CW: Bring our talent home, AIIA panellists say

As a journalist at Computerworld Australia:

Discussions of Australia's value proposition at the AIIA Borderless World Conference yesterday inevitably centred on what panellists agreed was the country's greatest advantage: talent.

Ironically, the realisation comes at a time when Australian IT talent is in dangerously short supply.

Educational institutes are reporting declining IT enrolment figures. Meanwhile, skilled professionals are emigrating towards bigger and better opportunities in overseas markets.

One of the conference panelists was Graham Edelsten, co-founder of Auran Games, which is a Queensland-based company that develops software targeted at the burgeoning online games market in China and Korea.

"Here we are in Australia, where our labour cost is so much higher," said Edelsten, who currently holds both director and chief financial officer positions at Auran. "But because our technology is still more advanced, and [because of] our creativity due to our political system, we can produce a game that's so successful that it is attractive to those [Chinese and Korean] markets."

"There are very, very creative people in Australia - but we lose a lot of our intellectual property especially to the U.S.," he said.

Technology behemoth Google is one U.S. company that has historically attracted some of the top Australian talent away from the country's sunny shores. And while the company's 2005 launch of its Sydney office has allowed more of its Australian employees to remain in the country, remotely located employees still contend with issues to do with Google's globally distributed workforce.

"We're here [in Australia] because that's where the talent is," said conference panellist Alan Noble, head of engineering at Google's Sydney office. "We recognise that not everybody who is an engineer wants to go and work in Mountain View, California."

"I do think we are used to working remotely as a culture," he said, "[but] there are real factors here that we need to work hard to minimize. Time zones are very annoying."

As a nation that is located on opposite ends of the world to its Western-cultured peers, Australia is subjugated to what panellists called the "tyranny of distance".

While panellist David Merson, the Bali-based founder of Australian software company Mincom, views Australia's geographic and cultural positioning as a trading advantage, the tyranny of distance has also been charged with producing a penchant for travel among Australians.

Noble is one example of an Australian-born engineer who took his entrepreneurial activity to the U.S. for about 14 years, before recently returning to Australia to work at Google. A graduate of the University of Adelaide, Noble recalls how initial feelings of homesickness faded away with time. For Australian businesses, he said this meant that opportunities had to be created to draw expatriate talent back home.

"At some point, you stop thinking about Australia," he said. "By and large, we in the industry have to create opportunities for people to come back."

Merson agreed: "I think it is fantastic that there are expatriates overseas, in terms of the knowledge they gain. I think if we build the jobs and the opportunities then they will come [home], because it's [Australia] a great place to live and bring up kids."

Noble and Merson said that it is predominantly the industry's responsibility to create opportunities for returning expatriates. Auran's Edelson highlighted training initiatives put in place by the Singapore and Chinese governments that involved sending students overseas for fixed-term work placements to ensure their return with the advantages of an expatriate experience.

Edelson described a proposal from the Singapore Government, which he said has offered to partly fund Auran's hiring of Singaporean entry-level staff on two-year contracts. The deal is expected to provide Auran with a low-cost staffing option, while assisting the Singapore Government with up-skilling its workforce.

"I wish our government would do things like that, because we are desperate for knowledge," Edelson said.

more

PCW: Finger lengths could point out technophobia

As a journalist at PC World Australia:

The measurements of a person's ring and index fingers may come in handy in the early identification of developmental disorders, career paths, and behaviourial issues such as technophobia, psychologists claim.

In a comparative study of the finger lengths of 75 seven-year-old children with their Standardised Assessment Test (SAT) scores, researchers found evidence that finger lengths can accurately predict a child's numeracy and literacy abilities.

Longer "digit ratios'', which were calculated by dividing length of the ring finger by that of the index finger, were generally found in males with good numeracy skills. In contrast, girls tended to have shorter ring than index fingers, and fared more poorly in numeracy than literacy tests.

While finger lengths have long been a source of knowledge to palm readers and mystics, it is only in recent times that scientists have been able to link finger lengths with the sex hormones, testosterone and oestrogen, according to Dr Mark Brosnan, who led the study.

"Testosterone has been linked to spatial skills and mathematical skills, [and] digit ratio has been linked to testosterone," said Brosnan, Head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath. "So the question then was - does digit ratio relate to mathematical abilities?"

Scientists believe that high levels of exposure to the male hormone, testosterone, while a child develops in its mother's womb, promote the development of the areas of the brain which are often associated with spatial and mathematical skills.

Similarly, the female hormone oestrogen is thought to do the same in the areas of the brain which are often associated with verbal ability.

"Interestingly, these hormones are also thought to have a say in the relative lengths of our index and ring fingers," Brosnan said.

"We can use measurements of these fingers as a way of gauging the relative exposure to these two hormones in the womb, and as we have shown through this study, we can also use them to predict ability in the key areas of numeracy and literacy."

Longer index fingers could also be linked to a greater tendency towards what Brosnan has termed "computer anxiety", or "technophobia", which has been defined as a fear or anxiety towards technology.

And while it is unlikely that finger length measurements could replace SAT tests, Brosnan announced plans for further research into how digit ratio relates to a person's career path.

The early prediction of a person's natural disposition could perhaps be used to reduce anxieties to do with technology, and even open new avenues to technology-related careers, Brosnan said, should the person be willing.

"Those who are good at maths, for example, [might] enter numerate jobs," he predicted, noting that this hypothesis has yet to be empirically researched.

more

CW: Headhunters shake up a candidate-short market

As a journalist at Computerworld Australia:

At a glance, it seems conditions are ripe for active recruitment to take hold of the Australian IT industry. As skilled professionals bask in an opportunity-rich environment, recruiters are fast coming to terms with new laws of the jungle: poach, or get poached from.

The technology industry has taken off at such speeds that a once-overfull workforce is now barely meeting the demand for skilled staff. Employers are faced with the challenge of attracting and retaining employees, while a recent influx of the notoriously fickle Generation Y is pushing employee loyalty to an all-time low.

With a nationwide scarcity of IT staff in full force, active recruitment has become an increasingly attractive prospect for IT hubs such as electronics vendor Altium Limited.

"With the current IT skills shortage, we are increasingly exploring less traditional ways to find people and to ensure those people are a great match for Altium," said Kerri-Ann Wilson, the Sydney-based company's Chief People Officer.

