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Is Amy Adams’ work programme a state secret?

Posted by Clare Curran on February 2nd, 2012

I’ve been looking forward to taking on Amy Adams, the new Minister of ICT. I’ve been impressed by her no- nonsense approach to things and her obvious intellect.

I was hoping for an opponent on the other side of the House who would grasp that technology had the capacity to transform our economy. I wasn’t holding out a lot of hope that she’d take seriously the importance of the social objectives of providing more access to technology, other than to pay lipservice, which is pretty much what Steven Joyce did.

But I was pretty appalled today to receive the incoming briefing document from the Ministry of Economic Development to the new Minsiter, which sets out all the major policy issues that lie ahead and provides a list of the pending decisions and actions over the next six months.

Great tracts of the former (policy issues) were removed from the document under the Official Information Act.

When it came to the decision and actions required over the next six months, there was a gaping two page  hole in the document.

VOTE COMMUNICATIONS: BRIEFING FOR THE INCOMING MINISTER 2011

MED1245438 Page 22 of 34

MED1284612

PENDING DECISIONS OR ACTIONS REQUIRED IN THE NEXT SIX MONTHS

[Withheld under sections 9(2)(f)(iv) and 9(2)(g)(i) of the Official Information Act 1982]

blank blank blank………

I’ve talked to a few industry people about this today. It’s unprecedented I think. Highly unusual and you’ve got to ask what on earth is so secretive about Minister Adams’ workplan and pending decisions that they all need to be kept secret?

Remember this is taxpayers money that funds Vote Communications. The signs are not good that the taxpayers will get the opportunity to scrutinise how their needs are best being met.

The intro by MED to the briefing reveals that the three big issues are these:

  • The roll-out of the Ultra Fast Broadband and Rural Broadband initiatives
  • The free-up of 4G wireless frequencies
  • Cross sector ICT initiatives in the public service

What can be so sensitive about these issues that the discussion and debate around decision-making can’t be held in public.

The previous Minister Steven Joyce maintained an arrogant and unresponsive approach to the public, and now it appears that Amy Adams may do the same.

When you make something secret you should have a good reason.  The public must be reassured that decisions being made by this Minister are not favouring commercial interests over the public good.

Hopefully an OIA will shine some sunlight on this.

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Filed under: #OpenLabourNZ, broadband, comms & IT
12 Comments

The sky is rising… at last some decent data emerging

Posted by Clare Curran on January 31st, 2012

Have been sent this link several times in the last few minutes.
Will post again on this issue as there’s quite a bit to discuss.

Has the internet decimated the entertainment industry or are we living in a new renaissance for both content creators and consumers…

Obama recently scuttled SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) in the US, but it’s likely another bill will emerge that gives the entertainment industry mroe control over internet distribution of material.

In NZ, the TPPA talks have highlighted increasing concern around our ability as a nation to control our own innovation and creative works and raised questions about our ability to implement our own copyright laws.

Today it appears that the traditional vested interests behind the entertainment industry have been fudging things a bit:

The Sky Is Rising!
For years now, the legacy entertainment industry has been predicting its own demise, claiming that the rise of technology, by enabling easy duplication and sharing — and thus copyright infringement — is destroying their bottom line. If left unchecked, they say, it is not only they that will suffer, but also the content creators, who will be deprived of a means to make a living. And, with artists lacking an incentive to create, no more art will be produced, starving our culture. While it seems obvious to many that this could not possibly be true, since creators and performers of artistic content existed long before the gatekeepers ever did, we’ve looked into the numbers to get an honest picture of the state of things. What we found is that not only is the sky not falling, as some would have us believe, but it appears that we’re living through an incredible period of abundance and opportunity, with more people producing more content and more money being made than ever before. As it turns out… The Sky Is Rising!

I haven’t read it fully yet, but  am relieved there is some decent data emerging at last to demonstrate the clear success of new business models which provide content via the internet quickly and at a low cost.

I hope NZ won’t get left behind

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Filed under: comms & IT, internet
2 Comments

A nation of makers #8

Posted by Clare Curran on January 24th, 2012

The ODT reports today yesterday:

Dunedin-based technology company PocketSmith is one of six finalists in the BNZ Start-Up Alley competition.

