Plus: Things are not going well at Napster 2.0 ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

November 25, 2025 | Read online
# Delivery driver deal, 'Privacy Android' maker flees France & AI safety institute Plus: Things are not going well at Napster 2.0
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Edition 2457
This is a sideways view of my computer keyboard with my wireless red and black mouse lurking in the distance! (Flickr: Jo Zimny Photos)
# The News
### Delivery gig economy drivers to get basic worker protections
Drivers for two of Australia’s biggest food delivery platforms will have a minimum wage floor and other benefits, as part of a union deal (ABC News). The Transport Workers Union, Uber Eats and DoorDash have agreed to on a floor for minimum pay for workers, as well as giving them protections like insurance, access to a dispute resolution process and the right to join a union. The Fair Work Commission still has to agree but it’s a big deal, considering the precarity and poor pay for most gig workers. (Worth noting that this is possible because of laws passed by the Albanese government in 2023).
The Sizzle: The gig economy boom of the late 2010s-early 2020s was made possible by a few things. There was the technological innovation of being able to call a private taxi for your burrito with an app. Then there was the regulatory innovation that allowed you to pay people below minimum wage, keep them out of unions, and fire them at will because, well, app?
We’ll see how the platforms respond to this change, i.e. will they place new requirements on drivers? But, considering these companies spent years citing stats that actually their drivers are massively out-earning minimum wage, surely, a minimum floor for wages won’t cost them that much — right?
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Privacy-focused Android maker leaving France over legal fears
The people behind the privacy version of Android GrapheneOS say they’re leaving France, citing fears of political prosecution and encryption-breaking laws (PrivacyGuides). The spark of this flight seems to be a French article quoting a prosecutor implying that GrapheneOS’ publisher could be sued over supposed links to criminal organisations. The GrapheneOS guys say they’ve been mistakenly blamed for other groups who’ve forked their operating system to do naughty things. Either way, they’re moving off French hosting and say their developers won’t travel to France because of the (as yet un-passed) European “chat control” law that threatens encryption (Mashable).
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Australia will finally get a government body dedicated to defeating Skynet
Australia is getting a government-run agency responsible for monitoring AI harms and coming up with ways to deal with them (Australian, $). The government announced an AI Safety Institute that will “work directly with regulators to make sure we’re ready to safely capture the benefits of AI” (Andrew Charlton) from “early 2026”. Australia joins other countries like the EU, US, UK, etc. who already have similar bodies (Information Age). Not a lot of details beyond this announcement, but we also found out that the government’s “National AI Plan” is due before the end of the year.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
#### Leftovers
Australia:
Youth activists fear the teen social media ban will crush their political voice (Crikey, $) Victims of AI deepfakes could sue for emotional damages under new bill (ABC News) States crack down on workplace surveillance (Information Age) Guess who's coming to Canberra? Pollies warned to turn off devices during Chinese visit to Parliament House (Cyber Daily, $) ”A meeting of Australia's infrastructure and transport ministers last week agreed on a new approach to guide the deployment of automated vehicles” (Rohan Pearce on Bluesky) Government cracks down on sneaky auto-billing, subscription traps, hidden fees (SmartCompany) Valve’s “Wii moment”: Australian game devs are psyched for the industry implications of the Steam Machine (Infinite Lives) Google Maps now predicts EV charger availability – just in time for Christmas (The Driven)
Rest of the world:
Claude Opus 4.5 (Anthropic) Pebble Watch Software Is Now 100% Open Source (EricMigi) Google’s plans to bring Android to PCs has a name: Project Alumininum (Android Authority) Insurers retreat from AI cover as risk of multibillion-dollar claims mounts (Financial Times, $) An MIT Student Awed Top Economists With His AI Study. Then It All Fell Apart (MSN) iPhone Fold Nears Mass Production, Screen Crease Issue Rumored to Be Solved (AppleInsider) X's New Feature Reveals Why Trust & Safety Work Was Never About the 'Censorship Industrial Complex' (Techdirt) Xbox Crocs are real (Verge)
Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Oh, Also
### Things are not going well at Napster 2.0
In case you haven’t been keeping track: Napster is alive. In fact, the company — which is now a “portal to AI-driven music experiences” — has 1,500 employees. It recently received a $5.2 billion investment, which values it at about $18.5 billion.
I haven’t looked it up but I assume Sean Parker is still involved and he actually looks like Justin Timberlake
At least, it thought it did. But, last week, Napster employees found out that this investor never paid up (Forbes). This comes after Forbes reported that the investor had a lot of bills and told a lot of lies. It’s just the latest twist in the fascinating road of Napster’s revival which started in 2019 when:
Acunto bought a bankrupt social media company Tsu. That entity, in turn, merged with, or acquired, at least a dozen (some tiny, some struggling) metaverse, virtual reality, drone and AI companies largely paid for in all-stock mergers at higher and higher valuations. By then known as Infinite Reality, it acquired Napster in March for $207 million and rebranded itself, using the much higher-profile name, in May.
Forbes
But fundamentally… are you REALLY surprised that Napster, the music stealing platform, is a bit dodgy? Fool me once, etc.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Bargains
Electrical & Electronics
Google Nest Cam 2K 3rd Gen Indoor Wired - $127 at Officeworks (Down from $187) Insta360 Flow 2 Pro Creator Bundle - Stone Grey - $160 at eBay Shokz Openrun Pro 2 - $205 at Shokz Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV 14-42mm Kit - $777 at Amazon Business Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G lens - $935 at eBay Hisense PX3 TriChroma 4K Laser Projector - $2870 at VideoPro
Computing
16.5% cashback at Lenovo Anmite 10.5" 1920x1280 IPS Portable Monitor - $52.89 at AliExpress Yubikey NFC at TrustPanda Yubikey 5 NFC for $62.30 Yubikey 5C NFC for $68.60 Logitech C922 Pro Stream Webcam - $69 at Amazon Amazon eero 6+ Mesh Router at Amazon 1 Pack for $174 3 Pack for $419 Tryx Panorama SE 360 ARGB White AIO CPU Cooler - $393 at Gamer Tech Seagate STKP16000400 16TB External HDD - $417 at Amazon UK via AU (Down from $540) Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga G6 - Intel Core i7-1165g7, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD - $595 at Recompute Sapphire Nitro + RX Radeon 9070 XT 16GB OC Video Card - $1099 at Centre Com Apple MacBook Air 13" (M4, 24GB/512GB) - $1894 at Techciti eBay
Mobile
25% off unlimited eSIMs at Airalo $100 Cashback on Boost Mobile 290GB 12-Month Prepaid SIM - $200 at TopCashbacks
# The End
😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius.
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