"When companies like Altium require IT staff that possesses a very specific and hard-to-find skill set, then active headhunting can be an effective way to find the right talent."

The battle-worn concept of headhunting certainly has caused its fair share of debate over the years. Proponents view the method as an effective way of recruiting staff with the skills and experience to match a particular position. Challengers argue that headhunters risk too much time to account for the low success rate associated with their passive job-seeking targets.

And active recruiting services don't come cheaply either. As Duncan Thomson, General Manager of FiniteIT Recruitment Solutions explains, active recruitment can be a long process with costs involved along each step of the way.

"The recruitment term for 'headhunting' is 'search' which is more generally used to fill senior/executive roles, or to source hard to find niche skill sets," said Thomson, adding that search comprised only one of several methods the recruitment agency employs to source candidates.

FiniteIT's search contracts would normally involve an initial "retainer fee" of about one-third of the total cost of the contract. This would allow the agency to take a comprehensive brief on the position and what it would offer to potential candidates.

The second step of the process involves market research with a view to eventually producing a shortlist of candidates to approach. On production of the shortlist, the recruitment agency collects a further one-third of the total fee, with the final third being charged upon placement and commencement of a successful candidate.

It is only in the final stages of matching a potential employee to a company that the company's details are actually revealed to a candidate, Thomson said.

"The merits of this type of approach to the client is that it normally remains a very private process, requires a trust in the search consultant's ability and is normally a very thorough, targeted and methodical exercise for both client and consultant," he said.

"However, depending on the seniority of the role or the scarceness of availability of the skill-set in demand, it can take anything up to three months to carry out a search assignment, and does involve a non refundable fee paid up front with no absolute guarantee of eventual success."

Headhunting, or being hunted, may not always be the best option for everyone, Thomson said. While some candidates may feel flattered by unsolicited approaches from headhunters, others may find it a distraction, and can be offended in cases where the consultant has not done their homework sufficiently on their individual background and skills, or adopted the wrong approach.

But even without the guarantee of eventual success, no effort is wasted effort to Altium's Wilson, who views even failed attempts at active recruitment as investments that may pay off in the long run.

"While headhunting means that you are often contacting people who may be very happy in their job, it's still a great opportunity for us to make a potential future employee aware of the unique Altium offering," she said.

"That person, who is happy in their job today, may be ready to move in 12 month's time, and then you want them to remember the unique benefits offered by working at Altium and the positive experience they have already had with the company."

Get hunted

Passive job seekers stand a greater chance of being headhunted if they have a high profile in the industry, and are accessible via a good professional network, FiniteIT's Thomson said.

"The higher the individual's public profile and contacts network, the easier it will be for them to appear within the researched industry candidate long list," he said, mentioning industry publications, the Internet, and media announcements as avenues for publicity.

Meanwhile, Altium's Wilson encourages professionals to take a more active approach to shaping their careers.

"If people are interested in working at Altium we encourage them to get in touch with us directly," she said. "There is no need to wait for a tap on the shoulder or to see a specific job advertised."

more

CW: Off-site printing service banks on hardcopy invoice needs

As a journalist at Computerworld Australia:

Businesses may be moving to digitize their operations in today's technocentric world, but according to Australian start-up bing Technologies, the humble hardcopy letter will prevail.

That is at least what the company has gathered from an Australia Post survey that, at the turn of the millennium, found that while businesses reported a preference for electronic correspondence, ninety percent of their customers would rather receive invoices and statements in the post.

"Mail is a real pain for a lot of companies," said bing's National Sales Manager, Simon Moss, explaining that while the electronic medium does offer a speed advantage over traditional letters, it can be less effective as a reminder of outstanding invoices.

"The average e-mail is handled about once or twice after it enters your mailbox," Moss explained. "Paper is, on average, touched 7 times; people receive letters, stick them on the fridge, and pass them on."

bing Technologies is a software-enabled postal service provider with headquarters in Sydney and Brisbane. Its self-titled service allows businesses to electronically send any document they create to either of bing's facilities for offsite, on-demand printing and next-day delivery through Australia Post.

Aimed at enterprises and small to medium enterprises (SMEs), the service is expected to speed up the mailing process through automation, and reduce the cost of mail by up to 42 percent through economies of scale.

Besides enabling its clients to more readily access wholesale prices from Australia Post, the service boasts the potential to eliminate wasted printing materials and cut down on human hours spent manually printing, folding and posting letters.

bing's automated process has already been welcomed by SME clients, Seek.com.au and a large bank. Moss cited market figures that revealed the number of letters sent in Australia to have increased by 150 million, to 5 billion in 2006. About 41 percent of this market, or 2.1 billion letters, were found to have originated from enterprises and SMEs.

The 2.1 billion letters sent by Australian businesses were still only a small portion of what Moss saw as an "addressable world market" of 450 billion letters sent world wide.

The company plans to open facilities in Melbourne and Auckland by the end of this year, with plans for further international expansion into New York and London in 2008. As outgoing mail is electronically delivered to be printed and posted by the branch closest to the recipient, Moss expects mail sent through bing to reach its destination up to 36 hours faster than courier services such as DHL, with the launch of international branches.

more

CW: ACS warns of 'Google-Schmoogle' syndrome

As a journalist at Computerworld Australia:

"Google, schmoogle," declared Philip Argy, president of the Australian Computer Society (ACS).

Speaking at the National ICT Industry Alliance's (NICTIA) launch of its 10-year Strategic Vision for Australia, Argy criticized what he said to be an often-indiscriminate use of search engine results by the younger generation in their school assignments.

"The Google-schmoogle syndrome is a term that I've invented to apply to mostly kids - and sometimes also journalists - who uncritically copy and paste information retrieved from a Google search into their school assignments and serious reports," he said.

With the convenience of online research in today's world, students in search of information often turn to the Internet as their first port of call.

Unfortunately, Argy said, school curriculums are yet to catch up with the technology, so principles of rigour and intelligent use of online material tends to be overlooked.

Likening much of the material found online to dog-eared scraps of paper handed out by "a vagrant on the street", Argy explained that poor teaching of proper investigative techniques could be contributing to a generation built on plagiarism.

Worse still, students using unverified material in their work are often rewarded with high grades from ill-informed teachers, Argy said.