The competition is to help grow New Zealand’s web and technology start-up businesses.

Pocketsmith has a competitive personal finance management tool that allows users to track their expenses.

Pocketsmith is part of the University of Otago’s Centre for Innovation Distiller community.

I first visited Pocketsmith at the Distiller about two year’s ago. They were starting to make an impact then. The Distiller is a group of people (they call themselves technopreneurs) who work on their own projects, but work co-operatively and sometimes collaborate. They share space, ideas out of their creative enviroment comes great ideas. They call it social entrepeneurship.

NBR wrote about them mid last year;

PocketSmith co-founder Jason Leong told NBR his company’s success was all down to the power of open source development, the software-as-a-service (or SaaS) model for delivering your product over the internet, and the viral power of social networking and professional community sites.

Read more about how they have become a success story here.

Good on them.

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Filed under: comms & IT, economy, internet
2 Comments

Farrar on censorship

Posted by Clare Curran on January 18th, 2012

This morning, this is what David Farrar blogged on the US SOPA Bill which was blocked by Obama:

My views are simple. No Government should censor the Internet.

Earlier this morning he was on Radio NZ commenting (in his role as right wing commentator)  on the NZ on Air fiasco saying it is:

 ”perfectly reasonable for programmes that NZ on Air fund to have small scheduling restrictions during politically sensitive periods.

So it’s ok to censor the broadcaster and use the government agency that funds it to restrict New Zealander’s access to well produced evidence-based documentaries that raise legitimate concerns about important issues facing the nation during an election campaign.

But we mustn’t censor the internet. According to Farrar.

Inconsistent. I don’t agree with the scheduling of many programmes on television. I certainly don’t think that politicians should be interferring in, when and if material can be shown on television during an election campaign. If the issue was lack of balance, then there are places to complain. The BSA and the Electoral Commission. That’s what should have happened.

NZ on Air should never have got involved in the issue. That they did, appears to be because of inappropriate politically motivated pressure.

Suggestions that publicly funded programmes should not be aired during an election campaign reveal serious cracks in our democratic process and must be resisted.

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Filed under: broadcasting, comms & IT, internet
81 Comments

How important is IP to our economy

Posted by Clare Curran on January 17th, 2012

Last night a proposed law passing through the United States Congress was blocked by Obama.

California congressman Darrell Issa, an opponent of Sopa, the Stop Online Piracy Act, said he had been told by House majority leader Eric Cantor that there would be no vote unless there is consensus on the bill.

Congressional leaders are preparing to shelve controversial legislation aimed at tackling online piracy after president Barack Obama said he would not support it.

The tech community has fought hard to stop Sopa and a rival bill, Protect IP, also known as the Enforcing and Protecting American Rights Against Sites Intent on Theft and Exploitation Act, or the e-Parasite act. Websites including Reddit and Wikipedia are planning to “go dark” on Wednesday in protest against the legislation. Issa said he remained concerned about Protect IP, which will go before the Senate on 24 January.

But both bills now look severely damaged after the White House came out firmly against their biggest proposals at the weekend.

“Let us be clear – online piracy is a real problem that harms the American economy, threatens jobs for significant numbers of middle-class workers and hurts some of our nation’s most creative and innovative companies and entrepreneurs,” the White House said in its first official comment on Sopa and Protect IP.

However, the White House said it would not support legislation that “reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risks or undermines the dynamic, innovative global internet.”

Though it doesn’t get a lot of coverage in mainstream media, and it’s not a well understood issue, the battle between the entertainment industry and the technology sector has been raging for some time. (Rupert Murdoch has weighed into it in the last few days as well).  The biggest manifestation of that battle has been the row over online piracy and the punitive laws  that countries across the world are being pressured to comply with. Laws that include a provision to disconnect people from the internet from infringing copyright. Laws concerning patents are also under the spotlight.

