Australia

Be glad if you’re not running a website, blog, or forum in Australia right now. If you linked to the wrong website, a site on the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s secret blacklist, they can fine you $11,000 ($7,262 US) per day that link stays live.

It's a teensy bit ironic that the first overseas launch of Google's Street View related to the Tour de France.  Street View now appears to be holding a speed trial of its own, you see, with images of Australia, Japan, and over 30 American cities getting released yesterday evening.

A Web site that sells fake sick notes could pose a risk to people's health and encourage fraud according to Australian Medical Association President Dr. Rosanna Capolingua.The notes are available from doctorsnotestore.com and cost about $38 each. They contain a local Australian doctors name and practice.

eBay users everywhere were pleased when the company gave up on making PayPal the only allowable payment option in Australia.  But Hitwise has taken a look at the company's standing on that continent, underlining what was (and may still be) at stake within its borders.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) have told eBay to put its plans to move to a PayPal only system on hold."The ACCC is concerned that the notified conduct will allow eBay to use its market power in the supply of online marketplaces to substantially lessen competition in the market in which PayPal operates," ACCC Chairman, Mr. Graeme Samuel, said today.

eBay users have been curious to find out who submitted an anonymous filing to the Australian regulatory agency that is reviewing eBay's plan to move to a PayPal only option.The submission says eBay should not be allowed to exclude competing payment methods. An AuctionBytes reader found a 38-page PDF filing that appears to have come from Google.

After negative publicity about an eBay plan to require users in Australia to use PayPal-only, its online payment system, rumors about a similar policy in the U.S. were met with a forceful denial from the company."In the U.S., we are not mulling, planning, or otherwise seriously considering a move to PayPal-only," wrote spokesman Usher Lieberman on the company's eBay Ink blog. "There are U.S. market-specific reasons why PayPal-only is something we simply cannot do in the U.S."

An Australian museum is creating Australia's first email archive to capture a snapshot of Australian society and to celebrate the role email plays in daily communications.