"We are breeding a generation of uncritical thinkers who don't know how to differentiate between the opinion of one deluded individual, and a well-researched, factual piece by someone who is informed," he said.

"Unfortunately, it's not common sense - people are just copying and pasting uncritically. We need to teach the principles of rigor in research skills and a much more questioning approach to search engine results."

A better education system would teach students to test their sources, investigate a topic, and delve into the background of the persons authoring a piece of information, Argy said.

As part of ACS's involvement with NICTIA's 10-year strategy, the group is currently in discussion with the NSW Board of Studies; Senator Helen Coonan, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts; and Julie Bishop, Federal Minister for Education, Science and Training, about beefing up teacher training programs.

"They've been quite receptive conceptually; they said this [online research] already forms a small part of the curriculum, but have taken on my view that there needs to be more teaching of critical research techniques," he said. "I think the next generation of teachers will probably get most of it right; it's that intermediate generation that has been initially resistant to this sort of technology."

"Based on what we've [ACS] been doing, we're going to see in a teacher training program, and therefore within the next 5 years, we should see an effect on our education system," he said.

more

CW: NICTIA takes 10-year industry vision to governments

As a journalist at Computerworld Australia:

A 10-year strategic vision for the ICT industry was launched this morning by a consortium of 20 industry associations aiming to develop an internationally competitive ICT sector in Australia.

Operating under the umbrella of the National ICT Industry Alliance (NICTIA), the consortium has put forward a Vision Statement containing 12 parameters said to be vital to Australia's economic prosperity, because of the role of ICT as an enabling technology that supports all sectors of the economy.

NICTIA president Tony Hill highlighted the support of innovation and development of opportunities for small to medium enterprises (SMEs) as a key focus of the 10-year vision.

Rather than what he said to be a traditional "rollercoaster" way of innovation, which could lead to phenomena like the transient dot-com boom at the turn of the century, the new Vision Statement has long-term results in mind.

Also on the agenda was the marketing and branding of Australian ICT products in the global market; the development of skills; ICT literacy and standards; and the improvement of national broadband infrastructure.

"The pace of change with ICT has been enormous," said Hill. "We're concerned that Australia may be falling behind in developing our sector.

"In this strategy, we're taking an industry-led approach, and asking the government to join," he said. "The key [focus] is these 12 points that need to be coordinated, and this is the first time we are taking a coordinated approach that has been organized by the industry,"

The ten-year Vision Statement has been endorsed by the Australian Computer Society (ACS), whose president Philip Argy expects NICTIA to present the government with a credible, practical framework through a single, united voice for the industry.

"No government can ignore the weight of support for this document," he said.

"By comparison to other OECD countries, Australia has been a poor promoter and exporter of its own innovation," Argy said, adding that the country's greatest comparative advantage has ironically been its capability for the development and integration of technology.

"Australia really needs to take a step forward and compete on the world stage as a world-recognized brand ... this vision is about an environment in which innovation can thrive," he said.

Argy suggested the long-term licensing of export technologies to bring on-going revenue from royalties into the country.

Broadband and the early adoption of IPv6 were also identified as issues that should be a government priority. Already, members of NICTIA have been working towards the new Internet protocol through initiatives such as the Australian IPv6 Summit and the ITOL IPv6 for e-Business project.

"We want to see an Australia in 10 years time, where bandwidth is not a limiting factor on anything anyone wants to do," Argy declared. "If we are at the leading edge, then the rest of the world will - by definition - look to buy those technologies from us."

To combat the commonly touted ICT skills shortage, NICTIA is also recommending that the industry projects its skill requirements three to five years into the future, and actively communicate its needs to tertiary institutions.

"In the past, that dove-tailing hasn't really been there, and there's been a great push to import them [skilled staff] as a first resort," Argy said. "We say if you can invest more in the skills that you need, then you've got a greater probability of cross-training and up-skilling your staff."

However, according to NICTIA's Hill, having the industry make recommendations to the educational sector will first require more detailed planning, part of which can only be achieved via government discussions.

Currently, members of the alliance are in discussions with the government and opposition at a federal level, Hill said, and meetings with Senator Helen Coonan, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, as well as state governments, are also in the works.

NICTIA's 12-point plan is as follows:

1. National 10-year strategy
Australia to have a vibrant, innovative and globally competitive ICT industry that strategically plans for the future and underpins future productivity gains in all other sectors of the economy.

2. National marketing and branding
An Australian ICT sector to be well supported by the Australian, State and Territory Governments under a strong national Australian ICT brand, which presents a united front globally and is well known for its innovation and quality ICT services in key international markets.

3. Innovation
An Australian ICT industry that is a magnet for private investment to support R&D and commercialization of technology through large, multi-disciplinary commercial R&D and product realization centres.

4. Innovation in procurement practices
Government as a model ICT purchaser of Australian innovation, recognizing that as the largest single ICT customer in Australia, its procurement practices have a substantial impact on innovation in the ICT industry and provide reference sites to facilitate global market penetration.

5. Skills
An Australian ICT industry with a leading skill base by world standards with the Australian, State and Territory Governments, industry and education providers working collaboratively to improve skills foresighting, skills development and enhance enrolments in ICT courses.

6. International opportunities
Australian technology businesses to have the capacity and necessary government market intelligence and support to readily identify and respond to real international business opportunities and consistently convert these to positive business wins.

7. Collaboration and global integration
Australian ICT SMEs to be competing successfully on the world stage with the capability and necessary expertise available to access markets, attract venture capital and commercialise their technology solutions.

8. Entrepreneurship
Our ICT entrepreneurs to possess the managerial, technical and marketing skills to develop their businesses, compete for growth capital and move forward on national and international business opportunities.

9. ICT infrastructure
A high speed, affordable national broadband infrastructure and complementary e-security network that puts Australia amongst the leaders in OECD in terms of its broadband capabilities. Be one of the first nations to gain the benefits from migrating to IPv6.

10. ICT literacy
Australia to become a highly ICT literate and truly technology-proficient society that adopts, adapts and confidently embraces and exploits technology to its advantage and on an equitable basis.

11. ICT standards and conduct
Australia to increase its development and application of open technical and professional standards, at both a national and international level.