In New Zealand, there’s a law waiting to complete its passage through parliament which excludes computer software from being patented. The Commerce Committee recommendation, which was accepted by the then Minister Simon Power, believed this would free up NZ software developers to be innovative without fear of being trampled on by big patent suits. Copyright was seen as the appropriate form of protection for software (which is built on code), along with music, books and other creative endeavours. But that law has sat on our books for more than 18 months.

There have been worrying signs for a while that New Zealand’s creative and innovation sector could get caught up in the international battle being waged.

In December, Paul Matthews, the head of the NZ Computer Society wrote a column about how how changes to NZ’s patent law could be caught up in the negotiations going on for the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).

I’ve been watching the SOPA issue develop over the summer with concern. Others may have views about the implications for NZ and our part of the world.

Thankfully Obama has stepped into the fray. The issues are complex. Online piracy is an issue. But it’s mostly an issue because ordinary people can’t access the material they want easily through legal means. Sensible laws are required to protect creators and their intellectual property. Laws and policies are also required to help promote new business models that use the enormous power of the internet to give people more access to services and material and to help spark innovation.

What lies behind this is about who controls the internet. Thankfully the White House seems to understand that.

The two bills aim to tackle online piracy by preventing American search engines like Google and Yahoo from directing users to sites distributing stolen materials. The bills would also allow people and companies to sue if their copyright was being infringed.

The White House expressed concern about both these elements and about passing legislation that threatened the openness of the internet. In the online statement it said any new legislation must be “narrowly targeted”.

Vikram Kumar, the CEO of InternetNZ, a respected and thoughtful think tank, also wrote about the two US laws in yesterday’s NBR. He warned of threats to our national interest by:

laws written by powerful corporates and expeditiously passed into law word-for-word.

He was echoing the sentiments of internet guru Lawrence Lessig,  who spoke at last year’s Nethui in NZ about the corruption destroying the United States’ democratic foundations.

Chris Keall from NBR wrote about the streetfight battle in yesterday’s NBR.

These issues aren’t always easy to get your head around. But like most things they have some principles at their core. Ownership of intellectual property is one. Intellectual property  means exclusive rights to a variety of intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and artistic works; discoveries and inventions.

Yesterday I got a tip off that the mysterious visit to our shores by a high powered US delegation of congress and senate reps last week wasn’t just about a first-hand look at Christchurch’s earthquake damage. Talks were also being held about the TPPA. Who with? and what was the substance?

I think New Zealand needs to consider its own best interests and the importance of our intellectual property and innovation to our own economy. Quantifying that should be a priority. We can’t sell ourselves short.

We are a lot more than a high protein export nation.  I’d like more discussion about this issue across the parliament. The copyright debates we’ve had in the last few years are just a subset of a much bigger economic discussion. What is the value of our IP to our nation?

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Filed under: #ownourfuture, comms & IT, economy, internet
18 Comments

A nation of makers #7

Posted by Clare Curran on January 16th, 2012

Profiled in today’s Dom Post Nathan Li’s online application Educa, which allows parents to see and comment on their pre-schooler’s e-portfolio – an online record of their development, including photos and videos, created by teachers at her preschool.

Li developed Educa with input from early childhood teachers and parents, and launched the web application in April last year.

22 pre-schools using it so far. They are hoping to expand  into Australia.

Wish this was available when my kids were in pre-school.

We need more Nathan Li’s.

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Filed under: comms & IT, economy
7 Comments

A nation of makers #6

Posted by Clare Curran on January 5th, 2012

Dene Mackenzie writes in the ODT about Jade Software and their innovative JOOB product. The story is a few days old but worth reading. Think they deserve the award.

We need more companies like Jade. Hopefully who think it’s worth it to stay based in NZ.

A year ago, Jade Software was preparing to invade Silicon Valley and California. After battling through the Christchurch earthquakes, unprecedented travel and successfully establishing a beach-head in California, Jade Software has earned the title of the Otago Daily Times Southern Business of the Year.

Opening an office during the year in San Francisco paid dividends for Jade Software, but there is much more to the company than just establishing a beach-head in the United States.

The US was seen as the big unknown for the Christchurch-based company which has a significant operation in Dunedin.

