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Senate approves new telecoms interception laws
Law enforcement agencies get ASIO expertise.
The Senate has passed a bill that would allow Australia’s spy agency, ASIO, to intercept communications on behalf of Federal, State and Territory law enforcement agencies.
The Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment Act 2010 was re-introduced by the Attorney-General in the House of Representatives on 30 September, after the 2010 Federal Election.
It sought to facilitate cooperation between ASIO, the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, the Defence Signals Directorate and the Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation.
Under the proposed amendments, ASIO would be able to share its information with other intelligence agencies and the broader national security community.
Law enforcement agencies would receive additional powers to access and use data such as call records to assist in finding missing persons.
Carriers and service providers would also be required to inform the Government of any proposed technological changes that may affect its interceptive capabilities.
Future Fund pares its $350m stake in Telstra
THE Future Fund has accelerated its departure from the Telstra share registry, selling another $350 million worth of the stock this month.
The fund offloaded 1 per cent of the stock from February 7 to February 24, to bring its stake in Telstra down from 6.8 per cent to 5.6 per cent. In the past year alone, it has sold more than $2 billion worth of Telstra shares.
Once the Future Fund’s holding in Telstra goes below the 5 per cent mark, it will cease to be a substantial shareholder and will no longer have to publicly declare its stake.
In the past, the fund has used its substantial holding in Telstra to voice its concerns on the company’s performance and effect changes within the telco’s board room. Future Fund chair David Murray’s public criticisms of Telstra peaked last November, when the fund voted against all resolutions at the company’s annual shareholder meeting.
Mr Murray has also used the fund’s stake in Telstra to complain about the lack of publicly available detail on the telco’s $13.8bn deal to participate in the government’s National Broadband Network.
NASA officials say they are not concerned about space shuttle Discovery, despite it being hit by debris at launch
NASA officials maintain they are not concerned about space shuttle Discovery, despite video showing it being hit by chunks of debris this morning.
Discovery launched this morning at around 7.30am (Queensland time) on an 11-day mission to the International Space Station, delivering parts, equipment and the first humanoid robot to be taken to the station, which will act as its first permanent resident.
The last few moments before launch were fraught with anxiety as NASA engineers raced to fix a glitch that temporarily paralysed some ground computers, but it wasn’t enough to delay the mission further.
Space shuttle Discovery blasts off on its last mission
Space shuttle Discovery lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on its final space mission. Picture: AP
IT’S the beginning of the end for NASA’s space shuttle program.
Space shuttle Discovery blasted off on its final journey into space today as the US winds down what has been a central part of its space program for three decades.
NASA’s most journeyed shuttle launched at 4.53 pm (8.53am AEDT) on an 11-day trip to the International Space Station (ISS).
First cordless handsets certified to new DECT specification
The DECT Forum has certified the first cordless telephone handsets conforming to the CAT-iq 2.0 specification for next generation DECT technology that offers HD voice, multiple lines, three party conferencing, call transfer, phonebook synchronisation and many other features.
The standard, finalised in May 2010, is also much less vulnerable to eavesdropping than the current standard, widely used in cordless handsets. Interoperability between different handsets manufacturers is guaranteed when used on CAT-iq 2.0 certified base stations.
The first three CAT-iq 2.0 certificates have been issued for handsets from Gigaset Communications (Gigaset C300H iq), Samsung Electronics (SMT-W3510), and VTech Telecommunications (VTech Avant 5000).
According to the DECT Forum, “CAT-iq 2.0 signifies the introduction of DECT into the home gateway giving it native IP connectivity and making it a true broadband wireless home networking technology.”
The Forum adds that its integration into the Home Gateway implies that it will initially carrier driven. “Many major European carriers are investing in the CAT-iq technology, so a certification program is a key criterion for the success of the industry and for the benefit of the end-customers.”