12. Regulatory policy
Australia's regulatory policy to be proportionate to the need and not to become an impediment to innovation and investment in ICT.

more

CW: CISSP certification gets tougher

As a journalist at Computerworld Australia:

(ISC)² has announced changes in the professional experience and endorsement requirements for its Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.

Effective 1 October 2007, the minimum work experience required for certification will be raised from four to five years in two or more of the 10 recognised CISSP topics. Candidates with applicable tertiary qualifications will be required to have four years of work experience, instead of the three years currently required.

Also to be introduced in October is the requirement for each CISSP candidate to be officially endorsed by a (ISC)²-certified professional in good standing. The new requirement abolishes current concessions that allow candidates to be endorsed by their own organizations if no official endorsement can be obtained.

Changes to the CISSP requirements come as a reflection on demands of the information security industry, according to Randy Sanovic, who holds both CISSP-ISSAP and ISSMP certifications, and chairs (ISC)²'s Board of Directors.

"With the increasingly complex demands information security professionals face today, the board decided that additional measures of experience and peer endorsement will ensure that a CISSP has a thorough understanding of how to implement an effective information security program," Sanovic said.

"Additional measures of experience and peer endorsement ensure a CISSP has a complete understanding of how to implement an effective information security program and manage information security risks and the ethical commitment to make the right choices along the way," he said.

While candidates who have already registered to take the CISSP test before the October 1 deadline will not be affected by the new requirements, Sanovic expects some leniency to be granted also to candidates taking the exam before the end of the year.

On average, 1100 professionals apply each month for the CISSP exam worldwide. With an estimated 1.5 million people working in information security globally, the 50,000 plus CISSPs must remain an elite group of professionals that are leading this industry, Sanovic said.

"Those candidates who have already signed up to take the CISSP test to be held after Oct. 1, 2007 will be 'grandfathered' into the old requirements, provided they take the exam by Dec. 31, 2007," he said. "We've received very positive feedback thus far from our members," he said. "I believe that most CISSPs view these new requirements as a strength for the benefit of the certified community, and the profession at large."

more

LW: Software pirate extradition a first of many, legal expert predicts

As a journalist at LinuxWorld Australia:

It took three years of legal debate before Hew Raymond Griffiths, an Australian resident and British citizen, was surrendered to the U.S. for his involvement in the international software piracy group Drink or Die (DoD).

Griffiths was extradited on February 20 this year, and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement, and one count of criminal copyright infringement, before the Virginian District Court on April 20. Potentially facing a maximum sentence of 10 years in an American prison and a $US500,000 fine, he now awaits sentencing on June 22.

To unravel the implications of Griffiths' extradition for Australian content users and owners, Liz Tay enlisted the legal expertise of Nick Abrahams, a corporate and commercial lawyer of international law firm, Deacons, and president of the Communications and Media Law Association in Australia.

What do you think is most significant about the Hew Griffiths case?

To my knowledge this is the first case of IP [intellectual property] theft resulting in an extradition.

It really shows that you can't hide from IP prosecution, and I think it's been a wake-up call to internet users, because often there's a belief that if you place your servers in a particular jurisdiction that has very little regulation and IP protection and so forth, then somehow that will shield you from liability and you can then go on to live somewhere else.

I think what the Hew Griffiths case shows is that you do need to be very aware that particularly in the U.S., where the number one export is intellectual property, they are incredibly vigilant, and this has been a very significant coup for them and I see this as the start of more international prosecution for cyber-related crime.

How was the extradition made possible?

We had the free trade agreement with the U.S. a few years ago, which was great for Australia in a number of respects, and it also had with it a significant obligation on Australia to change its copyright laws to give more protection to copyright owners.

What that means is now there's a lot more criminality, or criminal statute, covering intellectual property from copyright theft, which we didn't have before. That's important because we're now a bit more harmonised with the U.S.

Does the Free Trade Agreement mean that we will be seeing more Australians being extradited to the U.S. on IP charges?

We now have a lot more criminal penalty for IP theft as a result of the Free Trade Agreement, so the potential for this to be used more broadly is certainly there.

How does extradition work?

It's basically a part of international law. In Australia, in order for the Australian government to extradite someone to another country in relation to a crime, then the Australian government is only allowed to do that if the crime that's alleged in another country is actually a crime in Australia as well.

Take something like murder. Quite clearly, murder is a crime in America, and murder is a crime in Australia. So if the U.S. government says, 'there's someone who we allege murdered someone', then there would be the required dual criminality, because murder is a crime in both countries.

For the purpose of extradition, what is critical is being able to establish this concept of dual criminality. That means that what the alleged perpetrator has done in Australia, the U.S. is alleging that is a crime in the U.S. In order for Australia to extradite him, there has to be a similar crime in Australia.

I guess the clearest way to exemplify that is with the 'I Love You" virus that was around a few years ago. The guy who created that virus was based in the Philippines and the U.S. tried to extradite him, but couldn't, because in the Philippines, they didn't have a statute that made the creation of viruses a criminal act, so consequently he was not able to be extradited.

This dual criminality thing is an important issue; now in Australia, we have quite a lot of IP-related thefts and actions are subject for criminal penalties, so consequently, it's a lot easier for other countries like the U.S. to come to Australia and request extradition.

Does the dual criminality requirement mean that IP thieves are safe from prosecution in certain countries?

It's really a distinction between the jurisdiction where the offence originated, and the jurisdiction where the crime took place.

In the Hew Griffiths case, the U.S. said the crime actually occurred in the U.S. because it was U.S. companies that had their copyright stolen. So the fact that Hew Griffiths was sitting with his computer on the Central Coast of Australia was not relevant to them.

The U.S. is where the crime takes effect, and that was the way he was charged. It's important also to recognize that what he did was actually contrary to Australian copyright law.

If Hew Griffiths was living in the Philippines for example, the question would be: do the Filipino laws say that what he was doing was a crime? If there is a criminal statute in relation to that, there would be the required dual criminality for the crime, in the Philippines and the U.S., so the Filipino government would hand him over.

However, if it is not a crime to do what he has done, say with the "I Love You" virus, where the statute had not caught up with the technology, the "I Love You" guy was not extradited. It all depends on what is the extent of criminality for IP theft in each relevant country. And most developed countries are now heading towards having

What does the Hew Griffiths case mean for copyright owners?

