On May 6 this year, Justices Frank Callaway, John Batt and Peter Buchanan of the Melbourne Court of Appeal, sentenced 37-year-old Karen Louise Ellis to six months jail for having consensual sex with 15-year-old Benjamin Dunbar. The sentence came about upon appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions against the leniency of the original sentence handed out by Judge John Smallwood.

From March 1, 2005, the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Telecommunications Offences and Other Measures) Bill (No. 2) 2004 came into force. This latest attempt by the Federal Government to regulate the Internet makes it an offence if an Internet Service Provider (ISP) or an Internet Content Host (ICH) does not refer to the Australian Federal Police, within a reasonable time, that they have become aware their service can be used to access particular material; and they have reasonable grounds to believe that the material is either child pornography or child abuse material. Severe fines and or imprisonment can result if an ISP or ICH fails to meet this new law.  

I recently worked in a team that implemented a new fraud system for a major bank.  The person in charge of the Fraud department is an extremely busy man these days.  When you walk into his office he has mug shots, about 5cm by 5cm, pasted on his wall of those who have tried to commit fraud against the bank.  Two walls are covered and that is from fraud attempts this year alone.

The $500 fine imposed on Sydney resident Peter Mackenzie for using his mobile phone to photograph topless women sunbathing at Coogee Beach sets an important precedent about the appropriate use of mobile technology.  Appearing in Waverley Local Court earlier this month, Mackenzie pleaded guilty to behaving offensively in a public place. He later told reporters he regretted his actions and realised how inappropriate they had been, but the reality is that his behaviour was actively encouraged by vendor advertising campaigns.