Copyright has been firmly back on the agenda in recent months. We’ve seen the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) release its report on copyright which recommended that Australia adopt a “fair use…
If the deal is sealed, ISPs will no longer be able to dictate which of their customers get faster service – well, in Europe anyway.
redCreative~/Flickr
Yesterday the European Parliament had an historic vote on the issue of “net neutrality”, and became the largest bloc in the world to affirm this open internet principle. This was part of a law on communications…
Civil unrest: anonymous comments are being banned from some popular websites - but does it chase away the trolls?
Shutterstock
Every day, millions of internet users leave comments on web sites and on social networks covering any topic imaginable. At its very best, commenting fosters a social community of people sharing an interest…
If the web needs new rules,who makes them?
Flickr / ocean.flynn
Web founder Sir Tim Berners-Lee wants an online “Magna Carta” to protect and ensure the independence of the internet. He’s also created a Web We Want campaign, calling on people to generate a digital bill…
You might have seen this week that there’s a campaign regarding the future of the internet. Its chief proponents? NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, inventor of the web Tim Berners-Lee, journalist Glenn…
After 25 years, it’s getting a bit dusty in there.
Arrqh
Most people would agree with the principle that good foundations are essential to any structure that is intended to last. But what if when you started building, you didn’t envisage how large, complex or…
Mark your territory now. It’s about to kick off online.
the justified sinner
More than 1,000 new generic top-level domain names – the part of an internet address that comes after the “dot” – are being rolled out by the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. It’s…
Ciarán Mc Mahon, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences and Mary Aiken, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences
Neknomination seems to have begun as a UK university phenomenon in 2012, but more recently burst into wider public consciousness in Australia, then South Africa and Canada. It has also been tragically…
How do three little punctuation marks convey emotion?
Veronica Belmont
We may not spend a lot of time thinking about the emoticons we insert into our emails and text messages, but it turns out that they reveal something interesting about the way we perceive facial expressions…
‘Success Kid’ – with its various slogans – has been an enduring meme of recent years.
Know Your Meme
Nothing defines our use of the internet as clearly as the concept of the meme (pronounced “meem”). Every day, millions of people laugh at LOLcats, dog shaming, and music videos without music, while others…
So meme, such Doge. This guy ruled the internet in 2013.
In the world of internet memes, 2013 was without doubt the Year of the Doge. Participants on Twitter, Tumblr and reddit created and circulated their own narrations of this Shiba’s fragmented internal monologue…
What are the implications for democracy if our greatest communication tool - the internet - is turned on the citizenry and used for surveillance?
EPA/Jim Lo Scalzo
Since June, thanks to the information disclosed by National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden, a troubling truth has come to light. The internet, and with it the entire gamut of new communication…
Is it ok to use sunbeds? Do mobile phones cause brain cancer? Should I cut out carbs? Is it safe to eat genetically modified food? Is this a “normal” symptom? Chances are that you’ll turn to the web for…
Many remote communities have been cut off from the internet, missing out on services and skills others take for granted.
yaruman5/flickr
Most remote Australian Indigenous communities have little or no access to digital technology. Last year, three internet-enabled terminals were installed as a trial in the remote communities of Burraluba…
Stringing optical fibre on power lines isn’t a new idea, but there are better ones.
Sarah Caulfield
Recent reports in The Australian call for the National Broadband Network (NBN) rollout to be sped up by using optical fibre strung overhead with power lines, rather than replacing Telstra’s copper network…
Free Wi-Fi not only benefits the public, but the local council and associated companies too.
Ed Yourdon
Last week, Melbourne City Council announced an action plan in the Council Plan 2013-17 to develop a strategy for free public Wi-Fi within the Melbourne CBD. Why is the council thinking of investing in…
The number of people in Britain who are using the internet has risen substantially, reaching 78% of the population aged 14 years and over as compared with 59% in 2003. But according to the latest survey…
Better than anything you can get in the shops. And it’s free.
mikecogh
Oxfam released a highly critical report last week warning that austerity measures in the UK are having a damaging effect on welfare. Despite the recent hurrah for Chancellor George Osborne over signs of…
Details have emerged of the US National Security Agency’s anti-cryptography effort, via whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Ole Spata/EPA
In the wake of the latest New York Times/Guardian UK/ProPublica triple team effort breaking news of America’s National Security Agency’s (NSA) anti-cryptography effort Sigint, a new level of social contract…
A ‘badly worded sentence or two’ put shadow communications minister Malcolm Turnbull on the back foot yesterday.
AAP/Dan Himbrechts
As of last night both major Australian political parties can claim to have at one time backed and then rejected internet filters. Is this an epic win for netizens? Yes, for the battle against censorship…
Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Deputy Dean Research at Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, The University of Melbourne