The product at the forefront of the big push into the US was JOOB, with which jade had previously been successful when presenting at a huge technology fair in Berlin.

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Filed under: comms & IT, economy
11 Comments

Inside the sausage

Posted by Clare Curran on January 4th, 2012

I’ve had a bit of contact with Birgitta Jónsdóttir. Would like more. She’s an advocate for open government. And I agree with her view that it is essential to make” the process of lawmaking more transparent and accessible for everyone who cares to know or contribute”.

Birgitta is an advocate for more direct democracy and some of her views are quite radical. I think they’re worth thinking about and discussing. I think the way we practice politics needs to change. I’ve never made a secret of that. It’s threatening to politicians and the parliamentary structures. But while there’s a lot of good in our existing structures, and most MPs work damn hard and are committed to what they do, there’s also a lot of bullshit that goes on.

People know that. I agree that MPs need more direct accountability. The review of MMP will no doubt throw up a few ideas. Constitutional change is inevitable in New Zealand. It’s a matter of when.

Having a real debate about how we could improve our democracy for New Zealand’s sake is surely a good thing.

Here’s a start. Birgitta wrote this piece in The Guardian in November 2011

The Dutch minister of internal affairs said at a speech during free press day this year: “Law-making is like a sausage, no one really wants to know what is put in it.” He was referring to how expensive the Freedom of Information Act is, and was suggesting that journalists shouldn’t really be asking for so much governmental information. His words exposed one of the core problems in our democracies: too many people don’t care what goes into the sausage, not even the so-called law-makers, the parliamentarians.

If the 99% want to reclaim our power, our societies, we have to start somewhere. An important first step is to sever the ties between the corporations and the state by making the process of lawmaking more transparent and accessible for everyone who cares to know or contribute. We have to know what is in that law sausage; the monopoly of the corporate lobbyist has to end – especially when it comes to laws regulating banking and the internet.

The Icelandic nation only consists 311,000 souls, so we have a relatively small bureaucratic body and can move quicker then in most countries. Many have seen Iceland as the ideal country for experimentation for new solutions in an era of transformation. I agree.

Iceland’s experience is fairly extreme. But their response to crisis has some lessons for us all.

I like the analogy of the sausage. Especially given it’s summer and we’re all eating a few no doubt

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Filed under: #OpenLabourNZ, comms & IT, democracy
15 Comments

Just do it

Posted by Clare Curran on December 27th, 2011

I meant to write about this a few days ago.

US comedian Louis CK (I hadn’t heard of him, but he seems pretty popular) decided to produce a good version of his latest live show and make it available online for $5.

Nek Minnit (well 12 days later) he made $1 million.

The Age reported today:

Comedian Louis CK has proved a point: People are willing to pay a reasonable amount of money for DRM-free content from a performer they love, even though it would be trivial for them to pirate the same content for free.

Twelve days ago, Louis CK decided to skip the distribution, DRM, ads and everything else that goes into marketing and sale of a video, and simply offer the video of his latest performance on his website for $US5.

It took four days for Louis to earn $US200,000, and another 8 days to earn a whopping $US1 million.

It  blows out the water the view that content has to be locked up with laws to enforce it because too many people will only steal it. In fact people will pay money to get access to new content. If the price is right and the product is what they want.

Louis CK posted a blog saying he would keep just $220,000 from his $1m.

He said:

So I’m breaking the million into four pieces.

the first 250k is going to pay back what the special cost to produce and the website to build.

The second 250k is going back to my staff and the people who work for me on the special and on my show. I’m giving them a big fat bonus.

The third 280k is going to a few different charities. They are listed below in case you’d like to donate to them also. Some of these i learned about through friends, some were recomended through twitter.

That leaves me with 220k for myself. Some of that will pay my rent and will care for my children. The rest I will do terrible, horrible things with and none of that is any of your business. In any case, to me, 220k is enough out of a million.

I had a quick look at Louis CK’s stuff. Here is is a clip on Youtube (not the $5 version). Pretty out there, but worth paying for. I think the business model is pretty obvious. It’s just a pity that he had to spend the money himself upfront to develop the tools to distribute his work.

