NBN satellite ground station contracts signed

25 October 2012:  Senator Stephen Conroy has announced the signing by NBN Co of ten construction contracts for National Broadband Network (NBN) satellite ground stations. Construction of the ground stations is due to commence early next year, and be completed in 2013.  The locations of eight out of the ten ground stations have been announced. […] Read more »



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ACMA action against Tiger Airways breach of the Spam Act

25 October 2012:  The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has accepted and an enforceable undertaking form Tiger Airways Holdings Ltd, as well as payment of a $110 000 enforcement notice from its subsidiary, Tiger Airways Pty Ltd, for failure to unsubscribe customers from its email marketing. Tiger failed to unsubscribe a number of customers despite […] Read more »

Government releases mandatory data breach notification discussion paper

17 October 2012:  The Federal Government has released a discussion paper on mandatory data breach notification laws.  Such laws would require organisations to notify consumers and the Government when data breaches occur. Mandatory breach notification procedures are in place or being considered in a number of other jurisdictions, including the EU, the UK and Ireland, and a number of […] Read more »

Commerce Commission (International Co-operation, and Fees) Act passes

17 October 2012:  The New Zealand Commerce Commission and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission have announced the passing of legislation arising out of the Commerce Commission (International Co-operation, and Fees) Act. The Act enables cooperation between both agencies on trans-Tasman competition, consumer and telecommunications issues. The Act also provides for renewal of the Commerce Commission’s cooperation arrangement […] Read more »

NBN construction commenced for 165,000 more premises

15 October 2012:  The Federal Government has announced the commencement of construction of the National Broadband Network (NBN) for approximately 165,800 homes and businesses. Maps  have been released for 40 areas covering an estimated: 44,700  homes and businesses in New South Wales 31,200  homes and businesses in Queensland 27,600  homes and businesses in Victoria 27,100  homes and businesses in […] Read more »

CNT Corp pays infringement notices for misrepresenting the speed of fibre-to-the-premises broadband services

15 October 2012:  CNT Corp Pty Ltd has paid infringement notices and offered an enforceable undertaking to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) after it was found that it offered and charged for wholesale fibre to the premises (FTTP) broadband internet services at data transfer rates that its network could not support.  The three infringement notices […] Read more »

Samsung Overturns Sales Ban on Galaxy Nexus Smartphone in the USA

­12 October 2012:  A US Court of Appeal has overturned the ban on sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus smartphone in the US. Samsung is currently seeking to overturn the US$1.05 billion verdict verdict that it infringed Apple patents.  The final decision on that appeal is due in December. The ruling found that the Californian district court “abused […] Read more »

Attorney’s General discuss national guidelines for social media

8 October 2012: The Commonwealth and State Attorneys General have met in Brisbane to discuss possible measures to regulate comments on social media that may be prejudicial to the outcome of criminal trials. The discussion follows concerns that the trial of the man accused of the rape and murder of Melbourne woman Jill Meagher may be […] Read more »

Telstra Ordered to Comply With TCP Code Following Consumer Info Breach

8 October 2012: Telstra has received a direction from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to comply with a privacy clause in the Telecommunications Consumer Protection Code (the TCP Code) after a failure to protect the personal information of some of its customers. This is the first such direction under the new TCP Code after […] Read more »

Service Level Agreements in cloud computing

30 September 2012:  Keith Bates of cloudcomputing-news.net has put together a short article explaining the risks of signing up to cloud computing services without fully understanding the terms and conditions contained in provider’s Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Bates has warned against the tendency of some businesses to simply skim over the terms of these SLAs […] Read more »

Lawyers increasingly engaged in procurement of cloud services

18 September 2012:  The Age Online reports that Microsoft’s cloud principal program manager, Jeff Woolsey, has confirmed that many businesses are now seeking comprehensive legal advice before adopting cloud computing services. Mr Woolsey states that ”[Customers want to] understand how much or how little risk it is, or if it’s even a concern.” Mr Woolsey also […] Read more »