A new joint venture announced yesterday will double Australia’s international data capacity by 2013. Such a vast improvement to key national infrastructure is newsworthy in itself, writes Stilgherrian.
Articles by Stilgherrian 
About Stilgherrian
Opinionated writer, broadcaster & consultant about digital things, based in Sydney. All hail Eris! Vive les poissons rouges sauvages!
The internet taking a back seat during the campaign
So far, the major parties’ use of the internet during this election has been a bit average. I blame the media. And the parties. And the social media expert gurus (SMEGs).
‘Open government’ declared in Australia
Australia now has open government, though you’d be forgiven for not noticing.
Crikey Clarifier: What is cloud computing?
The cloud computing revolution is real. But is it really “a radical new business model that purports to slash technology costs by up to 80%”? Let’s check the facts.
NBN not over the line yet
Yesterday’s agreement, as explained by NBN Co and Telstra, certainly delivers a certain amount of clarity, but certainly not certainty. Either Telstra or NBN Co can bail out any time they like.
Turks hack Israeli Facebook accounts over Gaza blockade incident
Individual Facebook users have become targets of political hacking — presumably by two Turkish hackers — over the Gaza blockade incident.
Mavi Marmari photos faked by Israel? Probably not
Word is spreading that photos allegedly showing weapons seized aboard the Gaza aid convoy ship Mavi Marmari have been faked by Israel, taken years ago. But the conspiracy doesn’t have legs.
Crikey Clarifier: Why Facebook users are quitting, including me
If Facebook doesn’t clean up its act, it could well be forced to. More than 30,000 people deleted their Facebook account on Monday’s international Quit Facebook Day. Why?
Startpage: a ‘private’ search engine, but who’ll care?
Despite calling itself “popular”, Startpage isn’t in Nielsen’s top 10 US search sites, which means it’d have less than 0.3% of the search market share. So can it manage to become the new Google?
Letter from...: Redmond, Washington: inside Microsoft HQ
If Microsoft is an also-ran, the news has yet to permeate the company’s Pacific Northwest headquarters. The sheer scale of Microsoft doesn’t really hit until you arrive at “the campus”.
Crikey Clarifier: Why Google’s reputation went whiffy over Wi-Fi
Google is under investigation in at least four countries following a “mistake”, which led to wireless communications being recorded illegally and other dodgy antics. What went wrong?
Thodey’s vision for a hand-held broadband video future
In Telstra chief David Thodey’s digital future, nearly everyone over the age of 10 has one or two devices for interacting with the internet. An enthusiastic CEO will help keep the investors interested — but for how long?
IT: More NBN vagueness, border control and cyber-safety re-allocation
You might think “the single largest nation-building infrastructure project in Australia’s history” would figure prominently in the Budget. It doesn’t. For the third year running, the bulk of the NBN’s cost to taxpayers remains unspecified.
Slow, slow little steps to Government 2.0
The Government Response to the Report of the Government 2.0 Taskforce was released yesterday. Too bad that the Rudd government has a distinctly mixed record when it comes to turning good intentions into legislative and operational reality.
Crikey Clarifier: Apple versus Adobe
Apple’s battle with software giant Adobe — over Apple not allowing iPhone’s to use Adobe Flash — has potentially billions of dollars worth of implications on the entire mobile computing market. So what’s the fight about?
Google’s got Groggle by the goolies, squeezing hard
Google threatens a tiny Australian start-up, alleging trademark infringement. It’s classic David versus Goliath… but does Google have a choice?
Is ACMA chair’s ‘telco hell’ acceptable?
It’s all too easy to blame “the internet” when things go wrong. But we should all be taking responsibility for the networks we set up and attach to the public internet.
How to fix Refused Classification online: start again
Stephen Conroy’s department published the 174 public submissions it received on the oddly Kafkaesque issue of improving the transparency of creating a secret censorship blacklist. It’s clear a whole new system is needed.
Government 2.0 #fail — spending $43b on an NBN in secret
Senator Stephen Conroy is unable to release the NBN implementation report. Further evidence that truly participative Government 2.0 is still a long, long way off. What happened to open government, Rudd?
Health ID cards unleash ’scary’ Little Brothers
The Healthcare Identifiers Bill introduced last Wednesday is sketchy at best, and Health Minister Nicola Roxon has already been forced into releasing an equally sketchy draft of the accompanying regulations on Friday.
Facebook’s ‘news feed’ patent — just a legal novelty?
Facebook’s “news feed” patent is a classic example of why the very idea of software patents is controversial. But is patent law’s “novelty” requirement really anything new?
How I brought down the Parliament House website
Last week’s Operation Titstorm attacks by online activist group “Anonymous” brought down the Parliament House website for three days. One cyber hacker tells Crikey just how easy it was to do.
Conroy tells movie industry, ISPs to kiss and make up
After last week’s Federal Court win for internet service provider iiNet, the movie industry was looking to the government to help them out. But the government has told it to sort out its own problems.
iiNet decision a slapdown for AFACT, movie industry
After yesterday’s Federal Court decision clearing iiNet of responsibility for copyright infringement by their customers, the Australian Federation Against Copyright theft is considering its next steps.
iiTrial: ISPs not responsible for users’ copyright infringement
A landmark ruling in Australia’s Federal Court today has cleared internet service provider iiNet from responsibility for its users’ illegal file sharing.
