Government & Policy
15 April 2009
Federal Authority Over the Internet? The Cybersecurity Act of 2009 Electronic Frontiers Foundation
There's a new bill working its way through Congress that is cause for some alarm: the Cybersecurity Act of 2009, introduced by Senators Jay Rockefeller and Olympia Snowe. The bill as it exists now risks giving the federal government unprecedented power over the Internet without necessarily improving security in the ways that matter most. It should be opposed or radically amended.
In Warrantless Wiretapping Case, Obama DOJ's New Arguments Are Worse Than Bush's Electronic Frontiers Foundation
We had hoped this would go differently. Friday evening, in a motion to dismiss Jewel v. NSA, EFF's litigation against the National Security Agency for the warrantless wiretapping of countless Americans, the Obama Administration's made two deeply troubling arguments.
FCC launches development of national US broadband plan FCC
The Federal Communications Commission today begins the process of developing a national broadband plan that will seek to ensure that every American has access to broadband capability.
10 April 2009
State Liberals defy Malcolm Turnbull on broadband The Australian
Senior Liberals in two states have delivered Malcolm Turnbull an embarrassing rebuff, rejecting his staunch opposition to Kevin Rudd's proposed $43 billion high-speed broadband service, reports The Australian.
09 April 2009
UK authorities deny prototype intercept database ZDNet
According to the U.K. Home Office, no prototype database has been built by either the Home Office or the intelligence services, to test whether all U.K. citizens' communications information can be stored.
FCC Broadband Proposal May Miss Out on US Stimulus Washington Post
The Federal Communications Commission will embark today on a nearly year-long project aimed at bringing high-speed Internet to every U.S. home, a process that many hope will bring an agency long focused on arcane telephone rules into the digital age.
Aust Govt gambles with visionary national broadband; Opposition/Independents in the Dark Ages
The Australian Government's decision to go-it-alone and build the national broadband network has gained widespread support among telcos and ISPs. However the Opposition has come out against the proposal, along with independents Nick Xenophon and Steve Fielding who seem determined to keep Australia in the dark ages when it comes broadband access.
07 April 2009
Aust govt scraps broadband tender process for public/private company; Telstra dealt back in ABC News
The Federal Government has scrapped the controversial broadband tender process and will instead form a new public/private company to build a national network, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced, reports ABC News.
UK ISPs start storing user data under EU directive BBC News
Details of user e-mails, website visits and net phone calls will be stored by internet service providers (ISPs) from Monday under an EU directive.
European call for a watch on the watchers BBC News
Organisations tracking net use should themselves be monitored, say MEPs. The Euro-MPs overwhelmingly backed a statement which called on governments to list internet watching organisations and report on what they do.
Concern on Australia's broadband security The Age
A $10 billion-plus tender to build a new national broadband network will finally be unveiled this week, but the Opposition is warning that national security concerns must be paramount in determining the winner, reports The Age.
Several options open on Australia's national broadband network The Australian
Late last year, the Rudd Government rejected Telstra's proposal for a new Telstra-owned national broadband network. That was the easy part, reports The Australian.
US Internet Providers Gird for Fight With FCC Wall Street Journal
Cable and telephone companies are gearing up for a fight as regulators begin work Wednesday on a national broadband strategy that could bring major changes to how Internet services are delivered to American homes.
05 April 2009
Briton's personal web data to be stored for a year The Independent
The mobile calls, emails and website visits of every person in Britain will be stored for a year under sweeping new powers which come into force on Monday. Privacy campaigners warned last night that the information would be used by the Government to create a giant "Big Brother" super-database containing a map of everyone's private life.
04 April 2009
Chinese spies target Australian PM's email, mobile phone The Australian
Chinese spies have directly targeted Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd, repeatedly attempting to infiltrate prime ministerial email and mobile phone communications.
03 April 2009
Telstra will split for National Broadband Network Computerworld
Telstra has agreed to an operational split of its wholesale and retail arms if it wins the $4.7 billion National Broadband Network (NBN) following clandestine talks with Communications Minister Stephen Conroy.
02 April 2009
Make a connection: Australia's national broadband plan doomed to fail The Age
There is grim irony in the fact that the Government of the party pledged to look after the little people appears to be damaging the value of the Telstra shares into which more than a million Australian small investors sank their savings, reports The Age.
Editorial: At last, a telco victory for the New Zealand consumer New Zealand Herald
Preventing a repetition of the vertically integrated monopoly enjoyed by Telecom's copper network was always going to be a cardinal requirement of the Government's $1.5 billion investment in an ultra-fast broadband infrastructure, says The New Zealand Herald in an editorial.
01 April 2009
New Zealand govt reveals its $1.5bn high-speed fibre plan New Zealand Herald
The Government has unveiled plans for a new Crown-owned investment company that will spend up to $1.5 billion on high speed broadband infrastructure, reports The New Zealand Herald.
EU Poised to Establish Telecommunications Regulator New York Times
Lawmakers are moving to create a Europe-wide telecommunications regulator with the power to reverse policies in European Union member countries, a potentially major redistribution of power that could improve competition and lower prices across the Continent.
28 March 2009
E.U. Telecom Law Set to Enshrine the Right to Information PC World
A Europe-wide law forcing Internet service providers to cut subscribers off from the Internet if they illegally download copyright-protected music or movies isn't going to happen as part of an ongoing review of telecom rules, telecom commissioner Viviane Reding said in an interview.
EU calls out U.S. online gambling laws Reuters
A U.S. crackdown on European online gambling breaches World Trade Organisation rules and would justify action at the World Trade Organisation, the European Commission said on Thursday.
24 March 2009
NZ Government throws out section 92A Computerworld
Cabinet today announced that section 92A of the Copyright Act will not come into force on 27 March as scheduled, but will be amended to address "areas of concern", says commerce minister Simon Power.
18 March 2009
Sweden's Pirate Party Stands in EU Elections Der Spiegel
The Swedish Pirate Party is to stand in this summer's European elections to battle for the freedom of information. It's one of a growing number of parties in Europe that believe private citizens should be able to download books or music for their own use.
14 March 2009
UK government outlines digital rights agency proposal The Guardian
The government today fleshed out the digital rights agency proposed in Lord Carter's Digital Britain report and called for comment from the industry and consumers.