I think this case is extraordinary, and is a wake up call to copyright pirates, and I think it has certainly been welcomed by the major copyright owners, particularly software companies and the entertainment industry.

I think the American government is delighted by what's happened, and it should definitely cause people in Australia who are engaged in pirating to really reconsider, because it does mean that you won't pay though the Australian criminal justice system; you'll pay through the American criminal justice system.

Are there any other issues that still stand for content owners?

I think content owners and copyright owners are relatively happy with where the Australia copyright law has gone. There were recent reforms to it and those reforms sought to strengthen the rights of copyright holders and also to recognize that there are now some different technologies which challenge the old copyright laws.

So we had things like the iPod amendment, which basically allowed people to use iPods, whereas previously to the amendment, the use to iPod was an infringement.

With the constant march of content-copying technology, do you think the model of content ownership is realistic?

There is certainly a movement out there that is suggesting that copyright is outdated and there needs to be a fundamental change of thinking on that. [But] I think it's going to be a very long time before we see such a change, if at all.

I get back to the idea that America's number one export is intellectual property, so there's a massive amount of money at stake, and [a lot of] investment in the current copyright regime.

Simply because technology allows people to copy a lot more easily does not necessarily mean that they should be allowed to do that. So while the ease of copying has become much greater, the business model around the ownership of copyright is so well entrenched, and there's so much money involved, that it's hard to imagine how you move to a different environment.

Are we likely to see any changes to current copyright regulations in the future?

What you'll end up seeing, I think, is a lot more flexibility around the current business model. YouTube is a good example of that, I think. YouTube had a lot of material up there that was other people's intellectual property, most notably music and also TV and film material. Basically YouTube has become very successful and done a couple of deals with major copyright owners which allows YouTube to use their material.

So I think the underlying legal structure of copyright is here to stay, but what you'll see is a movement away from the traditional approaches of copyright licensing and so forth. It's a move away from the traditional 'pay for a whole CD' idea, and more to what's happening to YouTube, where users are actually able to use the material, and YouTube ends up paying a royalty to the music company.

Would extradition have worked in reverse? Say, if a U.S. software pirate had stolen Australian intellectual property, would the pirate have been extradited and sentenced here?

I'm not an expert on U.S. extradition law, but certainly the dual criminality is there, so I suspect that it is likely. Because there is that dual criminality, then fundamentally it seems like that could work in the reverse.

more

CW: Gardens Point Ruby.NET releases new Beta

As a journalist at Computerworld Australia:

Plans to create a true .NET compiler for Ruby source code are well underway, with developers in Queensland last week announcing the release of version 0.7 of the Gardens Point Ruby.NET software.

Along with added support for debugging, the new Beta boasts a Visual Studio integration package that allows users to edit, build, execute and debug Ruby programs within Visual Studio 2005.

A project of Wayne Kelly, from the Queensland University of Technology, the compiler has been developed with the aim of converting Ruby source code into Microsoft's Common Intermediate Language (CIL) for execution on Microsoft's .Net Framework 2.0 platform.

While initial plans centred on the entire Ruby language, Kelly said recent debates surrounding a number of Ruby features have given the developers cause to reconsider.

"We originally planned to implement the whole Ruby language," Kelly said. "The only major features that we have not implemented are Threads and Continuations. There is currently some debate regarding whether these features will remain in future versions of the Ruby language so we are holding off implementation until that picture becomes clearer."

Although the developers had previously announced plans to perform monthly public releases, Version 0.7 comes three months after its predecessor in February. Kelly pinned the delay on a decision made in March, to hold off the next release until Ruby.NET could be integrated into Visual Studio, which is thought to have a vital role in the compiler's new debugging capabilities.

There have already been 2,500 downloads of Version 0.7 since it was released on May 8. So far, response from the testing community has been very positive, Kelly reports.

The next version of the software is planned to be released in July and is expected to feature performance optimizations and support for interoperability with other .NET languages such as C#.

more

CW: Enterprises join third party developers at Microsoft's DevCon

As a journalist at Computerworld Australia:

Developers were ushered into Microsoft's mobile world as the software vendor ramped up its enterprise focus at the Microsoft Mobile and Embedded DevCon 2007 (MEDC) in Sydney this week.

Held annually for Australian and New Zealand developers, device manufacturers and consumers of Microsoft's mobile software and embedded platforms, MEDC this year featured a new stream, "Windows Mobile Devices in Today's Enterprise", in addition to its mobile and embedded development streams.

Presentations in the new stream were conducted by representatives of Microsoft, as well as its independent software vendor (ISV) partners, and aimed at educating enterprise users on horizontal applications of mobile technologies in the enterprise, such as purchase order approvals, leave forms, and Salesforce information.

"We've always worked very well with the ISVs, and now we've decided to pull in the enterprise stream," said Rick Anderson, enterprise mobility solution specialist at Microsoft in Australia.

While the vendor's recognition of enterprise developers is expected to better equip in-house developers in deploying and integrating Microsoft's mobile applications in their organizations, Anderson foresees a growing opportunity for third party developers.

Michele Freed, general manager of Microsoft's mobile information worker product group agreed.

"Most software that is written everywhere in the world is not written by vendors like Microsoft; it's written by third party developers and enterprises themselves," Freed said.

"These people [ISVs] are considered a key part of our product team. We take their feedback very seriously," she said.

According to Anderson, Microsoft enjoys a close two-way relationship with its partners and supports ISVs through constant communication, sales leads, product previews, and networking opportunities with the vendor and other partners.

In addition to its three-tier hierarchy of registered, certified and gold-certified ISVs, Microsoft also invites expert partners into an elite Most Valuable Professional (MVP) program.

True to its reputation as a capitalist proprietor, however, entrance into the upper tiers of Microsoft's partner program comes with a fee. Certified and gold-certified ISVs pay $3150 annually, in addition to costs of required certifications and event participation fees.

It is precisely Microsoft's unabashed approach to business that endears it to MVP James McCutcheon, who is Chief Software Architect of Sydney-based j3 Technology. McCutcheon made no secret of the partners' common goal: "to make money together".

Recruited as an ISV about three years ago for his expertise in mobile operating system Symbian, McCutcheon said Microsoft has since overtaken Palm and Nokia to dominate about 95 percent of j3's product offerings.

