Editorial
Frustrating Local News Sites And The Telecom Inquiry
My God, the local news industry is really useless when it comes to getting
news to the Web!
There was plenty of publicity about the government inquiry into Telecom
yesterday so I went to the country's top local news sites to get the good
oil this morning -- here's what I found at just after 8 am:
- At One News, I found
just four paragraphs
dated Wednesday 23.
- Over at The NZ Herald
I got this result when
trying to access any part of the site. However, forty minutes later, when the site
was back up, The NZ Herald provided the most timely and comprehensive coverage
of this story -- full marks to editorial -- demerit points to those responsible
for the technology.
- At the XTRA NZ News
site I found nothing at all about the inquiry and noticed that the news content
hadn't been updated for more than 13 hours.
- Likewise I could find no reference to the story on
The Press website.
So... points to TVNZ for at least having a server that works and a brief mention and
points to the NZ Herald for having good coverage even though their server seems
to have trouble getting out of bed occasionally -- come to think of it -- the
Herald site is acting a lot like the old NBR site used to -- is the common
(frequently breaking) link
Cold Fusion I wonder?
However, I've got to say that on this example one could be forgiven for exhibiting
more than a little frustration at trying to find early-morning national news
on the Web.
Don't fret too much though, we are in good company. Attempts to contact the
Sydney Morning Herald site
this morning uncovered the fact that Telstra's damp string must have dried
out somewhere -- it was down too!
However... The Government Inquiry Into Telecom:
I wonder if this inquiry isn't going to turn into yet another Labour/Alliance
witch-hunt where, rather than the inquiry being challenged to find out whether
there's a problem and whether action should be taken, it is instead told
in advance what its findings must be and all it therefore needs do is
find someway of justifying them.
Regular readers will know that I'm no supporter of Telecom's abuse of the
monopoly they hold on the local loop -- but I get very worried when I see
a bunch of career politicians and failed schoolteachers (no offense intended
to successful schoolteachers) embarking on a
move to wade in and tell Telecom exactly how they should run their business
and how much profit they are entitled to earn.
Such moves may be acceptable in the very small area where Telecom's
local loop monopoly provides them with unfair advantages -- but I heard
a member of the government asserting that the price of Internet access
was a target of the inquiry. Excuse me -- but there are plenty of people
matching Telecom's $39/month flat rate -- with plenty of others bettering
it and some charging more. That sounds like a fairly healthy situation to me.
So long as the inquiry remains focused on the few key issues of interconnect
agreements, number portability, 0867 and abuse of the local-loop monopoly then
there will be no problem -- but Anderton's sabre-rattling as deputy PM and
Minister of Economic Development worries me a lot -- because the very fact
that he's outspoken in his desire to nationalise Telecom must throw doubt on
the objectivity of any inquiry into the operation of this public company.
As always, your comments are gladly received.
General News & Current Events:
TODAY'S KEY NET-NEWS HEADLINES
Govt mulled court action on Telecom
The Government considered going to
court to overturn Telecom's introduction of 0867 internet
access, but decided that regulatory approaches to be
determined by its telecommunications inquiry would
provide a quicker solution...
NZ Herald
Telecom opens arms to probe
Telecom has welcomed the
Government's inquiry into the telecommunications
industry as being forward-looking and well balanced in
its terms of reference...
NZ Herald
Microsoft's ActiveX Too Active?
Web-traveling code from Microsoft doesn't always knock before
coming through your computer's back door to change things
around. Simplicity, says the company. Dangerous, say
security-watchers...
Wired
Hacking hysteria invigorates insurance industry
The dividends of this month's DDoS attacks against high-profile sites Yahoo, eBay,
Amazon and others just keep multiplying. Now it seems the insurance industry is going to
hand the security industry a tidy windfall...
The Register
New hacker software could spread by email
A group of anonymous programmers has released a new version
of the software that may have helped shut down Yahoo and
Amazon.com earlier this month--one that makes it far easier to
launch attacks, computer experts say...
CNet
Amazon Launches Mobile UK Internet Site
Bookshop browsers in the habit of going home to check the prices on Amazon before
committing themselves to a purchase can save themselves a journey: the Internet
retailer's UK Web site will be available on mobile phones from Thursday...
Yahoo/Reuters
Judge Undercuts Microsoft Defense
The decision on whether the Microsoft Corp. violated U.S. antitrust law now rests with
the trial judge, following a contentious final day of courtroom arguments and the judge's
own blunt rejection of an important legal defense for the software company...
Yahoo/AP
German company invents the plug-inter-Net
Veba plans to launch a new way of connecting to the Internet, through plugs
installed for electrical appliances, by the end of this year...
Fairfax
MSN drops newsgroup support
Microsoft's MSN Internet site is dumping support for newsgroup
discussions, the latest sign that the pioneering online chat format
is being bypassed by the commercial Web...
CNet
