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Woz Applying For Australian Citizenship Because of the NBN
An anonymous reader writes "It's a well known fact that Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is a fan of Australia and now we know why. He supports a national broadband network — a scheme being rolled out by the Australian government to provide fibre 'for everyone' — so much he's applying for citizenship, the Australian Financial Review reports. You can be assured that he's not giving up his American citizenship though, he told Brisbane radio."
And for U.S. citizens: "Despite his status as a technology icon, Mr Wozniak said he was not connected to a broadband service in his home in California, classing the options available to him as a 'monopoly.' 'There’s only one set of wires to be on and I’m not going to pull strings to get them to do something special for me,' he said .... 'I've sat with our FCC commissioner and told him that story in his office, but it’s not going to happen. We just don’t have the political idea to bring broadband to all the people who are 1 kilometer too far away.'"
just cause you dont think health care should be a for profit industry... hum... never mind, perhaps Woz is on to something.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
Being a good citizen means fighting tooth and nail for what you want for your country. It doesnt mean jumping ship because it doesn't have this one thing you want. There is a lot not to like about America but to simply move to a whole different country after just some talks with local government? Seems like an overreaction.
Yeah, cause the US allows you to hold dual-citizenship in a nation you weren't born in/claimed before you turned 18. Wait... The other thing. Or is that only a rule for poor people?
I thought Australian immigration requires anyone to be of at least 1 or 2 years (depending on few factors) as a permanent resident before they can apply to become a citizen, and becoming a PR in itself takes a while. Maybe easier to get the PR status for him due to his status and wealth, but citizenship is entirely different, I think? Possibly also requires certain amount of stay in the country to earn it. Would appreciate if any /.er has better detail on immigration requirements.
Because otherwise this just sounds like a really early non-news. Good on him for coming over to this side of the oceans though.
the game
What bigger monopoly is there than Government? I'd rather my ISP not be an organization that can take my resources by threat of violence, especially when I disagree with what they're doing with those resources.
If you apply for Australian citizenship on those grounds (the NBN fail) you are a bloody idiot.
Finaly somebody says it plain. +1 for Woz
Woz needs to get with Groggy and ask him about his pain! Or get with Assange and ask about the listening in on his email and IP/Voice conversations.
The National Broadband Network does not seem to be a plural.
I'm not a lawyer, but I play one on the Internet. Blog
Our governments failed bid to push through mandatory internet censorship based on a secret blacklist using categories similar to how movies are rated is going to be pushed through once they have a monopoly on the network. The existing blacklist was reversed engineered and included political discussions, satanic websites, "vanilla" gay porn, fetish web sites, even an australian dentist had been blacklisted for months.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/censorship-the-real-sleeper-in-the-governments-43bn-nbn-chaos/story-e6frg9bx-1225942946358
http://www.internetblackout.com.au/
Or how about mandatory ISP level data retention? Every thing you read and view on the internet will have its address stored and logged against your name and address in a format accessible to the government and its agencies. They will log who you communicate with.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/coalition-mps-hit-out-against-data-retention/story-fn59niix-1226471898912
http://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/privacy/protect-us-but-respect-us/discussion-paper
The NBN in australia is a joke. It will become a monopoly as soon as our government changes and the equivalent of your republicans get into power and sell it off to be a private asset, as they did with out telephony network, which was a shambles.
So secret censorship. Mandatory data retention for years including what sites you visit and who you email. And a large monopoly public funded network which will be handed to private business on a silver platter.
You're welcome here Woz. I'll swap you for your american citizenship.
I'm all pro-internet and stuff, obviously, but before a government gets fiber to everyone in a country, maybe they should get everyone an emergency kit, basic medical care, a place to live, proper nutritional assistance, their own bomb shelter for nuclear war, a gun, a more efficient car, a water filtration system, money off their taxes, a vote that actually counts, additional insulation, their own surveillance and security system, or just money. I don't actually think they should buy them those things but they'd certainly come before fiber to the household.