"It's important to have a partner behind you," he said.

"It's given me a direct connection to Microsoft and direct corroboration in marketing campaigns," he said. "It's an easy sell for me, and my IDE is the best of breed."

more

GGG: Plantronics Audio 450

As a reviewer at Good Gear Guide:

Bespectacled users rejoice: here is a compact, sturdy design that bypasses the annoyance of over-the-ear clips. Designed for notebook users wanting the convenience of a lightweight multimedia headset, the Plantronics Audio 450 delivers average sound quality with style.

The Audio 450 features what Plantronics calls a "Flex Grip" design, where the earbuds are mounted on a rubber clip that fits around the bottom of the ear, and moulds itself to the ear lobe. A microphone is attached to the left earpiece via a 180 degree swivel boom. This allows the microphone to be tucked conveniently under and away when not in use.

Each earpiece is surprisingly light, but while the grip feels comfortable and secure even after long periods of use, it does take a little getting used to. The lobe-hugging design could also be problematic for users who wear earrings, as it doesn't leave much room for jewellery.

Sound is delivered in clear stereo, and the sealed backs of the earbuds cut out background noise effectively. As is the case with many earbud designs though, frequencies at the upper and lower ends of the spectrum are slightly dampened, producing somewhat of a muted effect. This may encourage users to use the headset at damagingly high volumes.A thumb-sized, in-line remote houses both volume dial and a switch to mute the microphone. This provides good control over output audio, and the noise-cancelling microphone mutes cleanly.

The headset connects to an input/output device via a standard 3.5mm analog jack plug, which is handy, as this means it can be plugged into most audio devices. The 1.9 metre cable length should be sufficient for notebook users, but it might pose a problem for PC users with computers tucked far away under a desk.

All in all, Plantronics' Audio 450 is a decent portable headset for notebooks, and the asking price is competitive. However, users who aren't constrained by space may prefer to spend more money on larger headsets that will better reproduce the entire spectrum of frequencies.

more

ARN: Mobile phone Paymentz comes of age

As a journalist at Australian Reseller News:

Application service provider, Paymentz, has kicked-off discussions with local phone resellers, banks and telecommunications companies to on-sell its mobile commerce technology.

Paymentz founder and managing director, Rob Manson, claimed m-commerce was a budding market he expected to come of age. He cited the support shown by major credit card companies, such as Visa and Mastercard, as a catalyst for growth.

"We recently completed a commercial launch at [electronics tradeshow] CeBIT and the response was absolutely overwhelming," he said. "Although m-commerce is still a fledgling concept in this country, especially after its false dawn during the dotcom boom, this level of interest in our product tells me that the market is ready to embrace m-commerce again."

Paymentz complements existing credit card services by enabling merchants to process payments using a mobile phone. The "network agnostic" application is expected to benefit small to medium enterprises and tradespeople, who can use it to process payments from any location with mobile coverage.

The company currently is promoting 3's X-series phones, which Manson said support high-speed Internet connections that best suit the service. The company is also in discussions with other phone resellers including Optus. Manson said response so far had been very positive.

Transactions operate over a 256bit SSL connection. The Paymentz application sends information securely and directly to the bank. Manson said there is also potential for the service to be provided through partner websites. Discussions are currently underway for it to be included on 3's Web portal.

"At the moment, we're 100 per cent focused on direct sales, but that's just while we're in discussion with our partners. We really would like to see 80 per cent or more come through a channel," he said. "We've had a lot of interest from Web developers and computer support people. We're also really looking at banks, because from a customer's point of view, this is really a financial services product and their trust relationship is with the banks."

Besides commissions of up to 75 per cent on sales, Manson said resellers stand to receive affiliate revenue for each paid subscriber to the Paymentz service; a share in ongoing subscription and transaction fees for co-branded services; as well as telco commissions and revenue for phone sales.

While he declined to put a dollar value on the potentials of m-commerce, Manson cited surveys from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Reserve Bank of Australia which reported 18 million credit cards had been issued in Australia, collectively producing 100 million transactions per month.

About one billion mobile phones were sold last year, and three million people are expected to upgrade to new 3G devices this year. Already, one in three companies is using mobile data in its business, Manson said.

more

ARN: Arasor readies high speed wireless technology, awaits telco uptake

As a journalist at Australian Reseller News:

Australia may fall in the first-world category, but outside its major cities, there still exists a need for broadband infrastructure that is not dissimilar to the needs of developing nations China and India, according to Larry Marshall, managing director of Arasor in Australia.

"The environment [in China and India] is very similar to rural Australia, where we don't have a lot of infrastructure," he said.

According to Marshall the technological disparity between metropolitan and rural areas has made for an "interesting dynamic" in the Australian telecommunications space.

Based in Silicon Valley, U.S., and with operations in China, Japan and India, the hi-tech optical chip developer and manufacturer has this week announced the acquisition of Sydney-based photonics research facility, the Bandwidth Foundry (BWF). The purchase marks Arasor's first major play in the local market since its October 2006 listing in the ASX.

Currently, Arasor is partnered with telecommunications providers China Netcom in China and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd in India to provide speeds of up to 50Mbps via a wireless extension to optical fibre infrastructure. In Australia, however, Marshall noted more of a reluctance to adopt the new wireless technology in favour of existing copper networks.

"The issue is, for someone to deploy our kind of technology in existing infrastructure, they've got to make a decision not to use existing legacy copper network anymore," he said. "That's a big decision for a carrier to make, and I wouldn't criticize Australian carriers at all for having trouble with that."

In most parts of Australia, Marshall expects Arasor's technology to remain on the backbenches until Telstra is able to deploy its long-awaited Fibre to the Node (FTTN) network. If deployed, FTTN will be good news for Arasor's wireless products, which simply work as a plug-in to augment the optical fibre infrastructure.

"I think because Telstra has made the decision to [consider] FTTN, they are going to spend a lot of money on that, and are then going to have this big sunk cost that they're going to have to leverage, so they won't want to do this kind of wireless for a couple of years," he said.

"From our standpoint, that's not competitive at all; it means we will simply plug in our wireless equipment, and just leverage that presence, so it's actually a good thing, it just means that it will take probably a couple of years before Telstra gets around to getting serious about very high speed wireless access."

