Australian eDemocracy

The Pew Internet and American Life Project has released a new report, analysing trends in how people consume political news and how they use the Internet to participate in politics.

The US Army has launched an official blog portal, "Army Live", and an Army fan page on Facebook, so Facebook users can now list the US Army as a "friend".

In an attempt by the Obama administration to replicate its creative use of the Internet during the election campaign, President Obama has held an online Town Hall meeting, answering questions directly from the American people.  Obama supporters indicated they wanted to stay engaged with the administration, and the Obama team is using the Internet to communicate with supporters and "sell" their message, particular on economic policy.

President Barack Obama has used YouTube to launch the first major diplomatic initiative of his presidency.  He has recorded a message talking directly to the Iranian people on the occasion of Norwuz (Iranian New Year).    The message, with captions in Farsi, runs for three and a half minutes, and was uploaded to the White House website and YouTube.  The video has been downloaded nearly 100,000 times.

The Federal Government has terminated the tender process for the National Broadband Network (NBN).  Instead the government will create a new company, the National Broadband Network Corporation, and seek partners from the private sector to build a $43 billion network.