Well, sorry that you're susceptible to a global warming-induced global food meltdown but at least your internet went from 5Mbps to 50Mbps. Oh and those homeless kids, well, at least they can go to the library and play minecraft with no lag. Seriously! This is a completely unacceptable thing for any government to spend money on right now.
I've got no problem with fiber backbone upgrades though, just needless residential connections.
This sucks, in Tokyo they've have fiber for years. I can illegally download a movie in a minute instead of like three minutes.
Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
Woz will be hoping the Liberal party doesn't triumph at the next election. Although they seem to have stopped saying they will "rollback" the partially completed National Broadband Network, they are certainly not in favour of it in its proposed form: http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/government-it/we-will-not-cancel-the-nbn-turnbull-20120629-217f3.html
Woz, I used to have a great deal of respect for you. It's obvious that you've had the wool pulled over your eyes on more than one front.
Mr Wozniak told The Australian Financial Review in Sydney that he had spoken to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy and was in support of the federal government’s fibre rollout. “I spoke to him and they plan to roll it out to everyone in the country,” Mr Wozniak said.
Bullshit. 95% of the Australian population has cellular coverage at the moment because that proportion of the population is congregated in the coastal areas where it's easy for the telcos to provide cellular towers. Only 90% of that proportion of the population is going to be anywhere near the National Broadband Network. I live in Mount Gravatt (QLD, 4122), within a couple of kilometres of the nearest telephone exchange and have to put up with shitty ADSL courtesy of the encumbent ex-government telco, Telstra. The NBN is not scheduled to be rolled in our suburb any time within the next three years. Maybe 30-40% of the greater Brisbane area will have NBN coverage in the next 3 years. REF: http://www.nbnco.com.au/rollout/rollout-map.html
And Stephen Conroy wants to put internet censorship in place on the Australian networks. The list of censored sites are protected secrets under law and there is no process to appeal if your business happens to wind up censored. Doctors, dentists and family welfare groups got blackballed during the trials in Tasmania, so you don't have to be pushing porn or terrorist materials to get sunk. Is that the kind of country you want to live in?
“I’m not an expert on banking but bankers have told us how important this technology is to them and it is one of our big customer areas,” he said. “Some success in banking is all done in computers nowadays, not through humans, and milliseconds matter, the speed of transactions matter to them.”
More bullshit. Banks still take 3-7 days to clear a cheque (check, if you're a yankie), same as 100 years ago. Nearly-instant transfers are not applied for the benefit of customers.
Does he know how much the net is censored in Australia?? whats the use of having a the fastest net connection available, when you can't go anywhere
you've earned it, many times over.
Woz will surely be a welcome asset to our country.
As an Aussie, I say bring on the Woz! Total validation for our fantastic NBN and potentially a great addition to our national IQ.
This "well known fact" is news to me.
I have not applied for Australian citizenship but have taken some first steps towards it. I would very gladly be a devoted and loyal Australian. This has nothing to do with the NBN, which I do praise in concept, regardless of whether it even exists. I would love to be an Australian even with lower bandwidth like I have today in the States. I do applaud any attempts toward inclusion of all. For things as important as broadband, we should deal with our fellows as family and take care of those who just live in the wrong place. That's my personal opinion but it has nothing to do with why I would love to reside in Australia.
Cheers, mates
OK a new size TV
He bemoans the options available for his internet connection as a "monopoly", but Apple strives to be one when it comes to available content from the 'net. Think the lock-ins for iTunes and Apple Store to name just two.
Australia seems like a bad choice. Regulated Internet, bad latency to pretty much everything, nasty wildlife, religious christian zealotry among times. But nice weather I guess?
Come to the Netherlands Woz, here you can get cable Internet via multiple providers, DSL (ADSL, ADSL2, VDSL2) via multiple providers, fiber-to-the-home in many cities (again with your own choice of provider). I had VDSL2 (50/5Mbps) when the city council decided that everyone should have the option of FTTH within 4 years. Now I'm on 100/100 FTTH. In some placed my ISP of choice is experimenting with providing 500/500Mbps. That's half a Gbps.