Imagine if that technology was readily available to artists for a small fee. Imagine if the New Zealand tech industry was encouraged to go for it.

Another point to end on. Digital Rights Management (DRM) is the technology used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale.

Companies such as Amazon, AOL, Apple Inc., the BBC, Microsoft and Sony use digital rights management. In 1998 the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was passed in the United States to impose criminal penalties on those who make available technologies whose primary purpose and function is to circumvent content protection technologies.[1] The use of digital rights management is controversial. Corporations claim that DRM is necessary to fight copyright infringement online and that it can help the copyright holder maintain artistic control[2] or ensure continued revenue streams.[3] Those opposed to DRM argue that there is no evidence that DRM helps prevent copyright infringement and that DRM helps big business stifle innovation and competition.[4] Proponents argue that digital locks should be considered necessary to prevent intellectual property from being stolen, just as physical locks are needed to prevent personal property from being stolen.

I thought it was interesting that I learnt about Louis CK’s online  business endeavours through twitter via the ABC’s managing director Mark Scott who tweeted:

“The comedian (is) providing lessons in the future of digital rights management”.

Prescience from the head of Australia’s public broadcaster. It would be good to have a bit more debate about it here.

Filed under: Arts and Culture, broadcasting, comms & IT, digital, economy
16 Comments

Talking about open govt

Posted by Clare Curran on November 18th, 2011

Grant and I had a few things to say outside parliament today as we announced the release of Labour’s Open Government policy.

Not a flash PR video. Just a couple of real pollies telling you how we want things to be. The Labour way.

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Filed under: #OpenLabourNZ, #ownourfuture, comms & IT, democracy
7 Comments

It’s time to be more open

Posted by Clare Curran on November 18th, 2011

It’s no secret that many New Zealanders are cynical about politics and politicians.

For three years, Labour has done its best to do things differently and try different ways to bring politics and people closer together.

Red Alert is an example of that. Phil Goff took his caucus out to regional New Zealand to reconnect with New Zealanders. Most Labour MPs regularly use social media tools to build stronger relationships with people.

Today, Labour released its first Open Government policy. It’s a first for New Zealand because it was developed out of an open policy making process involving New Zealanders.

In 2010 Labour trialled OpenLabourNZ, a new way of Labour engaging with communities to seek their input by using new technologies and methods to increase participation drawing on similar processes used in Australia, the US and the UK. This policy is the distilled outcome of OpenLabourNZ.

It commits to producing a comprehensive “Open Government Charter”, based on a set of principles developed by Labour MPs in consultation with members of the public. It’s an important start.

People deserve to know the democratic process around parliamentary law making is sound. Hence, transparency of political offices is the core principle in the Open Government policy.

We believe New Zealanders understand a balance must be struck between transparency and accountability, on the one hand, and the need for the provision of “free and frank advice” to guide effective government and to protect the security and commercially sensitive aspects of advice.

But increasing people?s trust in the political process can only be guaranteed by ensuring a more open government. We believe that wherever possible; open is best.

Today I released our Open Government Policy in Wellington with my colleague Grant Robertson, who has supported me and helped with its development. Many of my colleagues have been actively involved in taking this policy through to fruition today. I thank them. It’s a big step for Labour.

It’s the start of a change in the way government and politics is conducted. I think for the better.

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Filed under: #OpenLabourNZ, #ownourfuture, comms & IT, democracy
4 Comments

If we want to be a digital nation, we need digital Kiwis

Posted by Clare Curran on November 11th, 2011

Kids who don’t have access to computers at home and not much access at school will benefit from Labour’s education policy released yesterday by Phil Goff and Sue Moroney.

If we want a nation of digital Kiwis who make NZ a digital nation with decent paying jobs in the tech world, then all of us need access to the technology. It’s that simple.

New Zealand?s economic future lies in weightless exports. The future of the nation relies on Kiwi children becoming digital Kiwis. We can’t have kids leaving school without good digitial skills becasue they come from a  poor background where there’s no computer at home and no money to connect to the internet. Or where their school can’t afford to buy computers or mobile devices for the kids.

