New Open Letter Calls on TPP Negotiators to Stand up for User Safeguards
Copyright restricts all kinds of important, everyday uses of creative works—even worse, these strict rules last nearly two lifetimes for any given work. We are fighting to reform and push back against these restrictions in the secret Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), especially those that undermine the public’s ability to use, research, remix, or otherwise modify digital […]
IETF approves .onion as ‘special purpose domain’
The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) recently approved “.onion” as a “special-use” domain. This means, in effect, “.onion” will be treated in the same way .local, .localhost, and .example have been dealt with previously — that is, outside the global Domain Name System (DNS). Adding .onion to the Special-Use Domain Names registry will also enable […]
Australia: global village idiot (again)?
Australian Internet pioneer Geoff Huston thinks our data retention laws will result in our web browsing history being retained and thinks this relegates us to global village idiot status. Again. I recall from some years back, when we were debating in Australia some national Internet censorship proposal de jour, that if the Internet represented a […]
EFA again calls for ISP Copyright Code to be halted
EFA reiterates its call for the ISP Copyright Code to be halted. New research released last week by Choice confirms what EFA and most informed observers (including the Communications Minister) have been saying for some time, namely that the primary drivers of online copyright infringement in Australia are lack of timely availability and price discrimination. The Australian […]
High public officials must have at least basic computer skills
It is no longer acceptable for high-ranking public officials to not possess at least the most basic computer and electronic communication skills as are required for the most junior entry-level positions. Legal professionals particularly are required to undertake a minimum level of professional development throughout their careers. It is therefore very difficult to understand how […]