News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Australian parliament passes encryption laws unamended by jacques_chester on Thursday December 06, 2018 @07:05AM (#18617278)
If you are an Australian software engineer, you have one advantage that other nationalities do not: the E3 visa. It is a US working visa that is specifically reserved for Australians and consequently it is much easier to get than an H1B.

My advice is that the Australian tech industry just got nuked from orbit, so come work in the USA. The pay is better, the work is more interesting and the tech companies actually have sway over policy here.

Re:Australian parliament passes encryption laws unamended by sn41 on Thursday December 06, 2018 @10:19AM (#18618658)
I am not sure that migrating will help. If I read the bill right, it implies that every person providing any service used (or "likely to be used") in Australia is under legal obligation to insert these backdoors. I don't think it specifically mentions software developed in Australia.

The bill seems to be a nightmare - it even says that the technical assistance request can be given orally. What the bloody ....?

To me, it reads like this - if you're a Nigerian developer working in Germany and refuse to do this for some software (after all, every software is "likely to be used" in Australia), you are still breaking the Australian law. But you need not be prosecutable if Germany does not have an extradition agreement with Australia. If you are an Australian anywhere in the world however, then refusing this makes you a criminal, probably later a fugitive. This is my understanding. Can someone confirm?

Re:Australian parliament passes encryption laws unamended by zanny on Thursday December 06, 2018 @11:46AM (#18619622)
Australia does not have the economy to force such a perverse violation of privacy on foreign business. If they try it, Google et al will be much better served pulling a Spain and blocking access in Oz than by complying.

The courts of most nations would laugh out the notion of extraditing their own citizens to Australia for hosting a website and not giving the AU government a backdoor to it.

Re:Australian parliament passes encryption laws unamended by rmbeard on Sunday December 16, 2018 @10:54PM (#18696819)
Just geoblock Australia.
Re:Australian parliament passes encryption laws unamended by blu_prussian on Thursday December 13, 2018 @10:43PM (#18678298)
I've heard this from a number of reliable sources (friends in the industry based in TX and other places). Absolutely considering the leap as soon as is feasible
Re:Australian parliament passes encryption laws unamended by brokenmachine on Thursday December 06, 2018 @07:30AM (#18617415)
You've got Trump. Also the NSA.

Maybe I'll just work on a farm instead of this technology madness.

Re:Australian parliament passes encryption laws unamended by jacques_chester on Thursday December 06, 2018 @07:32AM (#18617432)
Trump won't last forever and Apple and others have been staring down three-letter agencies for a while now.
Re:Australian parliament passes encryption laws unamended by cylinder on Thursday December 06, 2018 @07:08AM (#18617295)
the US has already been doing this stuff for a long time, without it being legal. They can always pressure you and threaten to ruin any engineer's life if they don't do what they want. and who do you think came up with this legislation? It's US Intelligence. Australia is their testing lab, just like Macca's does.
Re:Australian parliament passes encryption laws unamended by jacques_chester on Thursday December 06, 2018 @07:36AM (#18617456)
Apple stared down the FBI in a mass murder case, because it was possible for them to do so. They won't be able to do that in Australia.

I don't like the US shonkiness any more than anyone else. But these situations are not precisely equivalent, especially since this bill passed.

Re:Australian parliament passes encryption laws unamended by stonith on Thursday December 06, 2018 @10:14AM (#18618613)
I don't see how it's any different to the situations with NSLs in the US. There's a veil of secrecy and no real limits on the scope of request with very harsh penalties for non-compliance.
Re:Australian parliament passes encryption laws unamended by brokenmachine on Thursday December 06, 2018 @07:57AM (#18617615)
The US government ignores their laws, while Australia passes terrible ones.

Six of one, half dozen of the other.

Re:Australian parliament passes encryption laws unamended by MaxBarraclough on Thursday December 06, 2018 @01:49PM (#18620858)
> The US government ignores their laws

and yet

> Apple stared down the FBI in a mass murder case, because it was [legally] possible for them to do so.

Re:Australian parliament passes encryption laws unamended by brokenmachine on Thursday December 06, 2018 @02:18PM (#18621134)
The US government couldn't make Apple help them in public, but they just spy on everything they can themselves behind closed doors.

So far we haven't seen the Australian government ignore its own laws so completely.

Re:Australian parliament passes encryption laws unamended by brokenmachine on Friday December 07, 2018 @12:51AM (#18625435)
Could the downvoter please explain why, or educate themselves about Edward Snowden?
Re:Australian parliament passes encryption laws unamended by siquick on Thursday December 06, 2018 @07:34AM (#18617442)
but health care
Re:Australian parliament passes encryption laws unamended by jacques_chester on Thursday December 06, 2018 @07:37AM (#18617469)
Typically included in your benefits package as part of the job. You don't have to give up Australian citizenship to get an E3, so if necessary you can fly back to Australia for treatment.
Re:Australian parliament passes encryption laws unamended by brokenmachine on Thursday December 06, 2018 @08:00AM (#18617626)
>if necessary you can fly back to Australia for treatment

If a sickness/injury is bad enough to need to fly back to Australia, there's a pretty good chance you won't be allowed on a plane.

Re:Australian parliament passes encryption laws unamended by mvid on Thursday December 06, 2018 @10:50PM (#18624984)
That is naive and simplistic. Sure, if you were hit by a car you probably won't be making a flight. But cancer? Elective surgery? Physical therapy? There are plenty of slow roll medical issues that can survive a 16 hour plane trip.
Re:Australian parliament passes encryption laws unamended by brokenmachine on Friday December 07, 2018 @09:51PM (#18633580)
Sure, but it's financial ruin if it isn't one of those things, even if you survive. Who's being naive?

That's fine. You're ok with taking that chance, I'm not.

Re:Australian parliament passes encryption laws unamended by MuppetMaster42 on Friday December 07, 2018 @03:15AM (#18625937)
If you want to get double taxed, sure you can keep your Australian Medicare and private health insurance.

As far as the ATO is concerned, unless you discontinue both, you're considered an Australian resident for tax purposes.

Even though the US considers you a resident alien, the ATO requires you to at least look like you won't be coming back for >1 year.

Re:Australian parliament passes encryption laws unamended by jacques_chester on Friday December 07, 2018 @09:04PM (#18633406)
My experience was that the ATO did not consider me a tax resident. Basically if you've tidied up your Australian affairs, earn 0% in Australia and 100% in the US, they aren't totally bloody-minded. I did make sure to use a specialist tax agent though.

After ~3 years the IRS considers me a resident for tax purposes. The ATO only cares about my income because they want to collect HECS payments.