The online giant has written to the NZ minister of justice, Andrew Little, saying it will immediately suspend the automated service that breached a court order In December 2018, when the Spinoff broke the news that Google had breached a New Zealand court suppression order in the case of Grace Millane, the internet giant’s first … Read more
New Zealand’s minister of justice responds to the decision by the internet giant to take no action after its breach of name suppression in the Grace Millane case Google’s attitude to fair trial rights in New Zealand should concern us all. It’s time to call out their recklessness. To recap what happened, last year at … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Complicated picture from economic confidence surveys, justice minister hammers Google over name suppression, and drinking water falling below standards. Business confidence, which has been low throughout this government’s term, has plunged to fresh depths. In fact, as Stuff reports, the headline figure is the lowest it has been … Read more
In a ferocious opinion piece for the Spinoff, the minister of justice says he would be ‘failing in my duty’ if he were to allow the internet giant to ‘ride roughshod’ over New Zealand law. The New Zealand minister of justice has promised that there will be consequences for Google after the US-based company informed … Read more
Next month some of the most high-powered people from the most important companies in the world are coming to Auckland to speak to local business leaders. Charles Anderson spoke to the organisers of the Future of the Future conference about why and how they pulled it off. On August 15 the future is coming to … Read more
The US banned Huawei and now Google is breaking up with the Chinese smartphone maker. How did all go so wrong? I’ve been hiding under a rock for the last few days. What happened? Earlier this week, Google announced plans to restrict access to its apps and services on Huawei products. That means no more … Read more
If you were one of the few people who used it, you might have noticed Google+ has just closed down. As RMIT researcher Stan Karanasios argues, it’s part of a wave of user-generated feedback closures, which is having a huge effect on online communities. This piece was originally published on The Conversation. This week saw the … Read more
An open letter from the CEOs of Spark, Vodafone and 2degrees to the global CEOs of Facebook, Twitter and Google To: Mark Zuckerberg, Chairman and CEO, Facebook Jack Dorsey, CEO, Twitter Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google A call from the companies providing internet access for the great majority of New Zealanders, to the companies with the … Read more
Imposing a Digital Services Tax will concentrate the tech giants’ minds on their woeful response to the Christchurch massacre, writes Terry Baucher. What to do about Facebook, Google and Twitter’s reprehensible failure to stop the live-streaming of a terrorist atrocity and the dissemination of vile images? How about a 20% Digital Services Tax, for starters … Read more
New Zealanders were furious with news organisations that broadcast video and manifesto related to the atrocity in Christchurch. But what about the online giants which made it all accessible? I’m sitting in a hotel room in Singapore, having just left Facebook’s APAC HQ, about to attend a news conference organised by Google, thinking about Christchurch. … Read more
Danyl Mclauchlan stares into the abyss that is Google and wonders if we are about to experience the birth of a new, even more terrifying capitalism. I feel it most when I’m at the supermarket. I’m standing there looking at jellymeat but at the same time, I’m aware of being embedded in a web of … Read more
Five years ago, Mark Rickerby crafted code to analyse the full text of the Whaleoil blog after Dirty Politics. That experience, and the unveiling this month of a language model trained on internet text that can generate startlingly coherent prose, offer a profound warning of the dangers of allowing AI innovation to be controlled by … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Tax on tech giants proposed but doesn’t go far, peace may be breaking out in China stoush, and the incredible story of two brothers vs the Avondale Business Association. The government has made a big announcement on taxing internet giants, but there are a lot of … Read more
The justice minister says he’s cautiously satisfied by assurances from the internet giant after they sent representatives to his parliamentary office yesterday in the wake of Spinoff revelations When the Spinoff broke the news last week that Google had sent out an email naming the man accused of killing backpacker Grace Millane, in breach of … Read more
After writing about fetish videos involving kids on YouTube two years ago, the problem has only got worse, writes David Farrier. Way worse. When will Google do something about it? Editor’s note: While we have endeavoured to protect the identities of the children involved, we recognise that by publishing this story their privacy may be … Read more
That one of the world’s biggest companies rides roughshod over a New Zealand court name suppression tells you all you need to know about the giants of Silicon Valley, argues Toby Manhire. Imagine if a media company told you the name of the man accused of killing Grace Millane. Imagine if, in defiance of a … Read more
Welcome to the Cheat Sheet, a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ on the news of the moment. Today, the ‘everyday air taxi’ that’s taking off in Canterbury. It’s been called an “everyday air taxi”, and a “flying car”, but isn’t it… a plane? Yes, yes it is. In the hills around Canterbury, a small, self-piloted electric … Read more
Just living and breathing seems to cost money now. But don’t worry, we got you. We asked around the office and compiled the Spinoff’s tips for living a premium economy lifestyle on a discount economy income. DO Shop at Reduced To Clear. Make sure to ask them what day their cans arrive and get there … Read more
Google sister company and darling of the smart home industry Nest has finally arrived in New Zealand. Jihee Junn tries out its range of safety and security products, concluding that while Nest might not be for everyone, stalking people on camera sure is a hell of a lot of fun. Before companies like Google and … Read more
Jihee Junn visits Microsoft’s sprawling headquarters in Seattle to find out how the tech giant is clawing its way back to relevance. In Cupertino, California, Apple is on the verge of completing its mothership – a glistening monolith of immaculate Norman Foster design. Its seamless curves and wall-to-wall glass ruthlessly dominate the city’s landscape: a description … Read more
Just days after the sacking of a Google engineer who shared an anti-diversity manifesto came the reckons of a New Zealand software executive who thinks that women just aren’t ‘wired’ for tech. Sacha Judd stopped eye-rolling long enough to compose a response. When I was a university debater in the nineties, the two most common … Read more
Spark CEO Simon Moutter challenges the local subsidiaries of Google, Apple and Facebook to stop using tax avoidance strategies and help fund the cost of the civil society from which they profit so handsomely. We certainly live in interesting times. The turbulent political events of recent times in the UK and the US has increased … Read more
This Bib edition is a chance to chat to a fellow who is extraordinarily influential internationally around a number of topics that this podcast is all about –innovation and creativity. If we’re going to get past growing trees, cows shitting in rivers and chasing sheep around we’re going to have to think our way out … Read more