The Christmas break is a chance to recharge. You always return with a sense of optimism about what the new year will bring.  Nearly a month into the new year, it seemed like an opportune time to review whether that optimism was well placed.

Wikipedia was blacked out for a day as part of a widespread protest against the US Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA). These Acts were endorsed by the Motion Picture Association (MPA) but the technology industry was opposed to them as restricting the openness of the internet.  American politicians seemed to take notice, and these Acts were sidelined. Next, the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade (OPEN) ACT was introduced to Congress, which is supported by the tech giants but resisted by the Motion Picture Association as going to easy on piracy!

And I thought, will these two groups ever find a satisfactory comprise?

A high profile blow was struck by the anti-piracy organisations as the former Chrisco Mansion was raided, filelocker Megaupload was shut down, and Kim Dotcom and some business associates were arrested. The anti-anti-piracy groups hit back organising DDOS attacks that (at least briefly) shut down about 10 websites including the FBI, Universal Music, RIAA, and Hodopi (it’s French)

And I thought, I wonder where the Chrisco people live now.

Moving away from copyright – Research by the Ipsos Social Research Institute named Australia as having the highest levels of cyberbullying on social networking sites. New Zealand wasn’t included in the research. I suspect we’d have placed pretty well.

And I thought, we could do with some of that anti-piracy (or the anti-anti-priracy) enthusiasm in the anti-cyberbullying fight.

TVNZ CloseUp returned to air this week and its first story for 2012 was about adult men who met a 14 year old girl online (or in this case, and actor they believed to be 14) and then travelled and meet them for sex. I was surprised at the lack of caution these men showed. It never occurred to them that it might be a sting – by journalists, or the Police.

And I thought, we could really do with a few Police sting operations of this type to discourage these men.

And then I thought. It looks like 2012 will be pretty much the same as 2011.

Students (or anyone) moving to a new city after New Year?
Now is the time that many people are looking for rental accommodation to take up for 2012 whether it be for studying at Uni or other reasons.  We have noticed a spate of rental accommodation scams lately where a real bargain [...]

A special guest blog from Jon Duffy, Head of Trust and Safety at Trade Me and NetSafe Board Member.

Trade Me is a great place to find deals on all sorts of odds and ends. I myself recently found a genuine 1980s red and white cricket vest for a staggeringly low $12.00. I am now ready [...]

The Law Commission has released a review called “The News Media Meets ‘New Media’: Rights, Responsibilities and Regulation in the Digital Age“. If you are a serious blogger, or one of the many organisations dealing with the negative impacts of new technologies – you’ll want to take a look at this.
The review has two parts. The first [...]

An explanation of NetSafe’s work with RIANZ following the new copyright Amendment Act to give schools some room to deal with infringements happening on their networks

A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss
Or – there is no such thing as a free lunch.
We are all hooked into social networking/media in some way or another (or I doubt you’d be reading this!). We know the advantages it brings us, lots of positives or we wouldn’t bother would we?
What happens when it all [...]

The AVG/NetSafe research highlights useful details about NZ computer security – including the need to educate the public, identify cost effective ways for users to secure their machines, and point out how the low rates of basic security may produce a powder-keg situation for computer compromise in NZ.

I love awards ceremonies. I can’t get enough of them. Tony’s, Aria’s Bafta’s, MTV EMA’s, Golden Globes, Tui’s, love them all. Love them so much I named one of my children Oscar.
It’s not the red carpet, it’s not what [or rather who] people are wearing, because I don’t enjoy all the other celebrity at home [...]

Computer security experts often scoff at consumer security products. They point out that consumer level security software is no match for a dedicated hacker.
Are computer security experts just justifying high incomes by positioning computer security beyond the realms of the average home user, or are they fundamentally right? If consumer security products don’t work, should people even bother to [...]

A week spent learning the latest cyber security techniques is well worth the investment when it comes to recent technology news