Category: Technology
  • Jordan Roles, Technology

A Quantum Leap

In September 2024, the Federal Government announced its intention to introduce legislation to Parliament to set a ‘minimum age’ for social media users in Australia. The proposed changes, which drew bipartisan support, would see any Australian under the age of 16 effectively banned from social media, whether or not they already have an existing account […]

  • Heidi Le Masurier, Technology

Reality Remix

In a world where technology is rapidly evolving, one area remains a hot topic of conversation on the tip of everyone’s tongue. AI Technology is constantly presenting new developments and challenges to every day life. But is it now becoming more problematic than we can comfortably handle? Taylor Swift recently made a sensational splash on […]

  • Brendan Nyst, Technology

Will robots eventually replace lawyers?

Good question. It should come as no surprise to hear that many lawyers – and business people in general – are already accessing some level of AI as a useful tool to help them maximise their efficiency and effectiveness in delivering services to their clientele. But, at the moment, we’re all just taking our first […]

  • Alex Somers, Technology

A MOMENTARY FLUTTER OF NERVOUSNESS

"Naturally, I'm now becoming just a little more concerned for my professional future. Where was all this AI stuff headed?"
  • Alex Somers, Politics, Social Media, Technology

Breaking The Internet

On 25 February 2021, the Federal Senate passed the Treasury Laws Amendment (News Media and Digital Platforms Media Bargaining Code) Bill 2021, (“the Code”), a controversial new law requiring certain digital platforms to pay a negotiated fee to eligible Australian news media businesses for the use of their digital content. Whilst many have praised the Code for standing up to omnipotent tech companies in the noble pursuit of fair market practices, others, including the tech companies themselves, have accused Australia of trying to break the internet.
  • Chris Nyst, Criminal Law, Entertainment, Technology

The Fame Game

Way back in 1968, Andrew Warhola, better known as the iconic American artist, director and film producer Andy Warhol, the celebrated pinup boy of the uber-cool 1960s visual art movement known as Pop Art, made what was to prove a profoundly prophetic statement. "In the future," Warhol proclaimed, "Everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes."
  • Chris Nyst, Criminal Law, Litigation, Technology

Sifting Through The Dross

The Roman Catholic Cardinal George Pell has retained a brilliant USSR-born, Jewish lawyer to defend him.  Melbourne-based barrister Robert Richter QC has been retained to defend the Cardinal on historical sex charges. Having worked often with Robert, I can tell you the Cardinal has an excellent man in his corner. But nonetheless, many experienced lawyers are privately wondering if he can possibly get a fair trial.
  • Chris Nyst, Criminal Law, Opinion, Technology

The Underbelly Issue

A couple of years back, at the International Criminal Law Congress, I delivered a paper on the effect of pre-trial publicity on jury trials. Victorian Supreme Court Justice Betty King, who presided over the trial of Melbourne underworld figure Carl Williams and others charged in the wake of the Melbourne gangland war, was on the same panel of speakers. Justice King famously banned the high-rating Underbelly television series from being aired in the state of Victoria during Williams’ trial because of the prejudicial effect it might have on the deliberations the jury. Naturally, the ban caused quite a stir and upset a lot of people, not least of all the producers at Channel 9. But in the end it probably had significantly less effect than Justice King had hoped it would. Despite the television ban, the first episode of Underbelly was available online, everywhere throughout the world wide web, within 20 minutes of it being aired on television in states outside Victoria.
  • Chris Nyst, Family Law, Technology

Stay Off Social Media And Out Of The Family Court?

Over the past several years anecdotal experience in the our family law practice has had some at Nyst Legal raising their eyebrows about the number of more mature couples lining up for the divorce, often after striking up new relationships over the Internet. Now it's official, with statistics showing that there is a growing in divorces involving couples in the over-55 age bracket. Australian Bureau of Statistics figures now show that the divorce rate is up 2% since 2011, with 49,917 Australian’s splitting in 2012, and experts are laying the cause partly at the feet of the explosion in social networking sites. Sounds like some people may be fudging their online profiles way too much.