Plus: here is a club that I will never join ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

October 27, 2025 | Read online
# No AI copyright exemption, Microsoft sued over AI upsell & AI mistakes chips for gun Plus: here is a club that I will never join
Edition 2447
(Flickr: viernullvier)
# The News
### No copyright exemption for AI training, government says
The Albanese government will not create a copyright exemption to train AI (The Guardian). After groups like the Productivity Commission and the tech lobby had pushed for a carve-out, Attorney-General Michelle Rowland ruled out the proposal and will instead “canvas other options” at the department’s copyright and IP group this week. This includes potentially making the existing voluntary copyright paid licensing framework mandatory.
The Sizzle: Government ministers had previously signalled that they had no intention of letting tech companies go hog-wild on copyrighted data, but this makes it official. The decision followed a loud campaign led by the major media companies (including News Corp).
But before there’s parades in the streets, it’s probably worth mentioning that the government’s decision to not give a carve-out doesn’t necessarily mean these AI companies won’t eventually get around copyright. Some early court decisions in the US covered by the Sizzle found that AI training on copyrighted data is transformative and, therefore, fair use. Australia’s copyright regime is different to the US but AFAIK we haven’t had a ruling on this quite yet.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Microsoft sued over scummy AI Office 365 price hike
Microsoft misled 2.7 million Australian Office 365 subscribers by hiding its normal subscription renewal option and seemingly only offering 45% more expensive plans with AI chatbot Copilot, the competition watchdog alleges (ACCC). This morning, the ACCC launched Federal Court proceedings over Microsoft’s “false or misleading” conduct in emails and a blog post about subscription options and renewal costs. The ACCC says that company hid its non-AI “Classic” plans, instead suggesting that subscribers needed to stump up for its personal plan subscription that was 45% more expensive each year. The non-AI plan was only offered when users tried to cancel their subscription.
The Sizzle: hahahahahahahahahhahahahahhahahahahahahahahahhahahaha
Get absolutely rekt Microsoft. Everyone knew this was scummy. Just truly the yuckiest combination of “shoving AI down people’s throats” AND “tricking people into paying more”. Get their asses, ACCC.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### School’s AI gun detection mistakes bag of chips for a firearm
A 16-year-old high school student was detained and searched at gunpoint after an AI system flagged his packet of Dorito chips as a firearm (wmat2news). Taki Allen was sitting outside of Kenwood High School in Baltimore, eating some Doritos after football practice. Allen said “like eight cop cars” full of police arrived, guns drawn, made him get on his knees and searched him. After finding nothing, an officer showed Allen a picture from the school’s “AI detection system” — presumably some combination of CCTV footage and AI software — that flagged his crumpled-up chip bag as a firearm.
But, despite the false flag, the police’s superintendent told reporters that the system worked:
"The program is based on human verification and in this case the program did what it was supposed to do which was to signal an alert and for humans to take a look to find out if there was cause for concern in that moment,"
Superintendent Dr. Myriam Rogers
The Sizzle: Look, I’m not a education expert but I don’t think a swarm of cops drawing their guns on my student because he was eating chips is a good system to have in a school. We’ve learned time and time again people will often trust computer’s decisions because they believe — often falsely — that it’s extremely accurate and knows better than them. When the consequence for a computer’s decision is putting people in a dangerous situation (who knows what could have happened when with police and guns), it makes me very uncomfortable that a technology that is clearly making mistakes is being rolled out. Or, as Allen succinctly put it:
"I don't think no chip bag should be mistaken for a gun at all," he said.
Taki Allen.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
#### Leftovers
Australia:
Most Australian government agencies aren’t transparent about how they use AI (The Conversation) Staff in regional ACM newsrooms concerned about rollout of generative AI model (ABC News) Robodebt tech reforms fade from focus (InnovationAus, $) Cl0p extortion gang claims hack of Aussie resources consultancy Ausenco (Cyber Daily) Warning about a critical vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Server Update Service (cyber.gov.au) Does Facebook owe you CASH? How to check for your share of $50 million (EFTM)
Rest of the world:
What’s Next for the iPad Pro, iPhone 17 Pro-Like Vapor Chamber, Apple Maps Ads (Bloomberg, $) Apple Maps to get ads 👀 Stablecoin Use for Payments Jumps 70% Since US Regulation (Bloomberg, $) S ora might have a 'pervert' problem on its hands (Business Insider, $) ICE is building a social media panopticon (The Verge)
Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Oh, Also
### Here is an exclusive club that I will never join
The 1% Guild is an exclusive organisation limited to a certain kind of person: someone whose device has 1% battery.
You will never find me there. Once I hit <20%, I’m sweating. At <10%, I’m scanning the room, looking for power points or unoccupied USB cables. So! If you make it in, please let me know what it’s like. And may God have mercy on your soul.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Bargains
Electrical & electronics
Motorola Moto Tag 1-Pack Bluetooth Tracker - $25 at Harvey Norman Sennheiser HDB 630 Wireless over Ear Headphones - $899 at Sennheiser Fujifilm X-T5 w/ XF 16-50mm F/2.8-4.8 with Bonus W235 Battery - $2639 at Ted's Cameras
Computing
Lenovo 510 FHD Webcam- $59 at Amazon AU ASUS Prime GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB GDDR7 Graphics Card - $727 at Amazon AU (sold by Amazon US)
Computing
Fairphone 6 (8GB/256GB, Dual SIM, Forest Green) - $965 at Amazon UK via AU
# The End
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