It's official, Malcolm Turnbull was run over by a little white ute with Queensland number plates

Image from The Brisbane Times

Federal Leader of the Opposition, Malcolm Bligh Turnbull, did a little political jay walking over the last fortnight and was skittled by a little white ute and a fake email.

His political standing has been shattered according to recent polls and this has given rise to these headlines and graphic:

The incredible shrinking leader Brisbane Times

Polling smashed Turnbull The Australian

Turnbull weaker than when he began The Sydney Morning Herald

Turnbull hammered by voters Brisbane Times

MalcomTurnbull is the big Ute-gate casualty: poll The Herald-Sun

It is being reported that Malcolm Turnbull's response to this disaster is not to reassess his own leadership but to reshuffle his front bench.

Yes, the lack of good political judgment continues........

Update on Communications Minister Conroy's plan to censor the Australian Internet

If the Federal Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy gets his way and imposes a national mandatory ISP-level Internet filtering scheme on Australia, it won't just be the usual filtering software players who will be looking to make capital out of this censorship by encouraging function creep.

Perhaps this report on current day Iran gives some indication of who else might also want a piece of the commercial pie.

From the Wall Street Journal online 23 June 2009:

Interviews with technology experts in Iran and outside the country say Iranian efforts at monitoring Internet information go well beyond blocking access to Web sites or severing Internet connections.

Instead, in confronting the political turmoil that has consumed the country this past week, the Iranian government appears to be engaging in a practice often called deep packet inspection, which enables authorities to not only block communication but to monitor it to gather information about individuals, as well as alter it for disinformation purposes, according to these experts.

The monitoring capability was provided, at least in part, by a joint venture of Siemens AG, the German conglomerate, and Nokia Corp., the Finnish cellphone company, in the second half of 2008, Ben Roome, a spokesman for the joint venture, confirmed.

The "monitoring center," installed within the government's telecom monopoly, was part of a larger contract with Iran that included mobile-phone networking technology, Mr. Roome said.

"If you sell networks, you also, intrinsically, sell the capability to intercept any communication that runs over them," said Mr. Roome.

The sale of the equipment to Iran by the joint venture, called Nokia Siemens Networks, was previously reported last year by the editor of an Austrian information-technology Web site called Futurezone.

Meanwhile, this month a spokesperson for the Minister appears to have confirmed that video games suitable for adults will also be blocked online by ISPs under the national filtering scheme, as well as websites which offer downloadable versions or sell physical copies of these games.

Which according to The Orstrahyun means that the Rudd-Conroy filtering scheme will likely block eBay and Amazon.

Does Conroy realise just how many Australians of voting age make a bit of pin money using these sites? Has he even thought of the many in rural and regional areas who regularly use these sites to long distance shop?

Disquiet continues about the lack of defined goals for this proposed $44.5 million scheme.

What will probably be my favourite political quote of the year

From ABC TV Insiders on Sunday 28th June 2009:

"ANTHONY ALABANESE, LEADER OF THE HOUSE (LABOR):

The Member for Wentworth knows a dead cat when he sees one. But this one has got no bounce.

I could have sworn I was witnessing the ghost of Mark Latham. It was all there, Mr Speaker. It was all there. The jaw jutting out. All the fake aggression. All the machismo. All the "We're going well!"

Past 'sins' and present failures all rolled into 9 sentences and lobbed across the House of Reps chamber amid hoots of derisive laughter.
And not one word could Opposition Leader Big Mal Turnbull respond to with threats of kitten-based legal action.
No-one deserved it more.

Pic from Google Images

Stephen Conroy nominated for UK Internet Villain Award

Image from LOLConroy

Click to enlarge

The UK Internet Industry Awards sponsored by ISPA will be announced at a gala black-tie event on 9 July 2009 in London.

The Australian Federal Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Stephen Conroy has been nominated, but not for an Internet Hero award.
The award category he is included in is Internet Villain.

Internet Villain
The Internet Villain category recognises individuals or organisations that have upset the Internet industry and hampered its development - those who the industry loves to hate. The ISPA Council will select the shortlist and eventual winner of the Internet Villain award.

2009 Nominees
European Parliament - "For supporting an amendment to the Telecom Package on cookies which could yet bring the internet to a standstill"
President Nicolas Sarkozy - "For his continued commitment to the HADOPI law, which advocates a system of graduated response, despite repeated arguments suggesting the law is disproportionate from a number of important groups including the European Parliament"
Baroness Vadera - "For excluding a number of ISPs and Rights Holders in agreeing a Memorandum of Understanding that was exclusive and ineffective in progressing relations between the two industries"
Stephen Conroy and the Australian Government - "For continuing to promote network-level blocking despite significant national and international opposition"