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From: Roderick Smith [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, 28 June 2017 12:04 AM
To: '[email protected]'
Subject: snippets, Sun.21.5.17

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170521Su Melbourne 'Herald Sun':
- tram tirade.
- tunnel-work obstruction.

Roderick

Metro Twitter, Sun.21.5.17
May 21 2017 Fair Use: Wikipedia targets Australians in bid to change the law .
If Wikipedia was hosted in Australia, it would be breaking the law.
In an Australian first, the US-based crowd-sourced encyclopedia will launch on Monday a political campaign to change the Australian law, by displaying messages targeting Australians who visit pages it was able to create using a US provision known as "fair use".
More videos The case for copyright reform.
Peter Martin explains why Australia's copyright laws are putting it at a competitive disadvantage.
The banner advertisements will say that Wikipedia was only able to create the pages because of a provision denied to Australians.
"Six Australian government reports since 1998 have recommended Australia adopt fair use," the message reads. "The government is currently considering its response to the latest recommendation. If you think Australia should adopt fair use, take action."
Fair use would allow extracts of copyrighted work to be displayed without permission in certain circumstances where it didn't harm the market for the original.
"When you look up the ABC on Wikipedia and see its logo, that logo is there because a Wikipedia editor has uploaded it as a fair use of the image," said Jon Lawrence, executive director of Electronic Frontiers Australia, which is partnering with Wikipedia.
"Wikipedia users can can only upload this content because they are able to rely on the US's fair use provisions. If Wikipedia was based in Australia, you wouldn't see that logo."
Cabinet is considering a recommendation from the Productivity Commission to extend the US right of fair use to Australia, allowing local websites and teachers and authors to quote fair use material and allowing libraries to display thumbnail pictures of book covers in their catalogues.
In an Australian first, Wikipedia will launch a political campaign to change the Australian law, by displaying messages. Photo: Supplied
The Copyright Agency, which collects payments on behalf of authors, has amassed a $15 million fund to fight the change.
"Wikipedia pages display thumbnail images of album covers," said Katherine Maher, head of the San Francisco-based Wikimedia Foundation. "It is conceivable that, if an Australian teacher wanted to display those pages, she would be subject to a licensing fee, even though we are able to display them.
"Australians run into conflict with the law without realising it. Forwarding an email or including the text of an email in a reply can break the law. Our Australian users have told us they want us to campaign for fair use because they support our mission to ensure every person in the world has access to knowledge."
Jessica Coates of the Australian Digital Alliance, which represents librarians and is also partnering with Wikipedia, said fair use would future-proof the law so it didn't need to be updated each time technology changed.
"It took until 2006 to legalise taping a TV show on a video cassette recorder in Australia, by which time most VCRs were already mothballed," she said.. "We need copyright law that focuses not on specific technologies but on what is fair."
Ms Maher said Wikipedia's contributors and editors respected copyright.
"I have never met a group of people who care more about the rights of creators," she said. "You won't find lyrics on Wikipedia, for instance, because we believe the rights of creators should be protected. But you will find references to copyrighted work, references that are forbidden by Australian law."
The rotating banner messages will be shown to about half the Australian visitors to Wikipedia for several days, shrinking to 15 per cent for the next few weeks.
Related Content:
The Productivity Commission says copyright laws that are routinely flouted are bad laws, bringing themselves into disrepute.
Copyright rules make us break the law 80 times a day, says Productivity Commission .
Copyright Agency diverts funds meant for authors to $15m fighting fund .
<www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/fair-use-wikipedia-targets-australians-in-bid-to-change-the-law-20170521-gw9kzq.html>

21.5.17 Melbourne 'Age'.
Motorists will endure 11 days of traffic snarls on St Kilda Road in a harbinger of the years of Metro rail tunnel works hell to come.
St Kilda Road will endure three years of heavy traffic when it is reduced from four lanes in each direction to just one each way from next year. The section affected is between Bowen Crescent and Kings Way/Toorak Road West.
But a precursor of the pain will come in the school holidays when St Kilda Road will be down to one lane each way for 11 days from July 1. During this time tram commuters will need to take replacement buses.
once that work is complete, from July 12, St Kilda Road will have a lane each way restored bet On the weekends of June 2-4 and June 9-12, St Kilda Road will have two lanes in each direction from Domain Road to Toorak Road West.
Works in the area include a new tram stop for the number 58 tram at Toorak Road West and the new Domain train station.
The Metro rail tunnel will run for nine kilometres and link South Yarra to Kensington.
Roads Minister Luke Donnellan​ described the work as vital.
"I understand it is going to be very frustrating for the community and I know people would like this to go away straight away," Mr Donnellan said. "It simply won't."
Toorak Road West. New trams stops on Toorak Road will be built as part of the Metro rail project. Photo: Supplied Two eastbound lanes and one westbound lane will be closed on Toorak Road West for two weeks from June 13 while a new tram stop is built between St Kilda Road and Park Street. This section will completely close on July 1-2.
Toorak Road West will operate with one lane in each direction from July 12 between St Kilda Road and Park Street, South Yarra.
Number 58 trams will travel via Toorak Road West to St Kilda Road.
Domain Road will close on July 12 for five years as the new Domain underground station is built.
Mr Donnellan urged commuters to consider alternatives to St Kilda Road into the city, including Kings Way, Punt Road, Canterbury Road and Ferrars Street.
"It is important we get people to look at alternative methods of getting in and out of the city and into this employment zone," Mr Donnellan said.
He said the state government had invested $25 million for traffic monitoring and other works, including turning Punt Road into a clearway.
Using Spencer Street will not be an alternative from July, as it will be partly closed while a major sewer upgrade begins. These works are expected to take up to 15 months.

