telecommunications: October 2007 Archives
It has often been said, especially during the days of Joh Bjelke-Petersen's reign, that Queensland "has the best police that money can buy."
The same has often been said of members of the US government, including but not limited to Senator Ernest "Fritz" Hollings -- a/k/a the Senator from Disney -- proponent of legislation such as the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act, which would have outlawed all digital technology which did not contain DRM, and would make the DMCA look like a minor nuisance, by comparison.
It seems that Senator Jay Rockefeller carries on this proud tradition of whoring oneself out for 'campaign contributions'. It's bad enough when talkback radio hosts become the paid mouthpieces of corporations, but when such behavior extends to legislators, it's unforgivable. Instead of "cash for comment", the US seem to have a system of "cash for statute".
Wired.com have the full story.
The same has often been said of members of the US government, including but not limited to Senator Ernest "Fritz" Hollings -- a/k/a the Senator from Disney -- proponent of legislation such as the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act, which would have outlawed all digital technology which did not contain DRM, and would make the DMCA look like a minor nuisance, by comparison.
It seems that Senator Jay Rockefeller carries on this proud tradition of whoring oneself out for 'campaign contributions'. It's bad enough when talkback radio hosts become the paid mouthpieces of corporations, but when such behavior extends to legislators, it's unforgivable. Instead of "cash for comment", the US seem to have a system of "cash for statute".
Wired.com have the full story.
Telstra have lost round one of their deathmatch against the Federal government, part of their ongoing 'give us the money and nobody gets hurt' campaign: Telstra Corporation Limited v Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (No. 3) [2007] FCA 1567.
Telstra brought this case because the Federal government had the temerity to give public money to a competitor of Telstra, to build infrastructure in regional areas which would have allowed actual competition for the supply of telecommunications services in those areas. 'Tortuous interference with monopoly rent' is an emerging tort in Australia, or so Telzilla would have the courts believe.
They also lost an earlier decision in this same case, over a legal professional privilege issue, so this might be more like round 2, or at least round 1.1.
[Update: imitation is the sincerest form of flattery]
The decision involves details of the tendering process which are, frankly, boring, and construction of provisions of the Federal Court Rules, which you probably aren't interested in.
What is interesting however, is what the decision reveals about Telstra's corporate thought processes, and their motivation for bringing the litigation. There are quite a few such juicy bits in the decision, including that:
Telstra brought this case because the Federal government had the temerity to give public money to a competitor of Telstra, to build infrastructure in regional areas which would have allowed actual competition for the supply of telecommunications services in those areas. 'Tortuous interference with monopoly rent' is an emerging tort in Australia, or so Telzilla would have the courts believe.
They also lost an earlier decision in this same case, over a legal professional privilege issue, so this might be more like round 2, or at least round 1.1.
[Update: imitation is the sincerest form of flattery]
The decision involves details of the tendering process which are, frankly, boring, and construction of provisions of the Federal Court Rules, which you probably aren't interested in.
What is interesting however, is what the decision reveals about Telstra's corporate thought processes, and their motivation for bringing the litigation. There are quite a few such juicy bits in the decision, including that:
Continue reading After round one: Coonan 1, Telstra 0.
