And this week's Quote of the Year Award (what, it's a weekly annual-- you got a problem with that?) goes to Mr. David Spence of Unwired, an Australian ISP providing wireless broadband access in Sydney. Ready for Mr. Spence's award-winning statement? Okay, here goes:

"We think music is a good idea."

Ooooo. Here's Unwired, gamely taking on that formidable anti-music lobby. What's next, a controversial public assertion that "all babies should eat"? Jump back Loretta, 'cause these guys are out to shock us, we can tell.

Okay, sure, we took his comment entirely out of context; it just struck us as funny when we saw it in an article at Australian IT. But the real story there is that, despite Apple's deafening silence on the subject, Unwired has dropped a hint or two that the iTunes Music Store will go antipodean, and possibly sooner rather than later: Unwired's alliance with Apple "could see the two partner on a music service within a month."

Notice that the article says "a music service" and not "the music service"; that's because Mr. Spence deftly managed to avoid ever referring to the iTunes Music Store by name, but he did specify that "Apple's music download service would be available locally, and that Apple would need broadband connections to make the service work well." Frankly, we lack the imagination to figure what else he might possibly be talking about, so the iTMS it is.

Furthermore, the article notes that Unwired also "offers subscribers special deals on Apple's AirPort Express wireless hub," and a little poking around its web site reveals that the company is giving away AirPort Express units and iPod minis to randomly chosen subscribers in a current promotional drawing. However, we're not convinced that's really any further evidence, because both products are perfectly useful without the iTMS surfacing Down Under. Still, if Spence really does have inside information that an iTMS Australia launch is imminent, it makes sense that he'd be pushing iTunes-compatible gear now.

What this all implies, of course, is that it may not be too much longer before Australians have a legal use for those thousands of iPods currently employed in the heinous and illicit act of playing music copied from the owner's purchased CDs. So fret not, our Australian friends; descended from convicts you may be, but Apple will redeem you from your wicked ways... and just in time, too. Buying a CD and copying its music to a portable player without the express written consent of the copyright holder? Sheesh, you lot had better hope there isn't an afterlife, or else you're in for an eternity of fire and poking-- unless iTMS Australia shows up soon, of course.