In the meantime, Arasor's offerings could appeal to smaller service providers looking to provide wireless Internet access in rural areas, Marshall said, as the product enables a network to be easily extended, which in turn facilitates a pay-as-you-grow model for start-up ISPs.

Providers of other services outside of the traditional telecommunications sphere may also consider expanding their offerings through the wireless product, Marshall said, citing the example of the Shanghai Media Group, which has established a wireless IPTV network in China.

"An interesting thing we're seeing all around the world at the moment is that the lines between telecom carriers, content providers and people like Google are really getting blurred," he said.

"It's possible that some of the TV carriers may look at deploying this kind of technology because they've already got their broadcast infrastructure in place, and it's not really a change for them; it's kind of an extension of an existing service," he said. "They might be a better point of entry than a traditional carrier."

more

CW: BigPond enters new waters through Second life

As a journalist at Computerworld Australia:

Not to be left behind in the recent corporate uptake of Second Life, BigPond has launched a group of 11 in-game islands, and is now offering its users un-metered access to content in its virtual headquarters, as well as selected Linden Lab downloads.

Dubbed "The Pond", BigPond claims it to be Australia's first major corporate presence in the online virtual world. The cluster of islands is estimated to cost in excess of $20,000 in real estate alone, according to fixed island prices currently listed by Linden Lab.

Jason Romney, BigPond's national manager of commercial strategy, called the virtual expansion a strategic experiment that is expected to enhance the ISP's brand, while providing potentially valuable experience in community and content management in the virtual space.

"Second Life is relevant to us because it represents the intersection of some key media trends, for example, user-generated content, the creation of communities, the strong growth of games, and so forth," he said.

"We see this as something we should experiment in ... and there's a good fit with our real-world media activities, because we can both bring those [real-world] things into the virtual world, and we can take things from the virtual world out to those [real-world] activities."

While he did not think it possible to put a dollar-value on the business potential of virtual worlds, Romney expects Second Life to offer opportunities in distributing content, liasing with customers, conducting meetings among a globally located workforce, and trialing prototype products.

On the other hand, the as-yet unpolished nature of Linden Lab's metaverse has given rise to issues from virtual terrorism, to recruiting suitable developers, to negotiating licenses for audio and video content.

Owing to its status as an incumbent Australian ISP, BigPond is meticulous in obtaining licenses for all content and trademarks appearing on its islands - and the licensing process can be tedious.

"This is a wild west without any inhibitors or fetters - unless your virtual presence has an effect on your reputation in the real world," Romney explained. "Unlike other places that stream pirated music, we have to obtain licences for all music, which takes ages because we have to negotiate with content owners and explain what a virtual world is."

Similarly, initial negotiations with executives to enter into the virtual world proved to be a challenge, Romney recalled.

"It was a challenge to explain the nature of virtual worlds, because clearly we're talking about something that is on the cutting edge of innovation and something which perhaps for people who weren't brought up on games, is more of a stretch to understand," he said. "But the proof is in the pudding."

more

CW: Brickies, plumbers catching up to IT's salary rates, warns APESMA

As a journalist at Computerworld Australia:

A narrowing salary gap between professionals and blue-collar workers could be deterring young people from higher education, warns the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia (APESMA), which on Friday called on the Australian Fair Pay Commission to conduct an urgent review of professional salary rates.

Highlighting what he said was a significant erosion of professional rates of pay, APESMA chief executive John Vines said increases in the minimum wages of technology-based professionals were long overdue.

"The safety net, or minimum rates of pay for professionals, has lost relativity to the minimum rates paid to other workers over the last 15 years," he said.

"We believe it's time that there was a review of professional rates to insure the rates contained in those awards reflect the marketplace to a better degree than they currently do, and in particular to ensure the relativity between professionals and blue-collar workers are restored."

Since the last review of rates paid to technology-based professionals was conducted by the Industrial Relations Commission more than 15 years ago, minimum wages for IT workers across the board have been increased in flat-dollar amounts.

The most recent changes made to national award rates saw a $27 increase for IT professionals and tradespeople alike.

"15 years ago, the rate of pay for a level 3 professional was set at 220 percent of the tradesman's rate. As a result of the decline in relativity, that's now dropped to 174 percent," Vines explained.

Today's salary benchmarks are a poor reflection of the increasing responsibilities faced by high-level IT staff, Vines said.

"Professionals are having to take a more individual responsibility for the work that they do, the way in which they perform their work, and their professional development, and we think that should be recognised in the remuneration that is available to them," he said.

"The rates in the awards have not reflected that increase in responsibility, and have, in fact, gone the other way."

Minimum rates of pay are far from an indication of average salaries, which in recent times have been said to be increasing due to a shortage of IT workers in Australia. While the award rate for IT professionals is currently set at around $35,000, APESMA estimates the average starting salary to be in the ballpark of $43,000.

However, improvements in the award rate are likely to affect workers currently receiving base pay, who are estimated to make up a significant portion - about 10 percent - of professionals in the IT industry.

Furthermore, Vines warned that the narrowing wage structure could be turning potential IT workers away from tertiary education if they perceive little benefit in a professional career.

"If it's not addressed, then I think it's going to deter young people from taking on professional careers, because they'll look at them and say, 'Okay I'll have to do four years of university, and when I come out of it, I won't be paid much more than somebody who doesn't have to go through all that study'," he said.

"It is critical that during a time of major skills shortages in Australia that the value of professional salaries is restored to at least its previous level or ideally, improved."

more

LW: One quantum problem solved; many more to go

As a journalist at LinuxWorld Australia:

Researchers in Japan have developed new circuit technology touted to be the vital next step towards the realisation of a practical quantum computer.

A collaborative effort between Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), and electronics vendor NEC Corporation, the technology is said to be the world's first quantum bit (qubit) circuit that can control the strength of coupling between qubits.

Current electronics rely on the manipulation of binary bits between two states - on and off, or one and zero - to store information. In quantum computing, information is stored in qubits, which can exist in a much larger range of states.

While previous advances have been made in establishing qubits and quantum logic gates, the coupling of qubits so far has been difficult to control.

"It has hitherto been difficult to switch the movement of one bit and two bits in the same quantum bit, although the bit's movements in the state of one single bit and the coupling of two bits have been confirmed," explained researcher Jaw-Shen Tsai of NEC.