Someone tell Woz we Australia doesn't have a Bill of Rights and the government is busy taking away the few rights we have. Does anyone else think one of the reasons the gov't is pushing the NBN is because it provides a bottle-neck for them to snoop on us?
Choose: 1. Freedom and ADSL2+ or 2. the NBN
I pick 1.
Doesn't Australia have their internet networks filtered and monitored?
Woz was a great engineer, and has always had his eccentric side, but this is borderline kooky. Acquiring citizenship is not like changing cellular carriers, even if you are rich or famous. And while NBN may be a laudable notion, has he considered the internet censorship that may well hamper its use?
Anybody want a peanut?
I live in rural Australia, 50 km from a regional centre and 20 km from the nearest town. Not exactly the middle of nowhere. There are no plans to roll out the NBN to my area. None at all. If they finally get the NBN satellites up, I may be able to get something a little better than the really slow, unreliable 3G wireless "broadband" I get now, but that will be in a few years' time, if ever. Meanwhile, there is just one supplier who covers this area - a true monopoly - and they charge accordingly - $90 per month for a 15 Gb download (and upload) limit, typical speeds about 500kb/sec.
Oi! Oi! Oi!
Sorry to break it to you Steve, but I live 35.659km (as per google maps) from the center of Melbourne and I'm not on the NBN constuction list till after June 2015. Unless some serious cable comes to town I'll still be living the 10Mbit ADSL2 dream. Yeah I was excited when they announced the NBN, I really was.
I don't know what's better, a government that determines and redefines your rights at their leisure or a government that defines your rights, and then passes secret and not-so-secret laws that supersede and suspend your rights for the government's convenience.
The net effect is equivalent; therefore, I prefer the former because it is less hypocritical.
As an American I've become so cynical and frustrated by my government's deliberate evisceration of the Constitution that I wish we didn't have one. The countries of the former British Empire seem to get by with unwritten constitutions. They don't have to pretend they are adhering to. a written Constitutiom while violating it egregiously, which is so much more honest.
America's slippery slope really accelerated once the Progressives seized power in the early 20th century. Wickard v. Filburn was farcical, but it laid the foundation for the insanity of the Raich decision and later upholding Obamacare.
Basically, because of twisted, specious legal sophistry, simply being alive is tantamount to interstate commerce (or the lack interstate commerce, which is *also* interstate commerce thanks to Wickard v. Filburn), and therefore is the complete jurisdiction of the federal government. Because, you know, that's what the Founders meant when they proposed the Constitution.
Australia? Home of the worst Nanny State since Dear Leader put his entire country on the Naught Step?
Sure, you can download as much as you like, as long as it's not sex, gambling, or anything that might possibly have been copyrighted at any point.
Bigger picture, Woz, it's not just about the bits and bytes.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
and realize there is download cap. As an European I dont even know what a download cap is.
WHY would you put it on a national fiber network????? I could understand download cap on connections leaving NBN, but no. It counts all traffic. Something like streaming birthday party in HD Video for few of your neighbors living 100m away will result in reaching cap.
It is totally retarded to cap traffic that doesnt leave your own backbone.
Who logs in to gdm? Not I, said the duck.
Wish I could get 10 Mbit ADSL2. 4 km from the CBD of Canberra and the most I can get is ~5 Mbps (crappy long line!). I AM on the NBN three-year rollout though :) (Early 2014)
Those who give up essential liberty, to purchase a temporary increase in bandwidth, deserve neither liberty nor internet access...
GrpA
Enjoy science fiction? "Turing Evolved" - AI, Mecha, Androids and rail-gun battles. What more could you want?
Houses for votes was a scandal in England a decade or two ago at the end of the Tatcher debacle. Conservaties would sell council houses to turn labour renters into conservative house owners.
People have two objectives when voting. Their wallet and their ideals and the wallet overrules their ideals every time during the actual election.
