The law passed by 111 votes to 11 – only those dissenting were the Greens Party, and independent MPs Chris Carter and Hone Harawira. The amendments have also been opposed by many in New Zealand, and over the world – with the resurgence of the #blackout movement that was started in 2009.

During the debate, which was heavily followed by Twitter users, MPs were criticised – according to Stuff.co.nz – over their lack of knowledge of the basics of file sharing and the fundamentals of the Internet. One MP, Jonathan Young, even compared it to Skynet from the Terminator movies.

The new law will allow copyright owners ask for a six-month suspension of internet service to homes that have been found to have repeatedly infringe on copyrighted material. It will also introduce a “three strikes” regime, an introduction of a Copyright Tribunal that will impose a maximum penalty of NZ$15,000. ISPs will also be legally required to send notices of copyright infringement.

The new law will also allow the Commerce Minister to impose stricter conditions if it does not stop a large majority of illegal downloads.

It will come into force on September 1, with the exception of mobile networks – who will fall under this law in 2013.

It seeks to reverse the decision made by the Federal Court, dismissing AFACT’s appeal in its case, ongoing since 2009. The federal court found that iiNet had the power to prevent infringements, but two judges dismissed the case while another favoured AFACT’s case.

“The Full Federal Court unanimously found that iiNet had the power to prevent the infringements of its users from occurring and that there were reasonable steps it could have taken, including issuing warnings,” AFACT said in a statement.

“We say they did not apply the legal test for authorisation correctly.”

iiNet, however, has come out saying that it will not stop illegal downloading, even if AFACT’s appeal to the High Court is successful.

“It’s time for the film industry and copyright holders to work with the industry to make their content legitimately available,” CEO Michael Malone said today in a statement.

Malone also said that he wishes to see an independent body responsible for verifying claims of copyright infringement and determining the penalty, rather than AFACT or the ISPs. He also says that the response from consumers and the industry has been positive.

“We believe that an independent umpire is the only way we can ensure natural justice and protect customer privacy, while allowing copyright owners their rights to pursue alleged infringers.”

The court finding that iiNet’s role in giving access to copyright infringers to BitTorrent does not mean that it is authorising the infringement, and is protected by a section of the Copyright Act – known as the “safe harbour” section.

“The mere provision of access to the internet is not an authorisation of infringement,” Justice Cowdroy, who served as the judge in the trial, said in his judgement.

“”iiNet is not responsible if an iiNet user uses that system to bring about copyright infringement.”

“The law recognises no positive obligation on any person to protect the copyright of another,” he added.

Justice Cowdroy also said that BitTorrent could be used for legal purposes – like Revision3 and BitTorrent itself.

Unlike the Kazza trial, iiNet was not promoting and encouraging infringement – unlike Kazza with its P2P network. Kazza was forced to shut its operations within Australia or face criminal proceedings.

He also said that the proposition of a notification system to notify users of copyright breaches by suspending or terminating their internet service was not reasonable. If that judgement was in favour of AFACT, that would let AFACT be the judge and would force ISPs to suspend or terminate service as they would fear a lawsuit against AFACT.

Justice Cowdroy however said that the Telecommunications Act would not have prevented iiNet from acting on the notices of infringement given to them by AFACT, but this wasn’t relevant to the case.

The application was dismissed and AFACT has been ordered to pay the legal costs.

“ISP filtering reduces the risk of Australians being inadvertently exposed to RC-rated material when they are online,” Senator Stephen Conroy, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, said in a media release.

“The report into the pilot trial of ISP-level filtering demonstrates that blocking RC-rated material can be done with 100% accuracy and negligible impact on internet speed.”

The bill will likely see all internet service providers (ISPs) to block material that has been given a refused classification in other countries via an independent body and not the government. It is unclear if the communications regulator ACMA will still have a part as they control the blacklist.

It is also unclear if prohibited content will also include X18+, R18+ and MA15+ content (the latter two are exempt if they are behind a age restriction system – which can be circumvented very easily).

Good news for gamers, however, as these games will be excluded from the mandatory filtering of content refused classification because of a public consultation process for R18+ classification by the Minister of Home Affairs that was announced yesterday.

Senator Conroy has also said that there will be transparency measures implemented and people know why the material has been given the “Refused Classification” classification. Measures may also include having the right to appeal the decision of the page being bock.

“The Government will immediately undertake public consultation with the release today of a discussion paper on additional measures to improve the accountability and transparency of processes that lead to RC-rated material being placed on the RC Content list,” the Minister said.

If it passes both the House and the Senate, there will be a twelve month process to implement the filter.

Today also saw the release of the filtering trial results, showing that the technology was effective and can be implemented without making a huge impact to users’ speeds – well, according to their parameters. The tests, conducted by Enex Testlabs along with nine ISPs, also showed the flaws – notably, preventing circumvention.

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) has said that it received 230,065 complaints from consumers and small businesses during the 2008-2009 financial year, representing a 54 percent increase from the previous year. However, while complaints about billing and payment still topped the list, complaints from mobile phone users rose 79 percent from last year.

