Posts by Sacha
-
Ta, Gio - any other things you've noticed? I'm still undecided.
I recall other Twitter apps I looked into that included pictures, etc in the stream (and did not require an iPad to run on).
-
Doesn't sound nearly complex enough to be lucrative :)
-
The DMCA alone is reason to be cautious of an NZ-US FTA, if the Aussie experience is anything to go by.
Totally, and ACTA is another attempt at DMCA through the backdoor, as is s92. Both see the same dodgy Hollywood lobbyists pushing their industry's interests on our regulators, with our craven "leaders" demanding NZ sucks up in the name of landing an Amerikan trade deal.
Colin Jackson describes witnessing the industry submissions to the most recent s92 select committee hearings, a process he respects.
The next submitter was NZFACT and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). This was led by the MPAA’s managing director for Asia Pacific, Michael Ellis. He made much of the fact that he had flown from Singapore to New Zealand to talk to the Committee.
Jackson's own submission is well worth a read.
22. Pressure on New Zealand from, say, the US, to tighten its copyright law – which would come at a cost to ordinary New Zealanders – needs to be balanced against the pressure from other countries not to do so. New Zealand is currently pursuing trade agreements with both the US and India. Why should it favour the policy of one of these two countries – again, at a cost to the rights of its own citizens – when the far larger country of the two holds the opposite view?
...
31. Since no valid domestic justification has been made for this Bill, it must have been introduced in response to pressure from elsewhere. We are seeking to tighten our copyright regime at a cost to ordinary New Zealanders for the benefit of other countries. The US, for instance, makes no secret that it regards the copyright policies and laws of many countries as inadequate and continually presses for their revision.
32. While international cooperation is desirable in many areas, it is hard to understand why governments would devote so much effort to protecting the exploitation of an infinite resource – people’s creativity – when they seem incapable of agreeing to manage finite resources like tuna, fossil fuels and atmospheric carbon.
-
But wait, there's more. Fran O'Sullivan applies tired ideological categories from last century yet somewhat postmodernly breaches confidence writing a story about John Key breaching union confidence on workplace access changes.
I'm talking out of school here, but I found it fascinating to have a drink with Kelly at the Waldorf Hotel in New York last year while on the way home after the United States-New Zealand Partnership Forum where the Trans-Pacific Partnership was a key focus.
I couldn't help thinking then that Helen Kelly's father, the late trade unionist Pat Kelly, would have rolled in his grave at the thought of his daughter even visiting the citadel of capitalism, let alone sharing a drink with a "right-wing columnist" at the Waldorf, shopping for a well-priced trouser suit at Bloomingdales sale or visiting former Prime Minister Helen Clark at her ritzy apartment high up in the Trump Towers.
Ooh, unionist buys clothes. Class traitor!
Not sure who O'Sullivan is listening to but this marks a change from recent Key-bashing. She's concerned about interference with the US trade agreement, a goal shared with the little boys in suits who run cabinet. Common enemy I guess. Stakes must be high, eh.
Already Kelly has successfully persuaded top American trade union leader Richard Trumka to spurn the Government's invitation and cancel his visit to New Zealand in February
...
The union camp's reasons for trying to sabotage New Zealand's international trade linkages are frankly spurious and self-interested.
Those pesky unions should have meekly accepted rollbacks in union and worker rights and just listened to daddy. Who do they think they are?
My soundings indicate the CTU could have "agreed to disagree" on these measures. But Kelly warned Key on July 15 that if National toughened up on union access to the workplace, it would do irreparable damage to the working relations between the CTU and the Government and reduce the potential of good relationships between unions and employers in the workplace.
Letters obtained by this columnist show the CTU believed Key was "on record at our conference as saying this is not an issue people raise with you and you understand how important the issues of collective bargaining and access are to unions and workers in NZ and that you did not see them being progressed any time soon".
"You also gave Peter [Conway] and me a personal assurance that you had pulled the original paper on access (which we understand you did) and would come back to us if it were to come back on the agenda," wrote Kelly.
At least that fleshes out why the unions would be feeling so betrayed by the blandly smiling assassin. Doubt they'll be buying Fran a drink any time soon either.
-
Tolley takes gloves off - says league tables for primary schools now "inevitable". Oops, I slipped and introduced something ideological against all evidence..
-
Welcome. Interested to hear your impressions.
-
Giovanni, I thought apps like Tweetdeck merge Twitter and Facebook and even LinkedIn update streams.
-
I think I'll just follow the newsreaders' and reporters' Twitter feeds instead
Find I'm skimming their bulletins *more* because of that, myself. The tv3 crew are hilarious.
-
it is a pain in the arse when networks are determined to counter-schedule their only interesting shows against each other.
Like 8.30 tonight. Bastards
-
Ta for the mention, Jason - and my appreciation for your hard work pulling the WordCamp event together too.