That is why right-wingers love privatization, it means they can score some quick cash to give handouts, buying votes and then when it comes time to pay the price for collapsed industries and sky-rocketing prices, they claim the economy is just bad because of high labor costs.
People think left with their heart but vote right for the promised tax-cuts (which are only delivered upon for the rich). Then they bitch that politicians don't take them serious. Democracy needs a better class of human being then we got.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
America is a country of immigrants, every immigrant is someone who bailed ship rather then stay and fight.
This explains a lot about America and it explains a lot about issues with immigrants world wide.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Most of the country will be dead from old age before NBN comes past its house. Good luck getting a port on a DSLAM in the meantime - that investment has dried up.
Seriously I don't normally want anything bad done to another human being, but for you I can always make an exception. I don't really know what to wish on you, but this comment makes me sick for you, your family, and every part of your soul. I hope you never bread and reproduce your views!
I don't know what's better, a government that determines and redefines your rights at their leisure or a government that defines your rights, and then passes secret and not-so-secret laws that supersede and suspend your rights for the government's convenience.
The net effect is equivalent; therefore, I prefer the former because it is less hypocritical.
As an American I've become so cynical and frustrated by my government's deliberate evisceration of the Constitution that I wish we didn't have one. The countries of the former British Empire seem to get by with unwritten constitutions. They don't have to pretend they are adhering to. a written Constitutiom while violating it egregiously, which is so much more honest.
America's slippery slope really accelerated once the Progressives seized power in the early 20th century. Wickard v. Filburn was farcical, but it laid the foundation for the insanity of the Raich decision and later upholding Obamacare.
Basically, because of twisted, specious legal sophistry, simply being alive is tantamount to interstate commerce (or the lack interstate commerce, which is *also* interstate commerce thanks to Wickard v. Filburn), and therefore is the complete jurisdiction of the federal government. Because, you know, that's what the Founders meant when they proposed the Constitution.
I kinda get what you meant except many former British colonies have written constitutions. Ironically it is Britian itself that is notable in not having a single document as a written constitution (although there may be other examples).
Andy Warhol got it right / Everybody gets the limelight
Andy Warhol got it wrong / Fifteen minutes is too long.
Broadband? I maintain I could still lead an electronic life with a remote Unix server, a VT Terminal and a 75/1200 baud modem.
I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
As far as I know, the opposition in Australia is very strongly against the NBN -- and it was one of the key points in their platform. Is he going to ditch his citizenship if they come to power in 2013?
If Woz thinks the NBN isn't a monopoly, he's got a rude shock coming when he arrives...
NBN is not planned to operate alongside the existing monopoly network (Telstra). No, the NBN is planned to *replace* the existing monopoly, and will itself be a new monopoly. Granted, a faster, sexier, one (and most of us will welcome that), but still, from a competition policy perspective, it's really just a pea & thimble trick.
The "competition" that the NBN's supporters claim it's going to foster is nothing more than a bunch of middle-man organisations (who add nothing to the value chain) all "competing" to sell us the exact same thing, from the exact same vendor (NBNCo). Now if that's not a monopoly, I'll eat my hat.
He along with steve jobs( corpse yep, casket no.)
HEAVILY CENSORED:
I can't be the only person here that is fed up seeing ridiculous comparisons between broadband access speeds in the US and other countries. They are pointless. Most [read: all] seem to completely disregard the realities of population densities and the size and geography of the US. The US is an extremely large country with people living pretty much all over it. To give 85% of the US population high speed broadband access rates is one thing, to do the same for the other 15% is another. Another thing that is worth noting is that these speeds are access rate, with the word access being important. It's all fine and dandy to provide someone with a 100Mbps access rate, but you damn well know that that rate is not even close guaranteed. How could it be? Every single aggregating access node in every single broadband network all over the world is oversubscribed. This is not just a reality in the US, it's everywhere. Every telecom company in the world is able to buy the same transmission equipment and fiber; do you really think the US is the only place where they do 8 to 1 [or worse] oversubscription? If they are, they're the only ones making money. This is a reality that will never go away. Today it's possible to do 100Gbp/s per waveform with 80 per fiber, tomorrow it will be possible to do 400Gbp/s, but guess what? People will then want 1Gbps access rates instead of 100Mbps.
