Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: You can't always get what you want

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  • Rich of Observationz,

    The reasoning was that technology intended merely to control geographic pricing was no business of copyright law.

    Wierd. But the Bill doesn't exempt any other non-financial uses of copyright law, does it? (Is it still forbidden to ship stuff between markets against the wishes of the copyright holder, or was that removed in NZ some time ago?)

    Is one allowed to use copyright law to regulate the use of a copyrighted item whilst not charging for that item (I'm getting at the GPL here)? Would a GPL enforcement device, if one could conceive of such a thing, be a protected TPM?

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Idiot Savant,

    Also, the Media 7 promo on the front page of tvnz.co.nz describes its host as the "king of the blogosphere". Does that make us his loyal servants?

    Nae King! Nae quin! Nae Laird! Nae master! We willna' be fooled agin!

    (Channeling my inner Feegle)

    Palmerston North • Since Nov 2006 • 1717 posts Report Reply

  • Idiot Savant,

    And sure, Parliament has passed a law outlawing bypassing TPMs. But with format-shifting so ingrained, do they really expect anyone to give a damn?

    Palmerston North • Since Nov 2006 • 1717 posts Report Reply

  • Christiaan,

    Inspiring talk by Larry Lessig:

    How creativity is being strangled by the law
    http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/187

    Portugal • Since Dec 2006 • 121 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Hosking,

    Nae King! Nae quin! Nae Laird! Nae master! We willna' be fooled agin!

    Crivens! There can only be one t'ousand!

    South Roseneath • Since Nov 2006 • 830 posts Report Reply

  • David Hamilton,

    Serfs?

    Toiling day and night in the underground comment mines...

    Hamiltron • Since Nov 2006 • 111 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Toiling day and night in the underground comment mines...

    Where unpaid child labour forms the bulk of the work.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Matthew Poole,

    Rich wrote:

    How flexible a technology is fibre? Will we spend $$$ on putting in 2010-generation fibre and then find it's obsolete in 10 years? (Good-quality copper has transitioned from the 3kHz analog it was installed for through to 20Mbit DSL). How many people will opt for expensive fibre over said 20Mbit copper (or won't we get a choice?). How much backhaul is this going to need and who's going to provide it?

    Fibre is fibre. The transmission tech keeps on improving, and consequently the capacity keeps on increasing. Even the cheap "plastic" fibre that gets used for short-distance links in server rooms can carry multiple GB/s, and the limitations keep reducing. Unlike copper, pumping more data down fibre just means adding another wavelength of light. Until the light spectrum is saturated, we won't hit the top edge of fibre's capacity.

    There's really no such thing as "2010-generation fibre". The upgrades to the transmission equipment are pretty invisible to users, and for a company that has only a fibre network as an asset putting in new tech is a no-brainer.

    Because of fibre's effectively unlimited capacity, backhaul isn't a problem. The users at home get connected to a 100Mb/s or whatever link, and that connects back to the cabinet, which multiplexes lots of piddly little links into one much-bigger link, and that connects back to the exchange, where all the cabinet links get multiplexed into one honking great (technical term) link to regional exchanges, and so forth. Eventually it makes its way back to the ISP, after much (de)multiplexing, and gets treated the same way as it does now.

    Fibre is the future. Sure we can keep on pushing copper, but the higher the speeds the shorter the distances over which they will work. Go to Wikipedia and look at the comparison tables for various DSL implementations. Sure you can get 100Mb/s with VDSL, but only for 500m from the exchange. And why stop at 100Mb/s? I realise that our pollie tubbies lack the vision to see beyond a mere 20Mb/s, but with other countries heading toward gig to the home, we need to look much, much further. Copper will not get us there, fibre can get us all the way there and far, far beyond. Think big, not small!

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report Reply

  • mark taslov,

    "can you please give the 'eat shit hypocritical Western capitalist running dogs' routine a rest?"

    don't take it personally,Craig. it's neither east nor west. If my right to share were threatened I would feel so too.

    Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Mar 2008 • 2281 posts Report Reply

  • Bob Munro,

    Serfs?

    Toiling day and night in the underground comment mines...

    ...to the serious detriment of their health.


    "Two weeks ago in North Lauderdale, Fla., funeral services were held for Russell Shaw, a prolific blogger on technology subjects who died at 60 of a heart attack. In December, another tech blogger, Marc Orchant, died at 50 of a massive coronary. A third, Om Malik, 41, survived a heart attack in December.

    Other bloggers complain of weight loss or gain, sleep disorders, exhaustion and other maladies born of the nonstop strain of producing for a news and information cycle that is as always-on as the Internet.

    To be sure, there is no official diagnosis of death by blogging, and the premature demise of two people obviously does not qualify as an epidemic. There is also no certainty that the stress of the work contributed to their deaths. But friends and family of the deceased, and fellow information workers, say those deaths have them thinking about the dangers of their work style. "

    Christchurch • Since Aug 2007 • 418 posts Report Reply

  • Gareth Ward,

    Not to drag up an old thread, and I imagine Russell that you'll blog a new one soon, but the PPP broadband is here (pdf).

    As I just said on Kiwiblog, the pressure for Telecom to sell down their Chorus stake must be much stronger now, as retailers are to be barred from having majority control over any regional fibre provider.

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    I'm working on a blog for tomorrow morning as we speak.

    The thing that strikes me is that under the policy announced a year ago by Key and Williamson, 75% of New Zealand homes were to have "ultra-fast" fibre by 2014 -- less than six years from the government taking office.

    On the estimate of this paper, the number of residential homes to get this new fibre in the first six years will be ... zero.

    It'll all be schools, hospitals and the like.

    It does look like the best version of the idea so far, but the costings are still bollocks, and, really, National spent all last year making claims for their plan that were, frankly, complete bullshit.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    And if I were Steven Joyce, I'd upgrade the backhaul and international bandwidth first, then the FTTx would follow after that. It'd be even better if the proposed Kordia-PipeNet cable was run from Kapiti instead of Piha, so that all the data eggs don't all go into one cable basket.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Gareth Ward,

    Well, they do say greenfield developments and "certain tranches of residential areas" but yes. 2019 before the plan is really rolled out? That seems a loooooooong way away to me, especially in the tech world.

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • Gareth Ward,

    I'd upgrade the backhaul and international bandwidth first

    Isn't this happening with the Kordia pipe though? Given a lot of his case rests on "geographic distance overcome by getting Kiwi businesses virtually at meetings around the world" then that's an absolute essential

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    Isn't this happening with the Kordia pipe though?

    It is, but it hasn't been given much publicity in comparison with the FTTx rollout.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    It is, but it hasn't been given much publicity in comparison with the FTTx rollout.

    I'm not entirely sure that National has actually said it will proceed.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Gareth Ward,

    Bloody hell, it has to proceed to make the business case.
    Software-as-a-service does and will largely come from offshore (all due respect to Mr Drury), the "weightless economy" is export focussed etc etc.

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • Gareth Ward,

    Oh, and it seems that by posting on Kiwiblog for the first time I have entirely bought down their site. Perhaps the lack of "corrupt socialist Liarbour scum media saps" in my post contradicts their comment architecture?

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Just been doing my reading. Tomorrow's post should be quite fun.

    The new paper doesn't (to my surprise, actually) conflict dreadfully with the speech a year ago in which Key announced the policy.

    But pretty much everything else they said -- and campaigned on -- thereafter was kind of bullshit.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

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