Author: Stilgherrian

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Talking Telstra wholesale pricing on 1395 FIVEaa

FIVEaa logoTelstra is Australia’s biggest telco, and owner of the vast majority of the copper customer access network (CAN), the so called “last mile” — and it wants to raise its wholesale prices, charging other telcos 7.2% more.

“The move would affect almost every Australian with a phone line or an internet connection, because Telstra owns most of the copper phone lines that other telcos depend on to service their customers,” reported ABC News.

“The company leases about 4 million line services to rivals and has not raised wholesale prices since 2011.”

On Wednesday I spoke about the distinction between retail and wholesale telecommunications providers, and whether a 7.2% rise is reasonable, with Will Goodings on 1395 FIVEaa — after independent Senator Nick Xenophon has given his views.

Xenophon thought the rise was unreasonable, because Telstra had “gotten $11 billion” from NBN Co. I disagreed on both counts.

For reference, here’s the current Telstra Wholesale rate card (PDF).

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 18:33 — 11.9MB)

The audio is ©2014 dmgRadio Australia.

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The 9pm Vision for Australia

Screenshot of PM Tony Abbott paying tribute to the late Gough Whitlam

Australia’s former Prime Minsister Gough Whitlam is dead. Politicians across the political spectrum praise Whitlam as a man of vision, but how does the current mob stand up? And yesterday was International Fisting Day. What did you do to celebrate?

Elephant stamps of approval go to an Australians this time: Bronwyn Bishop, Speaker of the House of Representatives, for her rumour-based security process; and Senator Jacqui Lambie, for confusing outrageous movie-plot ideas with reality.

We received two listener comments! In my response, I referred to some things I’ve discussed previously in Berners-Lee, Silicon Valley, and Australia’s cultural cringe and And the digital Antoinettes cried ‘Unemployed? Let them cut code’ and iPhone, therefore I am …a selfish disruptor and Enjoy your Ubergasm, but don’t expect respect in the morning.

And we refer to videos including the 1972 campaign song It’s Time, tributes to Gough Whitlam by Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull, and Will.I.Am’s launch video for i.am/PULS.

Continue reading “The 9pm Vision for Australia”
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Corrupted Nerds on metadata, surveillance and privacy

Corrupted Nerds 12 cover image: click for podcast pageLast Wednesday I had the very great pleasure to moderate an event titled “Data Retention: the European Experience”, a public conversation with Privacy International’s legal director Carly Nyst. The audio from the event forms the latest Corrupted Nerds: Conversations podcast.

This is a live issue in Australia right now. Australia’s favourite Attorney-General, Senator George Brandis QC, has said, “This is very much the way in which western nations are going, it’s been the case in Europe under the European Data Retention directive for some little while now.” Except that’s not true.

What Brandis didn’t say was that the European Court of Justice has declared the blanket recording of telecommunications data to be a breach of human rights. It isn’t a proportionate response to the claimed threat, and there’s no evidence that it’ll actually even help.

Europe is now winding back data retention. Well, except for the UK.

In this hour-long conversation, Nyst and I discuss the legal and historical background to data retention; the risks of the blurring law enforcement and foreign signals intelligence-gathering for national security; the revelations of Edward Sowden; and whether Australia really does have robust democratic institutions which can protect us from the risks of surveillance over-reach.

The event was organised by Electronic Frontiers Australia and the Australian Privacy Foundation.

Please, listen to the entire podcast. Or, if you prefer a quick read, try my op-ed at ZDNet Australia today, Will metadata musings ever mature beyond paranoid fears?

Subscribe to all Corrupted Nerds podcasts via RSS, iTunes and SoundCloud.

If you enjoyed this podcast, why not make a tip, or even subscribe? Every contribution helps me provide these podcasts for free.

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Weekly Wrap 228: Snow, at least nearby, and privacy

A narrow-leafed drumstick (Isopogon anethifolius): click to embiggenMy week of Monday 13 to Sunday 19 October 2014 must have been influenced by the photo I posted last week, because it did end up snowing in the Blue Mountains — but no closer than 8km from me.

So, in the interests of triggering pleasant spring conditions for the week ahead, I’ve kicked off with another pleasant photo from my archives.

Articles

I’ve also written a second piece for ZDNet Australia, but it won’t appear until Monday.

Media Appearances

Corporate Largesse

None.

The Week Ahead

It’ll be a busy one. While I haven’t mapped out exactly what will happen each day — I can’t do so until a certain tardy clients pays me and I can lock in certain commitments — there’s plenty of media objects to make.

A new ZDNet Australia column and a new Corrupted Nerds podcast will appear on Monday, as I said. After that, I’ve got two ZDNet Australia pieces to write, and an episode of The 9pm Edict to produce. I also want to resurrect the 5at5 newsletter, but that has a lower priority.

The weekend is unplanned.

[Photo: Yellow, being a narrow-leafed drumstick (Isopogon anethifolius) photographed at Bunjaree Cottages on 1 November 2012.]

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Talking voiceprint biometrics on 1395 FIVEaa

FIVEaa logo“Two of America’s biggest retail banks — JPMorgan Chase & Co, and Wells Fargo & Co — are quietly recording the biometric details of some callers’ voices to weed out fraud,” reported Associated Press this week. The news caught the eye of Will Goodings at 1395 FIVEaa in Adelaide. I told him that the Americans are way behind Australia on this one.

All of the Big Four banks here are already using voiceprints. In the case of NAB and Westpac, since about 2009.

In fact, Australia is a world leader in voiceprint technology. In a Patch Monday podcast from March 2012, I spoke with Dr Clive Summerfield, chief executive of Auraya, who told me that Australia’s social services agency Centrelink has been using voiceprints to identify callers since 2005, and more than 95% of callers are identified this way. Voiceprints are also used by the Australian Taxation Office.

Here’s a recording of the conversation we had on air on Friday afternoon, complete with a talkback caller who followed me.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:40 — 7.5MB)

The audio is ©2014 dmgRadio Australia.

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Weekly Wrap 227: No snow, no productivity

Waratah in the snow: click to embiggenI am not impressed with my week of Monday 6 to Sunday 12 October 2014. While I did produce a podcast, and also caught up with a friend and visited a part of Sydney that I hadn’t previously explored, it was still less productive that I’d hoped.

There are reasons. I’ll tell you about them another time. Soon.

For completely unrelated reasons, I’ve decided to run an old photo, not a new one. Exactly two years and one day ago, it was snowing at Wentworth Falls. One year and a week ago, the place was under threat from bushfires. Welcome to Australia. It’s a stupid place.

Podcasts

  • “The 9pm Mental Health Awareness Week”, being The 9pm Edict episode 30, 7 October 2014. It’s not actually about mental health or, indeed, awareness.

Articles

Media Appearances

None.

Corporate Largesse

None.

The Week Ahead

There’s only one firm fixture in my week so far.

On Wednesday I’ll be in Sydney to host Data Retention: the European experience, a conversation with Privacy International’s legal director Carly Nyst. The event is being presented by Electronic Frontiers Australia in conjunction with the Australian Privacy Foundation and Privacy International. Book here.

Other than that, I have a column or two to write for ZDNet Australia, and I’ll be producing an episode of The 9pm Edict podcast, but the exact order of play is yet to be determined. Like you care.

[Photo: Waratah in the snow, photographed at Bunjaree Cottages two years ago on 12 October 2012.]