Access to technology can help close the gap between rich and poor. The country must not have a digital divide. Labour believes some of our greatest innovation can come out of our most deprived areas. The new broadband network must not be a tool to entrench the divide between the haves and the have nots.

Computers in Homes (2020 Communications Trust) estimates that there are 100,000 families with dependent children who do not have access to a computer at home. Around 20% of New Zealand households currently do not have a computer. They are more likely to be one-parent households and from Maori and Pasifika backgrounds where children are unable to participate equitably in digital learning and using technology.

While programs such as Computers in Homes, Computer Clubhouse and Aotearoa People?s Network do great work in increasing digital literacy, their success is sporadic because of limited funding. Labour will boost that funding.

And to increase the connectedness and literacy for many New Zealand households is to leverage the education system by ensuring every child has access to a device. Labour’s education policy announced this:
 

Labour will invest $75 million over four years in “e-learning? for low-decile schools, with priority going to schools with year 7 -13 students and the capability to deliver an effective programme . This includes Government funding for students to have individual use of a mobile device.

$19 million per year is sufficient funding to ensure 31,000 year 7 to 13 students have individual use of a mobile device. When Labour takes office we will determine which schools are best placed to benefit from e-learning based on a number of factors. Priority will be given to low-decile schools with high levels of disengagement and/or low levels of academic achievement, as well as those schools that have staff prepared to lead an effective e-learning programme.

I visited the Enderley Computer Clubhouse in Hamilton yesterday. I saw kids from poor families who turn up every day after school because they can use hi tech equipment to create online games and make their own music clips and other things. These are kids with talent, who would have no way to access this hi tech equipment and might otherwise be roaming the streets. I can see a future for them. That could benefit the nation.

New Zealand needs more young innovators. We need the pathways for them to get from school into further learning and jobs that pay well. Let’s make the most of our kids. All of them.

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Filed under: #OpenLabourNZ, #ownourfuture, comms & IT, digital, education
29 Comments

A new public broadcaster

Posted by Clare Curran on November 1st, 2011

1. There is no public television broadcaster in NZ. Our public broadcasting environment is depleted. Labour believes a strong, independent, free public media service  NOT driven by commercial interests is essential to an informed democracy.

2. A Labour Government will immediately start a debate to establish a new non-commercial public broadcaster. It will include the functions of Radio NZ and TVNZ7. It will consider other functions. So to be clear we will keep TVNZ7. Radio NZ will retain its autonomy. We will strengthen them and may add services. We will ensure the governance of the new broadcaster is more arms length from government.

3. It will exist in the digital environment. Therefore it spans the traditional broadcasting telco industry and internet realms. This is called convergence. Labour has already signalled a converged regulatory environment for broadcasting and telco sectors.

4. A public and industry (broadcasting and telco sectors) debate will take place on the final shape and funding mechanisms. There are a range of options to be canvassed. The debate is important because it will be a New Zealand broadcaster that belongs to all of us and is about us. The lack of a public broadcaster has been debated. The shape of a future one has not. That debate has been sorely missing.

4. We don’t anticipate any extra cost to the taxpayer. We will asking the sectors how they think it should be funded. The outcome could be a mix of options. We are not prejudging or anticipating the outcome of this. The debate hasn’t been had. Many stakeholders are keen to have it.

5. The debate will be concluded within a year and it is anticipated that decisions will be made and any regulatory and other changes underway.

This is a significant policy. It marks an important change towards a contemporary Kiwi approach to protecting and promoting our culture in the 21st Century. It’s a commitment not made lightly and it’s a commitment we will see through.

I hope you agree.

Filed under: #OpenLabourNZ, #ownourfuture, broadcasting, comms & IT, digital, media
10 Comments

Labour will establish a new, modern public broadcaster

Posted by Clare Curran on November 1st, 2011

Here’s the policy link.

It new, it’s modern. It’s not a we might do it, We will do it. We’ll have a debate first. Then we’ll decide the funding mechanism and the new shape. The policy sets out how we’ll do it.

Will blog further about it soon.

