I had the pleasure of having a chat to Radio Australia's Ryan Egan for the 20th episode of the Tech Stream podcast. We spoke in some detail about the Chinese Government's ban on using virtual currencies to purchase real world goods, as well as the recent flare-up in concerns around the impact of the Federal Government's internet filtering legislation on virtual worlds. You can … [Read more...] about China’s virtual currency regulation and Conroy’s filter
Government policy
Proposed ISP filtering allows surveillance of journalists, citizens, politicians
Should Senator Conroy’s proposed ISP filtering come to fruition, it concentrates extraordinary powers on whoever is to actually run it. It allows the surveillance of the Internet activities of Kevin Rudd’s children, the journalists at News Limited, or the government’s perceived political opponents (or its own members), or of anyone. At will. Without cause. Without warrant. … [Read more...] about Proposed ISP filtering allows surveillance of journalists, citizens, politicians
Skoolaborate: a growing success, despite government ineptitude
I spent this morning at a session organised for a team of French innovators called 'Lead Educators : Virtual Worlds and the Immersive Web' . I'll talk more about that in another post but I wanted to devote this one to a topic we've covered previously: Skoolaborate. Since that time, there’s been some incredible progress, with more than forty schools now involved. I had the … [Read more...] about Skoolaborate: a growing success, despite government ineptitude
Australian classification of MMOGs
Massively's Tateru Nino has written a fascinating piece on the issue of games classification in Australia. Specifically, she's confirmed with the Federal Attorney General's Department that: "Where a sale is within the jurisdiction of the relevant State or Territory legislation," Heffernan informed us, "it is a criminal offence under those laws to sell unclassified computer … [Read more...] about Australian classification of MMOGs
A Federal Government approach to virtual worlds: what a contrast
The Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds is an initiative designed to bring together US Federal Government employees. The April 2008 event held by the Consortium shows the depth of discussion at that level in regard to virtual worlds, and the 2009 version is likely to go a step further. This is a body that's developed through the motivation of public servants from a wide range … [Read more...] about A Federal Government approach to virtual worlds: what a contrast