“This report is an absolute shocker,” Senator Conroy told Network Ten’s Meet the Press program. “What we have now is a proper reporting framework demonstrating how bad consumers are being treated by their telcos. This goes to the heart of the competition problems in this sector.”

Other areas also saw massive jumps in the number of complaints, including internet (57 percent) and landline (40 percent).

“What we have announced is a bill before Parliament now to try to improve the powers of the ACCC so that they can deal with the lack of competition in this sector; we have announced we want to structurally change the sector by separating out Telstra’s wholesale and retail arm, and we want to give more fines and more standards to the consumer service obligations and universal service obligations that exist in the law today," he said.

Conroy has also said that he will sit down with the TIO to work out what it needs to do to crack down and punish companies that continue to mistreat their customers.

Internally called “OpenEdge”, this would see Google’s own servers being placed within network operators, and this would effectively accelerate its service for users, giving it an advantage that is “available to very few”. One, according to the WSJ, is afraid to get on board because it feels that the deal might violate the guidelines on net neutrality made by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Net Neutrality is where the internet service providers treat all traffic the same, with no website jumping ahead in speed. While Google, along with Microsoft and Yahoo, have been for neutrality; ISPs have argued that content providers should share the costs of running the network, which is growing by more than 50% according to them.

However, some are saying this has been invented by the Wall Street Journal, with Lawrence Lessig, one of the “Internet scholars” being quoted, saying that entire story is not true.

The article is an indirect effort to gin up a drama about a drama about an alleged shift in Obama’s policies about network neutrality. What’s the evidence for the shift? That Google allegedly is negotiating for faster service on some network pipes. And that “prominent Internet scholars, some of whom have advised President-elect Barack Obama on technology issues, have softened their views on the subject.”

It is true, as the Journal reports, that I have stated that network providers should be free to charge different rates for different service — “so long,” the Journal quotes, “as the faster service at a higher price is available to anyone willing to pay it.”

He also says that the story makes the suggestion that his position on net neutrality different, with the WSJ saying that Lessing “recently shifted gears by saying at a conference that content providers should be able to pay for faster service” and that he “has softened his opposition to variable service tiers”.

This would, like we do in Australia, adjust customer’s habits on downloading and uploading content on the web. Previously, it suggested that you should download and install special software to monitor your habits, or face the wrath of a verbal warning because you have gone over your 250GB cap and you weren’t (or were) doing anything illegal.

Under current restrictions, the maximum line length was 4.1km, but under its own rules – it can now reach an area of 176 sq km, instead of 52 sq km.

Internode, however, will only offer it in their dial-tone free NakedExtreme plans, which use the the copper lines without Telstra putting a phone service in the same line – meaning that Internode isn’t subjected to signal interference limits, which are mandatory if a phone service is offered on a copper line.

The NakedExtreme plans will come with its NodePhone VOiP service, which does not have a rental fee, but they charge calls instead of making calls to landlines for free.

The service service will be made available in all states, instead of Tasmania, where the ISP says that there is a lack of affordable connectivity across the Bass Strait for providers. It also should be noted that it is still affected by the speed restrictions if you live far away from your local exchange.

For more information, go to their website. To read the full press release, it’s after the jump (click the Read More link).

Internode NakedExtreme has the potential to fill in many metropolitan broadband blackspots by throwing off the constraints imposed to make previous ADSL services coexist with a phone service. By extending broadband reach from 4.1 km to as far as 7.5 km and possibly further, Internode is effectively increasing the potential broadband coverage area for a telephone exchange from about 52 square kilometres to more than 176 sq km.

NakedExtreme is the latest breakthrough from Internode, delivering a broadband service over a copper pair line unencumbered by a dial tone. As well as offering low-cost, high-quality calls with the NodePhone VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service, NakedExtreme eliminates the need for customers to pay a third party for a ‘dial tone’ service that they don’t need, typically costing around $30 per month.

Internode has launched NakedExtreme nationally, with the exception of Tasmania, where an embargo on high-speed services remains in place due to a lack of competitive backhaul services in that State.

The Internode NakedExtreme service is priced at $10 above the cost of the equivalent Internode Extreme ADSL2+ service: However, as it does not require a voice line rental fee, customers will typically will save around $20 a month by using this service, as well as avoiding the inconvenience of paying a separate third party bill to rent a voice line service each month.

NakedExtreme builds on Internode’s launch earlier this year of Naked ADSL2+, a dial tone-free broadband service based on Optus Wholesale broadband infrastructure. By contrast, NakedExtreme uses Internode’s own DSLAM equipment installed at telephone exchanges.

Internode Managing Director Simon Hackett said NakedExtreme could deliver broadband at much greater distances because it threw off the shackles created by cohabitation with a voice service. "We have addressed one major type of broadband blackspot with NakedExtreme," he said.

"To date, ADSL service providers have delivered broadband using a Spectrum Sharing Service, which co-exists with an analogue telephone service across the copper access network. As well as mandating additional line rental costs for the customer, a Spectrum Sharing Service restricts the distance we can deliver broadband to about 4.1km from the local telephone exchange – any further and our customer connection attempt is rejected with the declaration ‘Transmission Loss Too High’".