Filed under: #ownourfuture, broadcasting, comms & IT, digital
10 Comments

Thinking outside the square #3

Posted by Clare Curran on October 17th, 2011

If New Zealand’s economic future requires a focus on a digital economy, what are the barriers to that taking off?

No doubt there are a few. One of them is who gets access access to technology.

How many people in New  Zealand currently don’t have a computer in their homes? Perhaps more importantly, how many of these people have  pre-school or school-aged children?

And how many of the schools that they go to have good connectivity and are likely to be connected to the ultrafast broadband network in the foreseeable future?

Take a child of 5 starting school on 25 October. No computer at home. Limited connectivity at the school. Could be in South Auckland. Could be Palmerston North. Could be Balclutha.

One or two computers per classroom. In 5 years time, aged 10, her school has only just been connected to the ultrafast broadband network.

Because the school has to look for most of the money within its existing operations budget, it’s still grappling with the increased costs to upgrade wiring, hardware and software. There’s still only a few PCs in each classroom.

Her parents have now bought a computer at home but still can’t afford to connect.

Compare that to the 5 year old on the North Shore who’s parents have iPads, iPhones and iMacs. They use a wireless connection at home. Their suburb was a priority  to get connected to Ultra Fast Broadband (UFB). As was their daughter’s school, which was in the first wave of connectivity. All the children have devices at school. Their child regularly uses the internet for her homework.

This is the digital divide. It’s already here. It must not get bigger. Labour intends to close it.

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Filed under: #OpenLabourNZ, #ownourfuture, broadband, comms & IT
5 Comments

Thinking outside the square #2

Posted by Clare Curran on October 16th, 2011

There’s a fundamental shift in communications and media that’s blurring what used to be clear distinctions between telecommunications, broadcasting and the internet.

The digital environment is seeing computing and other information technologies, media content, and communication networks merging and transforming. Fast. It’s called convergence.

Steve Jobs turned a company that made computers (Apple Macs) into one that made music devices (iPods) iphones and iPads.

Google started off as a computer search engine. It developed gmail, a web browser (Chrome), then it moved into the smartphone business with its android operating system. As an agregator of news content across all platforms it is now starting to compete with existing news organisations and now it has entered the smart TV market with its Google  interactive TV product.

Newspapers now deliver their breaking news via websites and social media, often using video clips.

TVs are increasingly turning to the internet to deliver content as well as the traditional means. You can now send emails, access the internet and watch news and TV and even movies on your phone.

What used to be our state public television broadcaster TVNZ has signalled it wants to enter the pay TV market which is currently dominated by one player Sky. It already provides content through Sky. There’s no rules and there is an ongoing debate about the implications of deals done with networks to carry content over the Ultra Fast Broadband network.

As the technologies converge, a number of issues arise for policy makers around the networks that will be needed to carry both content produced inside New Zealand and which comes from outside the country.

Steven Joyce doesn’t seem to believe convergence is occuring

Labour does.

Australia is undertaking a landmark review of Australian media and communications regulation.

Canada has just released a regulatory framework for media ownership to address unfair competition.

Malaysia, the EU, the UK, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, South Africa… have all gone down this path.

Labour will release its ICT policy on Monday.

Our broadcasting policy will follow soon.

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Filed under: #OpenLabourNZ, #ownourfuture, comms & IT, digital
6 Comments

Thinking outside the square

Posted by Clare Curran on October 15th, 2011

Some important questions to ponder:

  • Should technology be a priority industry for growth?
  • Could New Zealand become a world leader in the use of digital technology, to transform New Zealand economically and socially?
  • Is a strong and vibrant ICT sector a platform to improve all areas of NZ’s economy and society.
  • Just how important is the digital environment as core infrastructure for the New Zealand of the future?

If it is, what do we need to do to get there

Labour will release its ICT policy on Monday.

I’ve always thought Information Communications Technology (ICT) was a bit of a cumbersome name. It’s time we called our policy something sexy

Filed under: #OpenLabourNZ, #ownourfuture, comms & IT, digital, technology
34 Comments

A game changer

Posted by Clare Curran on October 6th, 2011

I have just heard that Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple has died.

