangerous for Australia's enemies to know? Commercial in confidence? Or simply slightly embarassing?
Small business missing the mobile, social, cloud revolution
Most companies that live and breathe the online revolution are not tech startups, but smart smaller firms that use online tools to run their core business better: to cut costs, reach customers and suppliers, innovate and get more control. Many others, however, are falling behind, according to a new Grattan Institute discussion paper.
The FTTN truth the Coalition does not want known
ABC Technology & Games editor Nick Ross is the only journalist in Australia so far to have gone into the appropriate level of detail in analysing the Coalition's rival NBN policy. And the Coalition should be very afraid of this fact indeed: Because his most recent NBN opus reflects a knockout blow for its disastrously flawed fibre to the node plans.
Apple iTax: Made in Ireland, designed in the US
Apple, famous for its innovative products, is equally creative in its tax structure. From 2009 to 2012, it successfully sheltered US$44 billion from being taxed anywhere in the world, including sales generated in Australia.
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.
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.
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".
Why Modern Warfare 3 needs Australians
A good name would be something ocker like "Dazza", because that’s pretty Australian, or even better, "Budgie", which kinda says he likes to take the piss.
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.
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.
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?
A shake-up in Australia’s busy TV industry as Quickflix calls in the administrators
If Quickflix does fold or get absorbed by another local service, how many local services will survive? We may also see global VoD services taking over the local services.
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.
Optus’ NBN deal gives it an unfair advantage
Optus' $800 million National Broadband Network deal is an unnecessary and unsavoury sweetheart arrangement which smacks of favouritism and will deliver Optus a war chest with which to attack smaller rivals like iiNet, TPG and Internode; rivals which will not be paid to migrate their customers onto the NBN.
Myer fail displays appalling IT, business incompetency
The week-long outage of Myer's website starkly displays the fact that the company and its outsourcing partner IBM had failed to properly develop and test their infrastructure or put in place the most basic disaster recovery and business continuity plan, as well as highlighting the incredible immaturity of online retailing in Australia.