copyright – Page 3 – Stilgherrian

13 April 2015

Weekly Wrap 253: Easter and too many things

My week of Monday 6 to Sunday 12 April 2015 was a little busier than it should have been, given that the Easter long weekend was in there. Mind you, I did plenty of work-related things in there.

I won’t list them all, because some of them were background things that you’re not allowed to know about yet. And some of them were thoughtful, long-term things that will be discussed soon enough. So it’s just the list for now.

Podcasts

“The 9pm Government by Fools”, being The 9pm Edict episode 39. It contains a brief rant about pies, amongst other things.

Articles

Downloaders be warned: Dallas Buyers Club wants your name and address, Crikey, 8 April 2015.

5at5

Three editions of 5at5 this week, on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. To save me having to tell you this, you could just subscribe.

Media Appearances

None.

Corporate Largesse

On Thursday, I went to the Australian media launch of VMware’s vCloudAir service at L’Aqua Restaurant at Cockle Bay, where a very lovely brunch was served.

The Week Ahead

I’m in Sydney all this week, and have a bunch of things to do, but in no particular order. I’ve got to plan the next month, produce an episode of The 9pm Edict podcast by Tuesday night, plan out a subscription drive for that podcast, review six TV scripts, write a column for ZDNet Australia, produce and post the recording of last week’s UTS lecture, coordinate some medical treatment, and finally assemble that ebook that’s been lurking in the back of the to-do list for far, far too long.

[Photo: En route to Sydney, being the view from a Blue Mountains line train as it travelled down to Sydney in the early morning light on Thursday 9 April 2015. It was a very different mood from last week’s view.]

31 December 201401 January 2015

Fine posts for 2014, such that they are

As in previous years, the list of most popular posts for 2014 was disappointing, so I’ve compiled this list for you to consider instead.

As it happens, only three posts stood out for me, and all of them were on the previous list.

May Reza Berati be the last, Mr Abbott. I do like this as exampled of the controlled rant, barely concealing a seething rage.
Operation Sovereign Borders, sinister and banal. Ditto for my reaction to Mick Kinley, acting chief executive officer of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) shrugging off concerns that Australia removes safety equipment from the lifeboats we put asylum seekers on before telling them to go home.
Algorithms and the Filter Bubble, Take 3. I continue to get compliments about this lecture, so it deserves to be on the list.

In the past I haven’t included the material I wrote elsewhere, for ZDNet Australia, Technology Spectator, CSO Online, Crikey, ABC The Drum and the rest. That’s all listed on my Media Output page. But this year I will highlight some of my personal favourites.

It’s strange, but we never really had to learn to love the bomb, Crikey, 29 January 2014.
Want secure software? Listen to Marge Simpson, ZDNet Australia, 13 March 2014.
It’s time that ‘metadata’ met an end, ZDNet Australia, 20 March 2014.
Enjoy your Ubergasm, but don’t expect respect in the morning, ZDNet Australia, 30 April 2014.
To win the cloud, remember George Westinghouse, ZDNet Australia, 27 May 2014.
Enough with the cyber ‘wake-up calls’, ZDNet Australia, 11 June 2014.
Google’s backward step on Android app privacy, ZDNet Australia, 20 June 2014.
Big data is just a big, distracting bubble, soon to burst, ZDNet Australia, 11 July 2014.
Beware the spin behind Australia’s new surveillance laws, ZDNet Australia, 21 July 2014.
Beware the spin behind Australia’s copyright law discussion paper, ZDNet Australia, 28 July 2014.
Putting people at the centre of enterprise security, ZDNet Australia, 3 November 2014.

Continue reading “Fine posts for 2014, such that they are”

04 September 201419 September 2014

Talking geoblocking and copyright on ABC Gold Coast

ABC logo The government’s discussion paper on online copyright infringement came out just over a month ago, the submissions period closed on Monday, and now the debate is really kicking off — including on the complicated legal issue of geoblocking.

Now I’ve already given my opinion on the political spin in the discussion paper itself. But the specific issue of geoblocking came up on ABC Gold Coast, and this morning I spoke with breakfast presenter Bern Young.

Legally it’s a grey area. By signing up for a Netflix account from Australia, for example, you may be breaking the terms and conditions of their service. But you’re still paying for the content, and money is passed on the the actual producers.

The only people missing out are the local Australian distributors who’ve inserted themselves between the content producers and the audience. What value are they adding, exactly? The whole point of the internet is to enable people to connect globally.

CHOICE sees it as a consumer issue. Doesn’t geoblocking, the restriction of content availability by location, restrict competition? They’ve just launched a TV campaign making that point. Even the government’s own inquiry into IT pricing recommended that geoblocking be outlawed.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (3.6MB)

28 June 201427 January 2019

The 9pm Humanity, with added confusion

The Internet of Trees: click to embiggen

This episode of The 9pm Edict heads into a eucalypt forest in search of the internet, and encounters a dog.

You’ll hear about the National Broadband Network’s fibre-to-the-node trial, Russell Brand, Bertrand Russell, the 20th anniversary of a sarin nerve gas attack in Japan, the 25th birthday of the internet in Australia, the 60th birthday of nuclear power stations, Hillary Clinton and the mangoes, Google co-funder Larry Page’s threat to kill 100,000 people, and the arsehattery of Village Roadshow co-CEO Graham Burke.

And there’s the dog, of course.

And a cat. Sort of.

But don’t forget the dog.

13 April 201413 April 2014

Talking copyright infringement on ABC 720 Perth

ABC logo Another series of Game of Thrones is released, which means another series of radio spots talking about Australia’s reputation for (allegedly) massive levels of illegal downloads.

This spot is from Tuesday 8 April, a chat with ABC 720 Perth afternoon presenter Gillian O’Shaughnessy, triggered by the news that the first episode of Game of Thrones series four had seen record levels of illegal downloads, with Perth topping the list — although Angus Kidman at Lifehacker disagrees.

One highlight of this conversation is when I suggest that the entire Australian content distribution industry should just get out of the way, retire and go play on their yachts.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.7MB)

01 March 2014

Talking digital copyright on ABC 105.7 Darwin

ABC logo The third radio spot I did about Attorney-General George Brandis’ comments on digital copyright was with ABC 105.7 Darwin on Wednesday 19 February. Here it is.

(“Third” you ask? There’s only been one other posted so far. That’s true. The second spot was with Dom Knight on ABC 702 Sydney on Tuesday 18 February. But I don’t have a recording for you. Sorry.)

This is roughly the same discussion I had on Spoke on Tuesday, but with presenter Kate O’Toole and ~~after I’d drank a bottle of Sangiovese Barbera~~ after I got angrier about the issues. So the concept of graduated response is a thing again, I allude to the iiTrial and so on. And yes I mentioned Rebecca Giblin’s research.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.0MB)