May 21 2017 Metro rail: taste of traffic chaos to come with works on St Kilda Road in July .
Motorists will endure 11 days of traffic snarls on St Kilda Road in a harbinger of the years of Metro rail tunnel works hell to come.
St Kilda Road will endure three years of heavy traffic when it is reduced from four lanes in each direction to just one each way from next year. The section affected is between Bowen Crescent and Kings Way/Toorak Road West.
Work begins for $10.9 billion Metro Rail Project. Drilling rigs have been moved to Franklin and A'Beckett Streets on the northern side of Melbourne's CBD as early work ramps up on the $10.9 billion Metro Rail project. Vision: Victorian Government But a precursor of the pain will come in the school holidays when St Kilda Road will be down to one lane each way for 11 days from July 1. During this time tram commuters will need to take replacement buses.
Once that work is complete, from July 12, St Kilda Road will have a lane each way restored between Bowen Crescent and Kings Way/Toorak Road West.
On the weekends of June 2-4 and June 9-12, St Kilda Road will have two lanes in each direction from Domain Road to Toorak Road West.
Works in the area include a new tram stop for the number 58 tram at Toorak Road West and the new Domain train station.
The Metro rail tunnel will run for nine kilometres and link South Yarra to Kensington.
Roads Minister Luke Donnellan​ described the work as vital.
St Kilda Road will be down to a lane each way for 11 days in July. Photo: Kane Glenister .
"I understand it is going to be very frustrating for the community and I know people would like this to go away straight away," Mr Donnellan said. "It simply won't."
Toorak Road West. New trams stops on Toorak Road will be built as part of the Metro rail project. Photo: Supplied Two eastbound lanes and one westbound lane will be closed on Toorak Road West for two weeks from June 13 while a new tram stop is built between St Kilda Road and Park Street. This section will completely close on July 1-2.
Toorak Road West will operate with one lane in each direction from July 12 between St Kilda Road and Park Street, South Yarra.
Number 58 trams will travel via Toorak Road West to St Kilda Road.
Domain Road. Domain Road will close on July 12 for five years as the new Domain underground station is built.
Mr Donnellan urged commuters to consider alternatives to St Kilda Road into the city, including Kings Way, Punt Road, Canterbury Road and Ferrars Street.
"It is important we get people to look at alternative methods of getting in and out of the city and into this employment zone," Mr Donnellan said.
He said the state government had invested $25 million for traffic monitoring and other works, including turning Punt Road into a clearway.
Using Spencer Street will not be an alternative from July, as it will be partially closed while a major sewer upgrade begins. These works are expected to take up to 15 months.
About 200 trees in the Domain station precinct are expected to be removed over the course of the Metro rail tunnel project, the minister's spokesman confirmed. During the tram works in June and July, 18 trees would be removed from St Kilda Road and two trees from Toorak Road West.
Related Content:
There will be delays on Spencer Street during year-long roadworks.
Spencer St faces squeeze after CBD boom strains sewers .
<www.theage.com.au/victoria/metro-rail-taste-of-traffic-chaos-to-come-with-works-on-st-kilda-road-in-july-20170521-gw9mpo.html>

