In preparation for its fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) rollout, the Federal Labor government is resuming its campaign to change legislation to allow it to access the AU$2 billion regional and rural Communications Fund, which the government claims is needed to bankroll part of the network's construction.
The government and its Labor rivals have been indulging in a slanging match over the Coalition's plans to introduce Internet porn blocking software.
With legislation obliging telcos to share their network infrastructure details passed by the House of Representatives last night, it has been revealed that the government may compensate carriers for sharing their intellectual property.
Labor will seek clarification from the regulator over the government's announcements on WiMax, accusing the Coalition of trying to defraud voters over the capabilities of the technology.
New restrictions for adult content on converged devices like 3G phones will soon be introduced to parliament, but filtering at the internet service provider (ISP) level won't work, according to Communications minister Helen Coonan.
The council rubbish truck didn't pick up my bin last week. Instead, the garbage contractor left a big yellow sticker highlighting exactly why my old egg shells, rancid fruit, microwave pizza boxes, an ancient and smelly pair of sneakers, and the odd brick had been left to rot on my property.
Say what you will about Senator Stephen Conroy, but he is clearly not a man afraid of confrontation. Well, he'd better not be, because by killing off the OPEL WiMax project he has just set himself up for a battle with Telstra of Biblical proportions or a big meal of crow washed down with a $4.7 billion gift to SingTel Optus.
Labor's policy of socialised broadband has certainly proved much harder than the party believed it would be back when it was in Opposition, but it is Telstra that stands to lose the most from the NBN - and that applies whether it loses the NBN contract or wins it.
For no particular reason that I can discern, a 1979 Kenny Rogers song popped into my head as I was considering the ever more complex morass that is the national broadband network tender which Senator Stephen Conroy defended in his CeBIT keynote speech.
It has been a busy year in telecoms, whether because of the increasingly bitter relationship between Telstra and the government; the awarding of the contentious but (finally) progressive broadband contract to OPEL; the pivotal election that led to a change of government; or the move of 3G mobile technology into the mainstream at last.
If the world's homes are to enjoy the same high speed connectivity as its offices, the current thinking goes, then fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) will soon become necessary. However, not all Internet economies were created equal.
Can a national ID card protect Australians against terrorist attacks? And can citizens' details be protected by Public Key Infrastructure? We look at the types of hardware and software employed to combat terrorism, and how ports and other critical infrastructure are protected.
This is the second part of our Q&A series between IT Minister Daryl Williams and his political foe, Kate Lundy. To read Part I, please click here.
If we're losing the battle against spam, how can we win the war? In this special report, ZDNet Australia presents a comprehensive resource centre for IT professionals battling spam.
A coalition aiming to junk e-mail unites behind a US law but stumbles over a technology solution.
Indecisive notebook shoppers, let go of your mouse and look no further. The new Solo 5300 XL from Gateway delivers the perfect compromise between easy-on-the-shoulders portability and muscular desktop-replacement power.
It's certainly slicker looking, but is there more to the newest version of Office than just a pretty face? Here's our in-depth look at what's new and what's not.
History of British PCs
The cash-strapped UK National Museum of Computing is home to an exhibition of the evolution of British PCs.… Watch it now
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