"That message occurs if the line produces a signal attenuation over its length exceeding the allowable limit for a traditional analogue voice service. Since NakedExtreme uses an Unbundled Local Loop service, it doesn’t need to co-exist with analogue telephony, which means we can deliver broadband much further from the exchange."

"To date, we have succeeded in connecting broadband customers living as far as 7.5 km from the exchange. With that increased radius, we can increase the coverage area by more than three times compared with the previous 4.1km broadband delivery limit, so we see great potential to fill in many of the blackspots that exist in metropolitan areas."

NakedExtreme is available in Home, SOHO and Business plans, which offer all of the value-added features of Internode’s other ADSL products – including generous download quotas with no charge for uploads; five email accounts and personal webspace: unmetered online games, radio stations and other cool content, free dialup account and global roaming.

But the music industry, who helped created a plan, wanted people to have their internet cut off for those who ignored the repeated warnings, but the providers were not prepared to do so.

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has signed up, along with the BPI; with the six ISPs had signed a Memorandum of Understanding – which was drawn up by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. Before the new deal, the BPI called for a "three-strikes" system, which will see the pirates terminated if three warnings went ignored.

However, many resisted the move. If Britain followed the new the "three-strikes" rules, it would follow France in implementing the system.

Customers of Internode can access IPv6 by either Native Ethernet access or Tunnel Broker access; with more information on their dedicated website. However, not all sites are supported on IPv6; and Internode will run both on their services; also known as ‘dual stack’ mode.

Its Managing Director, Simon Hackett, said it was was part of future-proofing its entire network, saying, "The Internet is approaching an address crunch point in the next few years."

"The current IPv4 address space is simply running out of IP numbers, possibly as soon as 2011. Internode has chosen to invest in deploying IPv6 technology throughout its network now to give its customers the maximum amount of time to transition their own networks to the new address scheme."

It is the first and only one to introduce the new address system, joining several ISPs in France and the Netherlands. You can find more information on Wikipedia or on Internode’s website.

Director Umut Omer said in the Whirlpool forums that its primary investor recently withdrew his support and that he is working to "propose a Deed of Company Arrangement that would see creditors paid and the company come out of receivership".

He also admitted that some staff have been terminated during the week, but also said that he didn’t expect any changes in the service provided. He also attempted to reassure users, saying that the service will not interrupted.

Those who were with Koala Telecom, before Blitz bought them out of receivership, was having troubles last year.

The issues began on Wednesday afternoon, with Adam informing its customers that it was impacting many of its exchanges. These have been blamed on its backhaul provider.

The backhaul provider (thought to be ETSA/Silk Telecom) attempted to fix the issues by restarting one of their core networking devices, only to create more havoc and Adam was forced to replace many of its equipment at multiple exchanges.

Internode, a fellow Adelaide based ISP, faced similar problems, but these were fixed within a few hours.

Customers are still experiencing some online packet loss and slow speeds but Adam has told customers it is still working to restore the service.

This will bring iiNet closer to the top two ISPs in Australia, in subscriber numbers; with 685,000 subscribers. Optus has one million subscribers, with Telstra having around 2.5 million.

The privately owned Wesnet is the sixth-largest ISP in Australia, with 180,000 subscribers. It also provides telephony services and web hosting. Over half of its revenue, according to ZDNet Australia, comes from reselling wholesale ADSL broadband connections over Optus and Telstra.

The acquision comes after the continuing trend of ISPs merging with each other; with SP Telemedia (Soul) forked out $150 million for fellow competitor TPG in February.

Speaking at the Westminster eForum in London; Jim Cicconi, the vice president of legislative affairs at AT&T, warned that the current systems will not be able to cope with the increasing amounts of video and user-generated content that is being constantly uploaded to sites.

Speaking at the event as part of meetings with the UK government officials, he said that at least $5 billion was needed to invest in new infrastructure in the US alone for the next three years. He also claimed that the “new wave” of traffic would increase 50-fold by 2015; with AT&T investing $19 billion to maintain and upgrade its network.

He also warns that HD content would create the increasing strain on the network.

“Eight hours of video is loaded onto YouTube every minute. Everything
will become HD very soon, and HD is 7 to 10 times more bandwidth-hungry
than typical video today. Video will be 80 percent of all traffic by
2010, up from 30 percent today,” he said.

VDSL2 is to be the offer faster speeds than ADSL2, with 100mb/s. However, according to Whirlpool, that it becomes the same as ADSL2 when the connection is 1.6km away from their exchange.

VDSL2 has not been ratified in Australia, but EFTel is expecting that it will finish it’s rollout by early next year. ““Customers connected to BroadbandNext will enjoy benefits such as massively fast downloads, a wider range of service types, and improved levels of customer support
from a smarter network,”” CEO Simon Ehrenfeld said in a statement released on Thursday.

EFTel is partnering up with PIPE Networks and the Chinese Huawei Technologies to provide the technology. The network will be accessible to customers of aaNet and it’s wholesale division, Datafast.