American Movie Execs Could Face Aussie Jails For Hacking

pegacat points to a story in the Melbourne Age which says that "American movie, recording and software executives could be arrested if they travel to Australia, could be prohibited from entering Australia, or could be extradited to face criminal charges if Californian Democrat congressman Howard Berman's copyright protection bill, which allows cracking of computers, passes into law." That's because "Under section 9a of the Victorian Summary Offences Act (1966), 'a person must not gain access to, or enter, a computer system or part of a computer system without lawful authority to do so'. The penalty if convicted is up to six months' jail."

Comments

Re:Amendment

[YeeHaW_Jelte]

Yeah, and a law permitting the US armed forces to invade Australia to free captured media company execs.

Lawful authority?

[richie2000]

"without lawful authority to do so"

Wouldn't the bill be considered lawful authority? If Australian law can be applied to US citizens, it's likely (though I ain't anal) that US law would apply to those same citizens.

Then again, Australia has a long and distinguished record of being a penal colony for the British, maybe it's time to reinstate that concept and ship RIAA and MPAA execs, all of Arthur Andersen, and all Fortune 500 CEOs to a remote part of the Aussie outback. We can even turn it into a spectator sport - Survivor 2.0 - broadcasting it live with free Internet feeds from ROVs orbiting the area. "Will Bill Gates eat Steve Ballmer? Tune in tomorrow on Survivor 2.0, same time, same server!"

Re:Lawful authority?

[ColaMan]

Wouldn't the bill be considered lawful authority? If Australian law can be applied to US citizens, it's likely (though I ain't anal) that US law would apply to those same citizens.

*snort* Laws passed by any sovereign country are only valid inside that country. The USA can pass as many crap bills as it wants - Australian courts would likely tell you to fuck off and give you six months jail for that kind of argument.

And as for a "long and distinguished record of being a penal colony" 1788 (first landing) to 1868(last convicts shipped off to Australia) is 80 years, and 134 years ago now. So back off, pal.

Although , we *do* have a lot of desert out there... maybe a survivor 2.0 as suggested would be ok.

Re:Lawful authority?

[nathanh]

Or continue the hypocrisy with...

c) If an Australian broke an American law while in Afghanistan then the Americans will kidnap the Australian and hold him illegally without representation in a US military base.

Re:Lawful authority?

[EasyTarget]

However not quite long enough to remove the chip from the shoulder obviously

Be British, Go to America, make a comment about 'Visiting the Colonies', listen to reaction, smile knowingly to yourself.

Be American, Go to Britain, make a comment about 'Having to save your asses in every war', listen to reaction, smile knowingly to yourself.

Trolling had a long aural tradition before Usenet was invented.

Black/While/Grey

[xA40D]

Things are right, wrong, or grey.

If something is wrong don't do it. Take cracking or DoS attacks. Totally wrong. Lock them up and throw away the key.

But you start to legislate that it's okay for some users (I don't care how much money Hollywood has, they are still users just like you and me) to crack and DoS others then you make it grey. So the next time you catch a cracker you've got a much harder job dealing with him. And the next time it's harder still. And fairly soon cracking just becomes one of those things you live with.

At least the Aussies are doing their hardest to keep it black and white.

But I don't think it makes much differance. The US Government doesn't seem to give a toss about what the rest of the world thinks. As long as those campaign contributions keep pouring in nothing else matters. (Don't you just love democracy.)

Steve the Crocodile Hunter

[Associate]

I envision Steve, the Crocodile Hunter, sneaking up on a Recording Exec and sticking his thumb up his bum hole. Ah, this one's angry! Look at his markings. He's a beaut'. Now ordinarily we would let him go. But, as it turns out this is one of the most dangerous creatures in the world. Up there with Lawyers and US Congressmen. No, instead, we're going to take this one back with us. We'll put him in a nice safe place where he can listen to Britney Spears all day long.

�The Computer Misuse Act 1990� Section 1;

[Martin S.]

Indeed, this would also be illegal in the UK under Section 1 of the 'The Computer Misuse Act 1990' ;

(1) A person is guilty of an offence if--
(a) he causes a computer to perform any function with intent to secure access to any program or data held in any computer;
(b) the access he intends to secure is unauthorised; and
(c) he knows at the time when he causes the computer to perform the function that that is the case.
(2) The intent a person has to have to commit an offence under this section need not be directed at--
(a) any particular program or data;
(b) a program or data of any particular kind; or
(c) a program or data held in any particular computer.
(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or to both.

http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1990/Ukpga_19900 01 8_en_1.htm

As for the possibility of Tony Blair (UK Prime-Minister), some how excusing this, that is not likely. There is plenty of separation between the UK Judiciary and Politicians. UK Judges are not elected but appointed and once appointed are nearly impossible to remove. UK Judges also seem to regularly take delight in giving politicians the finger, when the latter attempt to step on their toes. i.e. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2162940.stm

Good Aussie joke here

[A nonymous Coward]

When flying into the country, and the customs man asks if you have a criminal record, ask innocently, "Is that still a requirement?"