Funnily there are people in Germany who argue that Germany has no constitution, because the german constitution is called Grundgesetz (fundamental law) instead of Verfassung (constitution).
So how is nationalizing broadband access *not* a monopoly? What does he think, the government is going to provide stellar customer service? Has he tried calling a government agency lately?
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
The problem with "the US is a large, spread-out country" is the fact that many places with completely dreadful broadband options are, in fact, relatively urban neighborhoods... or at least semi-urban areas that haven't looked remotely like rural farmland in half a century.
True story: 4 years ago, I bought a house in a relatively urban neighborhood. I did my homework, and made sure my neighbors all had DSL. 2 weeks before moving in, I called AT&T to place my order. They informed me that my neighborhood had DSL service, but that I couldn't have it. Why? My address wasn't in their computer, because the previous owner didn't have a landline phone. As far as they were concerned, I didn't exist. Eventually, I bit the bullet and ordered a landline phone from them, just so I could prove I existed. Then, they told me I couldn't get DSL because the DSLAM (actually, the U-verse VRAD) was full, and didn't have any slots available for another customer. I was told they'd put me on the waiting list, and would call me when somebody moved, cancelled, or died. Fortunately, I got a consolation prize... we have Comcast as a fallback option. Comcast's problem is that they're totally unreliable. My service goes away for minutes to hours whenever there's a power outage anywhere nearby (and I don't mean at my own house... my cable modem is on a UPS). The cable guy admitted point blank that they have battery backup, but that most of the actual batteries are old and only have a few minutes of capacity when the power goes out.
A bigger problem is the precise fact that AT&T owns both wireline and wireless companies, but only wants the wireline business so it can take advantage of its ROWs to run fiber to its own towers at cost, while charging rent-seeking rates to other companies. It has no interest in providing actual wired service to end users -- DSL, fiber, or otherwise. In most states, AT&T has systematically laundered funds from rate-hikes approved 10 years ago in the name of residential fiber deployment to build out its wireless network, and almost all of the fiber they've laid has been to neighborhoods with an AT&T cell tower. In Florida, they were caught red-handed claiming dozens of neighborhoods as "U-verse" neighborhoods, despite the fact that they never bothered to build the actual VRAD so actual customers in the neighborhood could get service, and the only user of their new fiber was AT&T's cell tower. Eventually, they bought off a few sympathetic legislators to deregulate them so they wouldn't have to report alleged fiber deployments anymore. That way, they don't have to worry about pesky journalists fact-checking and embarrassing them. It's much easier to lie to bureaucrats whose hands are tied, and who aren't actually allowed to go out and verify whether or not you're telling the truth.
He undoubtedly has shitloads of cash so the business migration scheme applies and it's effectively a done deal. He doesn't hit the barriers deliberately put in the way of anyone that comes to Australia expecting to work for a living.
As for point two, the libs are opposing any and all infrastructure spending at this time but once they are in control the NBN may be seen as popular pork. The libs hated Telstra as much as anybody when they put their own mates on the board but got backstabbed by them, so the major aim of the NBN of doing an end-run around Telstra is likely to be supported by a large number of representatives. Those in the regional areas are especially likely to remember that Telstra has done little for them since 1996 apart from mobile rollouts, and that some areas have actually had reduced mobile phone coverage since then due to a change to a digital network with shorter range.
Because Australia is not particularly left leaning by nature. Not as far right as a US republican party, but not as left as many would like to believe.
He's really taking his obsession with Outback Steakhouse too far.
+1, mod parent up in an anti-clockwise direction.
Welcome to Team Awesome Woz!
1.) Why'd you "eat your words" again http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3137925&cid=41448805
and
2.) How did your words taste (since you had to eat them) flavored with the "bitter taste of SELF-defeat" and your foot in your mouth too?
LMAO!
