Studios' Oz Power-Grab Revealed

Xiroth writes "More details are beginning to come out about the lawsuit launched by film studios in Australia. According to law experts familiar with the case, the studios seek to force the ISPs to become 'police, judge, and executioner,' effectively giving the studios the legal clout to switch off ISP customers' internet connection at will. Apparently the ISP iiNet is the unlucky victim for the test case as, unlike other ISPs, they refused to pass on infringement notices to their customers."

Comments

Re:WTF is wrong with Australia these days?

[YttriumOxide]

Yeh, around Darling Harbour (Opera House, Bridge, etc), it's definitely more like what I imagine San Fran to be like (but I haven't been to SF so can't say for sure). Walking down George street definitely not though, which is what I think of when I think of "city" for Sydney. I was living in Sydney for the 6 years that I was in Oz, and I really did grow to dislike it. It's a great city at first, and I think most tourists probably love it because they don't get stuck with it for too long, but when you're there for a while, you really start getting the same feel that I felt in Manhattan - there's the glitz and glamour over the top (although VERY vacuous "sex and the city" type), with a really seedy underbelly below it that will rear its ugly head once you've been lured in.

And the sage advice you were given is good... but as for NZ, any European flag will do (some mainland European flags will get better reactions than British depending on what part of NZ you're going through (a Dutch flag works well pretty much everywhere) - British is still 100% fine though). The Canadian flag also works well pretty much everywhere in the world off the North American continent since it's easily recognisable as a symbol that says "hey, I may sound like one, but I am NOT American!" (just as most people in that part of the world can't tell the difference between NZ and AU accents (they're VERY different!), we can't tell the difference between American and Canadian accents)

Re:WTF is wrong with Australia these days?

[YttriumOxide]

Listen up troll, and you are that.

The moderators seem to think differently...

four have been bitchin, with racist undertones

Racist? Woah... sorry, what?! I readily admit to intolerance of fools and arseholes, but the race of the person makes NO difference to me whatsoever. I couldn't care less what someone's race is - I'll either like 'em or dislike 'em, but either way it's for who they are, not where they're from.

Don't think I'll stand idly by while you call me lazy

I didn't call YOU lazy... I didn't call any specific individual lazy... I DID say that Australia is generally lazy, which is something I stand by. The culture there is one of "she'll be right mate" and "beer o'clock". What I mean by my statement is that when averaged out, the "everyman" Aussie is lazier than the "everyman" from many other countries. There are of course MANY fine hard working individuals from Australia, just as from other places, but that doesn't change the fact that on average, the culture is one of laziness (and is even celebrated as such by the population and media there)

I can understand that you love your NZ

NZ's great in its own way, as is Australia. I do prefer NZ on the balance of things, but obviously from the fact that I DID spend 6 years in Oz, it's not such a big deal to me...

Chances are you brought it upon yourself by making the sort of claims you've demonstrated here. I'd also be looking at the sort of people you were associating with to be in those sort of areas in the first place, let alone getting into the situations that you did. Guess what, that would happen in any country you visit when you offend the locals.

I find it interesting that you brought up racism at the start of your post, because actually that's one of the things I found really quite appalling in Brisbane... Let me tell you two short stories and then you tell me how either of these were my fault:

Story 1: Trip to a burger shop for lunch
I was on a business trip, visiting a re-seller of the company I work for. I was helping the techs there with some issues at a customer. We finished at the customer and then went back to the office. Because we had further stuff to do in the afternoon and there wasn't enough time for a "real" lunch, we decided to hit a local burger shop just down the road and then eat it in the office.
Back in the office with our food, someone queried where we got it. When the guy I was with answered, he was scolded for shopping at "that place" because he was "giving the Italians money".
I had to bite my tongue to stay professional...

Story 2: A truck and a group of aboriginal children

I was on a different business trip, this time visiting the Brisbane branch of our company. I was standing outside smoking a cigarette, and was chatting to one of the guys who worked in the warehouse. As we were talking, a truck started to turn in to make a delivery and it had to stop as some aboriginal children (probably between 6 and 8 years old) were walking past on the footpath. The guy from the warehouse muttered, "shoulda hit the little black cunts" (not even a trace of humour in his voice - he meant it).
Unlike my previous story, I did not have to remain professional in this instance (branch rather than re-seller), so I just turned to the guy and said, "what the fuck? They're just kids... how the hell do they deserve that?"
His answer? "They're just fuckin' abbos.", followed by spitting on the ground and walking inside to end the conversation.

Now, yes, I KNOW that not all people from Brisbane are racist. I KNOW that most would also be shocked and disturbed by the above two stories, but the simple fact that this has happened to me TWICE in Brisbane, whereas I've never experienced this in any other modern western city does somewhat lend itself to a disfavourable viewpoint... Also, for reference, th