Here’s where we round up all the Aussie news around the ‘net about the ‘net, every week. Check in here for a quick primer on everything from piracy to privacy, data retention and what’s happening with the NBN.
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This week:
Australia Passes Law To Block Overseas Piracy Sites
Rights holders will now be able to apply to Australia’s courts to have websites that they allege contain copyright infringing material, or that contain links to infringing material, blocked. Australia’s “second internet filter”, according to Greens senator Scott Ludlam, is riling up the web-surfing public, but passed with a strong majority and bipartisan support.
Telstra’s Nationwide Wi-Fi Network Is Now Called Air
Telstra has retrofitted its old payphones with Wi-Fi hotspots, and hooked up new hotspots in shopping centres, cafes, sporting stadiums and train stations, to build the largest Wi-Fi network in the country. It’s being built for Telstra’s home broadband customers to use when they’re out and about, it’s called Air, and it’ll switch on next Tuesday.
NBN Gets Go Ahead For Multi-Technology Mix Rollout
The ACCC has signed off on nbn’s multi-technology mix of fibre to the node (FTTN) and hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC, or cable) network, using existing technologies already in the ground, to cheaply and quickly grow out the National Broadband Network. Now that the appropriate rubber stamp has been applied, it’s now a formality for the NBN build to transition to its new design.
Best VPN Providers: What Australians Need To Know
Not all VPNs are created equal. Some keep logs, some cap your traffic, some don’t work on mobile, some don’t work at all. This is what you need to know about choosing a VPN provider, as well as a few recommendations to get you started.
$385m Mobile Black Spot Fix From Gov’t, Telstra And Vodafone
Federal, state and local governments are spending up along with Telstra and Vodafone to boost those carriers’ coverage in mobile phone blackspots around Australia. $385 million has been pledged over the next three years to fix poor mobile network reception in outer metro, regional and remote areas of the country, with the first improvements made before the end of this year.
Reminder: Don’t Use Hola To Beat Data Retention Or Site Blocking
Hola was once regarded as a great way to get access to things like Netflix’s US catalogue or Hulu Plus. You might think about using it to get around site blocking restrictions and hide yourself from the Government’s data retention scheme. That’s a bad idea. Here’s why you shouldn’t use Hola. Like, ever.