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Rob Nicholls

Senior lecturer in Business Law, UNSW

Dr Rob Nicholls is a senior lecturer in business law at the UNSW Business School.
He was previously a research fellow at Swinburne University of Technology where he worked on spectrum policy matters and a research fellow at the Centre for International Finance and Regulation where he researched the intersection of competition law with financial services regulations. His research applies system and network analysis techniques, commonly used in networked industries, to examine error amplification. Rob is the Independent Telecommunications Adjudicator in a regime established to deal with wholesale disputes arising over both legacy services and migration to the NBN. He has had a thirty-year career concentrating on regulations and governance, particularly in networked industries. He has worked for Webb Henderson, the ACCC and Gilbert + Tobin.

Meta and Google just lost a landmark social media addiction case. A tech law expert explains the fallout

Mar 26, 2026 08:53 am UTC| Insights & Views Technology

Social media platforms Instagram and YouTube have a design defect which means they are addictive, a jury in the United States has ruled. The Los Angeles jury took nearly nine days to reach its verdict in the landmark case...

Google is worth more in Australia than major news outlets. Here’s how it could better fund journalism

Sep 19, 2024 01:24 am UTC| Technology

The Global Media Internet Concentration Project examines the concentration of the communications and media in countries around the world. The latest data for Australia have recently been released, and they show just how...

Do you trust AI to write the news? It already is – and not without issues

Nov 07, 2023 08:56 am UTC| Technology

Businesses are increasingly using artificial intelligence (AI) to generate media content, including news, to engage their customers. Now, were even seeing AI used for the gamification of news that is, to create...

The power of tech giants has made them as influential as nations. Here's how they're sanctioning Russia

Mar 07, 2022 08:59 am UTC| Technology

The worlds five leading tech companies Google (now Alphabet), Apple, Facebook (now Meta), Amazon and Microsoft have taken steps to impose significant and (mainly) voluntary sanctions on Russia, in response to its...

If Facebook really pulls news from its Australian sites, we'll have a much less compelling product

Sep 02, 2020 14:08 pm UTC| Technology

Facebook will ban publishers and people in Australia from sharing local and international news on Facebook and Instagram if a proposal to force tech giants to pay for news becomes law, the tech giant has announced. The...

No more negotiating: new rules could finally force Google and Facebook to pay for news

Apr 22, 2020 12:49 pm UTC| Technology

Digital platforms such as Google and Facebook will be forced to compensate news media companies for using their content, under a new mandatory code to be drawn up by Australias competition watchdog. The announcement,...

Why you might be paying more for your airfare than the person seated next to you

Oct 09, 2018 12:52 pm UTC| Insights & Views Technology

Price discrimination is legal in Australia where sellers will typically pick an opening price based on the likelihood that someone will pay it. We take a look at how you can get the best deal on airfares in the second part...

Economy

U.S. Payrolls Seen Rebounding in August as Labor Market Stays Soft

U.S. payroll growth is expected to have recovered in August as local government education employment rebounded, although job losses linked to changes in immigration protections could limit overall gains. Economists...

Gold Prices Hold Near $4,500 as Fed Rate Hike Bets Ease

Gold prices hovered near $4,500 an ounce on Thursday, extending a strong rebound as Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Wallers comments reduced expectations for a September interest rate hike. A softer U.S. dollar and...

Singapore Straits Times Index Hits Record High as Banks, Property Stocks Rally

Singapores benchmark stock market surged to a fresh record high on Friday, supported by strong gains in major banking and real estate stocks as positive sentiment swept across Asian markets. The Straits Times Index (STI)...

Chinese AI Stocks Rally After OpenAI Launches GPT-6 Astra

Chinese AI stocks rallied on Friday after OpenAI unveiled GPT-6 Astra, its latest artificial intelligence model, fueling investor optimism over accelerating AI development and the commercial potential of advanced AI...

Asian Stocks Rally as Fed Rate Hike Fears Ease

Asian stock markets advanced on Friday, led by strong gains in technology shares after a Wall Street rally boosted investor sentiment. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Wallers comments helped ease concerns that the...

Politics

Haiti Urges UN to Extend Gang Suppression Force Ahead of December Election

Haiti has called on the United Nations Security Council to renew the mandate of an international security force supporting local police as the Caribbean nation prepares for its first election in a decade amid persistent...

Lula Runs Cautious Brazil Election Campaign as Bolsonaro Narrows Poll Gap

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is taking an unusually cautious approach to his re-election campaign ahead of Brazils October election, as right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro closes the gap in opinion polls....

Texas Republicans Turn Against AI Data Centers as Election Backlash Grows

Texas Republicans are increasingly pushing for tougher AI data center regulations, highlighting a growing divide within the party as local opposition becomes a major issue ahead of the November elections. Texas Governor...

Pacific Islands Forum Seeks Unified Condemnation of China Missile Test

Pacific Islands Forum chair Surangel Whipps Jr. said Thursday he hopes the 18-member regional bloc can reach consensus on condemning Chinas recent ballistic missile test in the Pacific, as tensions between Beijing and...

Iran War Civilian Toll Rises After U.S. Strikes Hit Wedding

The renewed escalation of the Iran war has intensified concerns over civilian casualties after Iranian officials said 18 people were killed in the latest U.S. strikes, including four at a wedding near the Strait of Hormuz....

Science

Blue Origin New Glenn Explosion Could Delay Launch Operations Until 2028

Blue Origin is facing a significant setback after a dramatic explosion involving its New Glenn rocket severely damaged a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, repairs to the...

Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Launch Pad Test, Delaying Space Ambitions

Blue Origin suffered a major setback after its uncrewed New Glenn rocket exploded during a launch pad test in Florida on Thursday, raising new challenges for Jeff Bezos space company as it competes with Elon Musks SpaceX...

SpaceX Delays Starship V3 Launch Ahead of Potential Record IPO

SpaceX on Thursday postponed the highly anticipated launch of its 12th Starship rocket test from Texas after technical issues interrupted the final countdown. The company now plans to attempt the Starship V3 launch again...

Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified UFO-related files following an order from President Donald Trump, sparking renewed debate over unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and government...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

Technology

Anthropic Nears $15 Billion Credit Deal Ahead of IPO

Anthropic is reportedly close to finalizing an expansion of its revolving credit facility to $15 billion, strengthening the artificial intelligence companys financial position ahead of its widely anticipated initial public...

Xiaomi Shares Jump on Europe EV Expansion Plan

Xiaomi shares climbed sharply on Friday after the Chinese technology giant confirmed plans to begin selling its electric vehicles in Europe in 2027, marking a major step in its international EV expansion. Xiaomi Corp...

Nvidia Eyes $2.5 Billion Investment in Thinking Machines Lab

Nvidia is reportedly in discussions to invest about $2.5 billion in Thinking Machines Lab, the artificial intelligence startup founded by former OpenAI executive Mira Murati, as the chip giant continues to expand its...

OpenAI Launches GPT-6 Astra With Advanced AI Agent Capabilities

OpenAI unveiled GPT-6 Astra on Thursday, describing it as its most capable artificial intelligence model yet as the company confronts growing concerns over the safety and control of increasingly autonomous AI systems. The...

Adobe Names Anil Chakravarthy CEO as AI Push Accelerates

Adobe has named Anil Chakravarthy as its next president and chief executive officer, marking a major leadership transition as the software giant seeks to accelerate growth across artificial intelligence and agentic...