It’s terribly sad. For his loved ones, his colleagues at Apple. His legacy is enormous for our world. He took a software company and transformed it into a telephone. He has been in the vanguard of technology transformation.

He’s changed the software industry (iMac) the music industry (iTunes) the telco industry (iPhone and iPod) and he brought it all together with the iPad.

He was controversial. But he changed our world.

Here’s a piece that was written about him recently when he resigned suddenly as Apple CEO.

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Filed under: comms & IT
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If we sign ACTA what are we agreeing to?

Posted by Clare Curran on September 29th, 2011

This Saturday in Tokyo, according to reports, New Zealand will sign a controversial trade agreement, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (otherwise known as ACTA) targeting counterfeiters and copyright infringers.

The big questions are what are we signing up to? Will it mean we have to change our laws? And why hasn’t government informed the community of its contents and that we were going to sign it until 2 days before it happens?

A media release issued this afternoon by the government says this:

Cabinet has formally approved New Zealand’s signature of ACTA.  As is normal practice with international treaties, a separate decision to ratify ACTA will be made subsequently, the Minister said.  This would require the Government to make some minor amendments to the Copyright Act 1994 and the Trade Marks Act 2002 and would be subject to the usual ratification process, including public consultation and scrutiny by Parliament.

What minor amendments? What will change?

I have written many posts about ACTA. Here and here. Calling for transparency. That did seem to happen for a while. But now it appears we are moving to sign it. Where has been the public discussion on where the agreement is at?

Will signing ACTA result in New Zealand being required to include a disconnection from the internet clause in our copyright laws? This is despite repeated denials from Commerce Minister Simon Power. And make it extremely difficult to remove. And what else will it require?

Will ACTA will foreclose future legislative improvements in response to changes in technology or policy. Read this post and worry.

One report this week  has said:

Representatives of the U.S., Japan, Australia, Canada, the E.U., South Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore and Switzerland will be at the signing ceremony for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), according to Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Countries that have “completed relevant domestic processes” will sign ACTA, the ministry said in a press release. The agreement, which would create international standards for protecting intellectual property, will be open for signature until May 1, 2013, the ministry said.

Public Knowledge, a digital rights group, said the latest version of ACTA contains more protections for consumers than previous versions. Still, the group urged U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration to “make it clear” that ACTA does not change U.S. law, including provisions in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act protecting ISPs and websites from copyright enforcement.

I’ve still got significant concerns.

  • Agreements negotiated in secret don’t make for good law or public policy
  • ACTA contravenes a number of fundamental rights
  • The major parties in ACTA (US and Europe) still don’t agree about whether their laws might need to change, even though provisions in it are incompatible with existing laws

I’d like to hear from our Trade Minister on these issues. And from our Commerce Minister on the domestic implications for Kiwis and our own intellectual property. In the meantime,  until we know what the implications are NZ shouldn’t sign up to it.

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Filed under: #OpenLabourNZ, #ownourfuture, comms & IT, copyright
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This seems serious

Posted by Clare Curran on September 26th, 2011

Have just seen via Computerworld that 14 Government websites will be offline til Wednesday as the result of a failed system upgrade over the weekend. Upgrades aren’t always successful but surely there should have been a contingency plan in place to roll them back.

Seems like an IT fail. Perhaps Mr Joyce would care to explain? Or Nathan Guy? Or someone else?

The websites are:

business.govt
Companies Office
Ministry of Consumer Affairs
Financial Service Providers Register (FSPR)
G2B
Government Procurement Solutions
Insolvency and Trustee Service
Intellectual Property Office (IPONZ)
Motor Vehicle Traders Register
New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals
Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR)
Radio Spectrum Management
Societies and Trusts
VolunteerNet
Business Data

The outage notice on the MED website says this:

Outage notice

We apologise unreservedly for any inconvenience experienced as a result of this outage. Please read on for further information about the impact of this outage.

The Ministry of Economic Development is working to resolve an outage affecting a number of its websites.

The outage occurred during preparation work on Saturday evening to upgrade the servers hosting these websites. The websites will be unavailable until at least midday 12:00PM NZST Wednesday 28 September.

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Filed under: comms & IT
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