The new technology enables the coupling of qubits to be controlled by employing an additional qubit in between the coupled qubit pair. The additional qubit acts as a non-linear transformer that is able to turn on and off the magnetic coupling between the two coupled qubits.

Using the new scheme, researchers have successfully employed a coupled two-qubit system to carry out a multi-quantum control experiment involving the turning on and off of the coupling.

Quantum computing is expected to be a vast improvement on today's most modern supercomputers due to its potentials of performing functions exponentially faster than any classical computer.

Having been employed at NEC for the past 24 years, Tsai anticipates quantum computing to continue to have a significant role in NEC's research and development efforts.

"NEC has been supporting this project for the past 10 years," he said. "One of the main businesses of NEC's is information processing, so naturally I would think the top management would support such a revolution of information processing, and I'm not surprised that they are supporting this project."

But there is still a long way to go before quantum computing becomes a reality, Tsai said. With ongoing improvements in conventional computers and their applications, Tsai expects the development of a practical quantum computer to be more than ten years away.

Meanwhile, the researchers are making plans for more complicated quantum computation that involve more computation steps and more qubits, in order to create a more realistic system and keep abreast of competition from other laboratories in the U.S. and Europe.

"In this particular technology, we have achieved a lot in the past. But many other labs are developing fast, so competition is there and we hope we can keep producing things, like what we have just disclosed, in the future," Tsai said.

more

CW: IT goes soft for career oriented women

As a journalist at Computerworld Australia:

Women in IT should take a more ambitious approach to their careers by seizing opportunities in an increasing demand for business people with soft skills, industry experts say.

The issue of career development has gained prominence for women in recent times, as is evident from annual surveys conducted by the FITT (Females in Information Technology and Telecommunications). According to FITT, 38 percent of survey respondents highlighted career development as a topic of interest in 2006, increasing from only 25 percent in 2005.

Speaking at an FITT careers seminar on Thursday, Penny Coulter, president of the IT Recruitment Industry Association, outlined a shift in employer requirements from technical skills to more general soft skills, emphasizing the avenues available to IT staff of both technical and non-technical backgrounds.

"Perhaps women need to think more like men and plan their careers with promotion in mind," she said.

Coulter made mention of an IT worker who progressed from being a programmer to an analyst programmer, a senior analyst programmer, and eventually, a solutions architect. Another worker was said to have moved from being a business analyst, to a senior business analyst, to business transformation manager.

Current DCITA (Department of Communications, Information Technology, and the Arts) statistics reveal a longstanding gender bias in IT workers, with an average of only one woman to every four men employed in the industry. Interestingly, the bias was found to be less pronounced in jobs that Coulter called "more ambiguously defined", such as business analyst and consultant roles, as well as project managing.

Coulter attributed the lack of women in IT to an inability to attract women to what she said was an outdated reputation of a highly technical, antisocial industry, putting the onus on industry players to promote a more attractive work culture and dispel IT's geeky stereotype.

"Having been in recruitment for a long period of time, I think that no matter how good the job is, the culture of a company plays an important role in a person's career."

"It is essential that we break away from the traditional nerdy stereotype in IT," she said. "Diversity is essential; an organization gets a very narrow focus if all its employees come from the same background."

Far from the commonly held image of IT, job candidates often have more education than specific roles require, Coulter said, and the core competencies required in most IT roles today include traditionally 'female' characteristics, such as communication skills in IT support roles.

And while the traditional computer science and engineering degrees still have their place in the industry, Coulter noted an increase in roles for people skilled in other areas, such as subject matter experts, business managers, and accountants.

"I believe that today, it's very much about hiring the person and not the skills, which is a change from the '80s and '90s, when recruitment was largely based on technical skills," she said.

The industry demand for what Coulter termed "versatilists" with business minds and a good range of soft skills is forecasted to escalate up by the end of the decade, when 60 percent of all IT workers are likely to be employed in business roles, according to Gartner analysts.

By 2010, Gartner estimates that thirty percent of the top IT professionals will migrate to IT vendors while service providers will maintain technologist and specialist roles.

more

ARN: Strix systems takes aim at digital divide

As a journalist at Australian Reseller News:

Strix Systems has expanded its product line-up to provide wall-penetrating wireless mesh connectivity targeted at SMBs and home users.

Now in its second year in the Australian market, the wireless networking vendor has established a foothold in mining, enterprise and transport markets through its two-year partnership with distributor Wireless Tech Australia.

The US-based vendor also expects to provide municipal wireless Internet coverage via agreements with Sydney city councils on the North Shore and in the South-West shortly. It has also submitted plans to provide wireless broadband throughout NSW's most popular cities in the recent NSW government tender.

Strix vice-president of marketing and product management, Nan Chen, called wireless Internet an inevitable progression, much like how telephony had transitioned from wired to wireless services.

"I think we are at the infancy of the overall development [of wireless Internet]," he said. "It took cellular [telephony] 25 years to develop, but I think Internet [services] will be quicker - possibly within the next 10 years.

"The overall market - without considering the government tender - is worth tens of millions to begin with. With that [NSW government] initiative in place, it will probably be worth hundreds of millions."

According to Wireless Tech Australia's sales manager, Eric Gagnaux, Strix currently has up to 15 second-tier resellers deploying wireless mesh products in areas inaccessible to traditional wired networks.

Strix's products were especially suited to systems integrators specialising in certain markets, or ISPs looking to service certain geographical areas, Gagnaux said. For example, Chen named a $250,000 wireless mesh network that was recently deployed in the Victorian Mount Buller ski fields via systems integrator SnowSports Interactive.

The accessibility of wireless mesh networks in areas typically difficult to service could also have potentials in bridging the digital divide between metropolitan and regional areas in Australia, Chen said.

"Certainly wireless mesh could be a significant opponent of that [wired Internet services like FTTN] because it brings equality to areas less served by private ISPs," he said.

While Chen said the Australian market for wireless mesh networking products were said to still lag about 2-3 years behind the US, potential was expanding quickly.

Gagnaux said the use of wireless mesh products by some US municipalities to monitor crime was soon to spread to some local suburbs.

"We are working with city councils in Australia to install video surveillance to reduce crime rates; that's what happened in the US too," he said.

more