The Opposition is pretty much opposed to everything the Government does. Then if they get to power, they make tweaks, and if it fails they blame the previous government or if it succeeds it was because of the tweaks. This is true of both sides of politics and most projects.
Who actually wants Tony Abbott as PM anyway? No-one! Don't vote for the LNP!
--
no sig for you. come back one year.
Long ago in Germany, I was 100 meters too far away to get DSL.
They have this points test. Speaking both English and French and having citizen relatives is a big winner. You are penalized for being over 50. I think they want to keep American freeloaders out.
They do have a businesman's path like in the US. You either start a business with a certain number of jobs or invest $C800K in a no-interest business bond for five years.
I want to just ship too! Why can't a EU citizenship be easier to acquire?
Man I hate the US!
Folks, this is what happens when you don't work anymore. You turn into a fat slob, start riding scooters and find ridiculous things to do. Go away Woz. Be remembered for your actual contributions to society.
so wouldn't a government run/controlled broadband solution be a monopoly?
So, he'd rather move to Australia to get good broadband, instead of a few miles up the road?
Either he's got his priorities mixed up, or those two things have nothing at all with each other.
Trading no choice for ... government mandated no choice. Wow .. that makes perfect sense. Let's just tax everyone so they can all have access to YouTube, Facebook, and other worthless crap. More of the 'me me me' generation.
.. he's too old for that. Alzheimer's must be kicking in....
Oh wait
I rarely read replies, it's my opinion and if you thought about your opinion a little more, I'm OK with that.
This is Australia right? The country obsessed with nation-wide censorship. I'll take my slower speed access here in Canada to ALL Net-based content versus super fast access to government-approved content. This sounds like a technology spin on the Time Machine with Eloi and Morlocks. Eloi are happy consumers content with their super fast access to Facebook, Youtube, etc all monitored and censored by our government Morlocks. A bit conspiratorial but really, I'm surprised someone like the Woz would be blinded by technology.
He may not realize this but he might be in for a rude awakening. It is not uncommon to hear stories of US citizens living abroad who were forced to renounce their US citizenships because FACTA, FBAR, and many other tax regulations. Here in Canada, i hear of Canadians who married US citizens and have been forced to either divorce them or have their spouse renounce their US citizenship in order to make sure that the IRS cannot reach into their shared assets (e.g., retirement accounts). Granted... Woz is a wealthy man and he can probably pay a bunch of accountants and lawyers to work out all the details for him but still...
He's done something in the past that has made him a fuckton of money. Good on him, I'd love to be in that position. But in his later years he doesn't seem to have anything to do other pass the time silly stuff like this. If he at least pushes carts at Wal-mart it might help.
http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/medicare-a-very-sick-sacred-cow/
Touche. I remembered the Constitution of Canada after I posted and realized my generalization was in error. Thanks for educating me.
Touche. I remembered the Constitution of Canada after I posted and realized my generalization was in error. Thanks for educating me.
Any time ;)
Andy Warhol got it right / Everybody gets the limelight
Andy Warhol got it wrong / Fifteen minutes is too long.
One misleading story was picked up by 30 other reporters, none of whom bothered to check with Steve Wozniak. When I did, he emailed. “I am taking the first steps toward my goal of Australian citizenship, which is to apply for an extended visa so that I can reside here. I have desired to find the path to accomplish this for decades. It has nothing to do with NBN (faulty reporting) although I'm always a staunch advocate for technology and bandwidth and sharing and internet freedom. But the two things are not connected. NBN is good in my mind and is a side benefit but that's all.” http://fastnetnews.com/fiber-news/175-d/4856-woz-nbn-is-not-why-im-going-australian
No regard for costs? Why not move to where broadband is? And if you want to live in the sticks why not partner with neighbors to create long haul wifi? Because the gov won't let you do it? Tell that to the Woz. Will the Aboriginals have fiber???
the USA please turn off the Blinkinlights.
+1 for our new Minister for Science, Technology, Communications. It's been so long since we had one that didn't suck.