May 21 2017 Level crossings: Hundreds rally against government's Essendon plan .
Hundreds of residents have rallied against the Andrews government's plan for Essendon as part of its $8 billion level crossing removal program.
But demands for a change to the government's Essendon plan have led the son of a pedestrian killed crossing Buckley Street to warn the level crossing is too dangerous to delay its removal.
pposition public transport spokesman David Hodgett speaks at the rally in Essendon. Photo: Daniel Pockett .
The state government has signed contracts for builders to remove the Buckley Street level crossing next to Essendon railway station.
Melbourne has 178 level crossings, and the crossing in Essendon, on the Craigieburn line, is one of 50 going. Buckley Street is to be lowered beneath the railway line.
Essendon locals rally against the government's plans for the Buckley Street level crossing. Photo: Daniel Pockett .
About 11,000 cars currently cross the tracks on Buckley Street daily.
But Moonee Valley Council, in a heavily politicised campaign targeting state Labor, is spending $50,000 fighting the plan.
It wants the government to instead lower the railway tracks from Moonee Ponds to Essendon.
This would remove three level crossings – those at Park and Puckle streets in Moonee Ponds would also go.
The government's plan for Essendon railway station and Buckley Street. Photo: LXRA .
The council's plan would likely see historic Essendon railway station, built in 1878, demolished or relocated.
Roads Minister Luke Donnellan said on Sunday the government had chosen the best option.
Protesters with signs produced as part of Moonee Valley Council's fight against the government. Photo: Daniel Pockett .
"Most people want the level crossing removed [and] road under allowed us not to touch the heritage station," he said.
He said digging a trench with a new railway station would have seen homes and businesses acquired.
Optometrist Graeme Wood opposes the government's plans for the level crossing removal. Photo: Daniel Pockett .
A report done for Moonee Valley Council in 2015 suggested a small number of properties might be bought by the government if tracks and platforms were built below ground.
Opposition Upper House MP Bernie Finn was at Sunday's protest. He said the government's Essendon plan would hurt the retail strip opposite the railway station because it would restrict cars in the area.
Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan announcement this month of the builders and engineers for the Buckley Street work enraged Moonee Valley councillors because virtually no detail had been made public.
"We ask questions but we don't get answers," said councillor Richard Lawrence at the protest on Sunday.
He said the government had signed the contract for the level crossing removal without releasing the detail. "The transparency just isn't there," he said.
Optometrist Graeme Wood was also at Sunday's protest. His business Wood and Associates has been opposite Essendon railway station for 35 years.
He said the government's plan would push several bus routes into his shopping strip and ultimately drive out 150 retail jobs.
Moonee Valley Council's well-organised fight to stop the government's level crossing plan has alarmed Jan Laczynski.
His father John died when he was hit by a car in February 1999 while crossing Buckley Street near the level crossing. He was 72.
"My father was pronounced dead on Buckley Street," Mr Laczynski said. "Both the ambulance and the police that attended were delayed by the boom gates being down. It wouldn't have made any difference, but it was certainly a sign of the problem."
Mr Laczynski said it was not certain his father would have lived if the level crossing had been gone.
But he said those protesting against the design for its removal had to recognise how dangerous the level crossing was.
Any delay because of their protests risked the level crossing staying for good, he said. "No one needs to get a death knock like me on the door – it's an awful thing. It stays with me forever," he said.
<www.theage.com.au/victoria/level-crossings-hundreds-rally-against-governments-essendon-plan-20170521-gw9r16.html>

Melbourne’s high-capacity train builder has worked with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. [spin: they are NOT 'high capacity']
Herald Sun May 21, 2017.
VICTORIA has hired dictator Kim Jong Un’s train builder to supply its advanced new $2 billion fleet.
The Changchun Railway Vehicles built rolling stock for the despised North Korean dictator’s Pyongyang metro and also for the Tehran metro in Iran.
The Chinese-state owned company will build the shells of 65 new trains in Beijing, which will then be assembled in Victoria.
Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan signed the contract — which was Victoria’s biggest ever order of trains — with the Evolution Rail Consortium led by Engineering firm EDI Downer in November last year.
But a parliamentary inquiry heard that EDI Downer has had a chequered history of delivering train projects in Australia — being fined for delivering one project over budget and late.
Liberal MP Tim Smith said at a parliamentary inquiry the Chanchung Railway Vehicles company had little experience building trains in Australia.
“Have they only built train for Tehran and Pyongyan,” Mr Smith said.
Victoria has hired dictator Kim Jong Un’s train builder to supply its advanced new $2 billion fleet. Picture: AP Photo/Vincent Yu Kew Liberal MP Tim Smith has questioned the Changchun Railway Vehicle Company’s ability to deliver Victoria’s new trains Ms Allan told the Public Accounts and Estimate Committee the train contractor would provide 60 per cent of the work done in Victoria and that Downer EDI was well known in Australian train manufacturing.
But Downer EDI built the trouble plagued $3.5 billion Waratah trains project for NSW government in 2011, which came in over budget and about 18 months late.
Liberal MP David Morris said the supplier seemed to have a “bad track record” delivering large-scale train infrastructure projects.
Ms Allan said the “Rolling Stock” division in the Transport Department would ensure local content and performance targets were being met throughout the life of the contract.
Ms Allan said the high-capacity project would create 1100 jobs, with trains rolling out each year from 2018 until the Melbourne Metro project’s completion in 2026.
She said since 2011 the NSW government had granted a contract to Downer EDI to build a further $1.7 billion worth of trains.
Public Transport minister Jacinta Allan is backing the Evolution Rail Consortium to build the $2 billion high-capacity train project Public Transport Victoria chief executive Jeroen Weimar said extensive reference checks were done with the NSW government and independent engineering firms advice “The Changchun Railway Vehicles Company is the world’s largest train manufacturer. They have built successful projects across the US, Europe and Australia,” Mr Weimar said.
He said the company would only receive funds from the government if the trains met quality standards.
The high-capacity trains will be 20 per cent longer than the existing fleet and run through the to be completed metro tunnel on the Cranbourne-Pakenham line.
<www.heraldsun.com.au/news/melbournes-highcapacity-train-builder-has-worked-with-north-koreas-kim-jong-un/news-story/89fba6bf23f1165fed1cbb20401b9918>