Highspeed Internet for Oz
The Australian government is planning on creating a national high speed broadband network at a cost of $43 billion dollars. One of the biggest Internet upgrades world wide. The 8 year project should create 37,000 jobs and give a lift to the slumping economy. This announcement surprised private firms bidding to build a less advanced system for about $10 billion dollars. Firms included Optus of Singapore and Axia NetMedia of Canada.
The hi tech network will deliver speeds of up to 100 megabits per second for 90% of Australia. The government plans to become the world leader by investing in it’s Internet infrastructure. Analysts are skeptical that such actions will produce the much needed economic stimulus required as other G5 nations are pursuing a less aggressive infrastructure upgrade. Only time will tell if Rudd is choosing the right path. NYT
Another interesting topic raised is television. With a faster Internet connection many may choose to download their favorite episodes rather than watching them live costing broadcasters vital advertising revenues. Perhaps this paradigm shift will cause the boost of one media while causing the fall of another. (news.com.au)
Internet to stay uncensored
The attempt by the government to censor all forms of the internet has failed thanks to Senator Nick Xenophon. He’s an independent senator who supports blocking online gambling sites, finally came to his senses and changed his support. The technology experts still question whether it’s even possible given the agenda of high speed broadband for all.
However, undeterred, the government still plans to pursue some form of filtering technology perhaps softening their stance on content. As well they will probably continue to ignore the advice of experts in the field. (link)
Download while you still can!
Are you prepared to have your Internet filtered in the coming year? Well you should download while you still can. The government plans on blocking peer to peer traffic as well. This means no more BiTorrent, no more Limewire, no more illegal ‘free’ downloads. This is just another step in the government’s plan to censor content regardless of format. This is exactly a step towards a dictatorship or communistic approach just like in China. Remember all the blocked sites fiasco during the Olympics? Let’s hope our ISP’s and EFF stand up for our rights. What happened to our democracy?
Filtering ISP’s: too ambitious?
Looks like Internet filtering is here to stay but is the government’s plan too ambitious? Do politicians even grasp the difficulty involved here? The media authority plans to maintain a massive blacklist of websites which Internet service providers will be responsible for filtering out. If were a simple issue of running some software then it would have been done already. IP addresses, DNS issues, underground service providers. Throw civil liberties out the window. How far are we to becoming a “Big Brother” state? Who will police the police? At what point did we give up our right to choice? Oh I forgot, we’re too dumb to decide what’s right for ourselves. We might as well let the government decide that for us.
What about the country?
So it turns out that Malcolm Turnbull smoked pot, big deal. Why are public servants held to a higher standard than the rest of us? They are regular people just like you and me. Who can honestly say that they’ve never smoked pot during their college days? A more startling revelation would be if he admitted that he still smokes pot. Still the admission caused a stir. Perhaps the voting public would have preferred he lied about it.
Perhaps the truth about his personal life isn’t what we really want to hear but the truth about the government issues affecting the country. I’d rather he’d lie about his personal life (which I don’t care about) and be honest about issues such as the economy? Health care? The war in Iraq? What you do in your own time should be your business, however when you are on the job, representing the country, we the people should be entitled to know the truth.
