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Australia May Adopt DMCA-Style Copyright Regime
beaver1024 writes "Australia, desperate to garner more U.S. trade, has indicated that it is willing to follow a more stringent regime for protecting copyright. This follows attempts by MediaForce to force Australian ISPs to comply with U.S. DMCA provisions. I fear that due to the current Australian government's weak spineless nature, the harsh provisions of the DMCA will soon arrive in the land down under."
One thing that has always given me some hope with all this DMCA stuff is that it only takes one sensible country to not accept it, and development can go on (albeit hampered.) This story makes me wonder if it's only a matter of time until only lawless countries can host such things. Troublesome.
Slashdot 's editors are dickheads
I guess now would be a good time to have his email address, so I can tell him just how I feel on this matter. Oh well, the form at http://www.pm.gov.au/your_feedback/feedback.htm will have to do.
Trust me, I live here :(
If it's not Telstra fucking us with a Microsoft style monopoly, or "protect the people" revenue rais... whoops speed camera's - then it's senator Alston making us look like nearthandals tech wise "high speed internet is used only for porn"
Then there's a new tax / levy introduced tri-monthly to help out some band of poor bastards - course they never see the money but we still get our wallets bent over and plowed.
(I'm surprised I can still browse slashdot actually considering that "ISP's must ban content" clause that the government passed several years back.
Oh oh and we pay a SHITLOAD for cars here too, like 15 metric assloads for a car, that's right this BIG fat country with 20 million people and you can't find a decent second hand car under 10,000$ - but our backwards sheep plowing neighbours in NZ can score ex Japanese imports in the 6000$ (NZ!) range... wheeeeee
(sorry for the rant but I just have to do it now and then)
I love this country *COUGH* (I've said this a million times now, but is there ANYONE out there in the states with a spare basement for me to live in!?!)
I'm a longtime Australian resident, and have been saddened to see more kowtowing to our 'big brother', the United States, instead of seeking out our own identity and place in the global marketplace.
This possible DMCA "adoption" is another example of us bending over backwards to please our economic partners.
I had high hopes for us when our Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) started defending our rights against DVD region encoding. Looks like we need to do more campaigning to wake the public up before this new movement gets too far.
Man watching 6 MSCE's around a sun box, looks alot like the opening scene's of 2001:space odyssey...
I agree with you entirely, except for the DVD bit.
Region-free DVD players are perfectly legal anywhere, so long as the person distributing them region-free hasn't signed the CSS license.
Posted by DanUltra
Australia already has an equivalent of the DMCA, in terms of circumventing access controls and so on. In Australia, there are no fair use clauses for duplicating your own CDs (except software), or even for videotaping from TV. And now this, which will just hamper ISPs and make it cost more for them to do their job. Typical weak Aussie government bending to the slightest hint of international pressure. On these rare occasions, I wish I lived in a country that valued individual freedom a bit more highly compared to corporate interests.
In all reality, Australia -- as well as New Zealand -- has been the United States' bitches since right after WWII.
s C: mondediplo.com/1999/01/04echelon+australia+united+ states+echelon&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
Remember Echelon? Back in 1947 the U.S. and the U.K. signed the Ukusa (really creative name) agreement that was soon after signed on by Canada, Australia and New Zealand. This basically cemented the major former U.K. colonies and English-speaking countries as the axis around which the future world would spin.
http://216.239.33.100/search?q=cache:OU6RBkDIMK
Despite the occasional noise made by various MPs, PMs, Congressman and other politicians, there is a stranglehold of a tie between those 5 countries that will be almost impossible to break.
The U.S. leads because of the simple fact that they are the biggest, baddest and richest. (Usable natural resources, military, population, economy, etc.) The others may not toe the exact line, but everyone moves in the same direction.
Minor dissent is allowed, because it gives the illusion of self determination and national sovereignty. Major dissent never happens -- not over anything important.
The rest of Europe and Russia bitch because they aren't that important anymore. The world no longer spins around France, Germany and Russia. They are being pushed to the sidelines. Hell, they did it and now it is someone else's turn.
Sad, but that is the way it works.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
In return, the US should implement Australian style restrictions on corporate donations to political parties, and European style data protection laws.
This became apparent when one of the ISPs in Australia refused to comply, and went public. They showed the contents of the letter, which included the demand of immediate halt of the customer's sharing, but also the immediate cessation and severing of all business relationship with the account (identified by ip address/date/time/files/etc.)
Here's the exact quote:
This goes far beyond so called "copyright infringement". This is a punitive action made by a very embittered (and according to their own sales figures, very greedy) RIAA/MPAA.
As someone who's had their dsl plug pulled on three days notice, and have been waiting more than three weeks for a new dsl provider to get permission and get switched on from the local telco, I can tell you from first hand experience the problem this causes.
If one of my children downloads and installs a p2p program, and keeps the defaults as installed, I get to have my plug pulled? All of my web sites taken down? My email server cut off? My remote users cut off? My dns server that other networks rely on as a second dns server shut down?
A careful review of the users of the p2p programs would show that the majority of the users are children. As defined in the US, children are under the age of 18. As defined by many of the "save the children" advocacy groups, children are under 19, under 21, under 25.
I've been working on getting a CD burner working on my computer, but have had problems because of the unusual ide/scsi multiple hard drive setup I have. So it is not working under gnu/linux, and I've been making coasters under windows. I have a large collection of music which I own. Does the fact that I can download the same music that I own so I can listen on my computer/car cd player disallow me from downloading this music? I have the originals, just need them in a different medium. This is known as fair use. Will a default/misconfiguration of a p2p application cost me my entire net connection? Is this what was envisioned by the senators and congressmen when they signed the DMCA bill? Was this the intent of the law?
An internet connection is viewed in the US as a necessity now. Schools are handing out assignments that include mandatory internet research. Those that don't have a connection are expected to go to the library or make arrangements with the teacher. But now the MPAA/RIAA are allowed to demand that the ISP pull the plug? On no or short notice? Library hours are being curtailed due to budget constraints everywhere. Libraries open on Sunday are unusual, and becomming more so. Saturday hours and night hours are being curtailed as well. Getting your children to the library is not an easy thing for a single parent or two parent family where both parents work. So the MPAA/RIAA get to pull my plug because their automated computer thinks I'm sharing copyrighted works?
Who reimburses me when my child's school project named after a copyrighted title shows up as a dmca violation, my plug gets pulled, and I lose customers for web sites/co-location hosting/email services/voicemail services/backup services because I can't get another dsl connection running right away? Or the downtime with ip propagation through the dns servers to the root servers with the new ip addresses of the new isp account because the old isp complied with the sever all business demand by the mpaa/riaa?
As I read the DMCA act, it says that the isp must stop the sharing. I haven't read that it says that all business must be severed with the customer. Yet the mpaa/riaa are demanding this of isps. If you were a small time isp, would you comply or fight their lawyers? So you keep the connection and face mpaa/riaa lawyers, and more enforcement action/attention by them and the bsa, or you pull the plug and face a remote possibility of a lawsuit from a user. Which would you choose?
Any changes to the DMCA law must include a prohibition on allowing the mpaa/riaa to demand that all business relationship be severed. It must only include the means necessary of stopping the "infringing" use, and the customer must be given the opportunity to respond prior to the plug getting pulled.
My plug was pulled. I suspect it was a DMCA demand that caused the plug to be pulled. But a different, unrelated excuse was used to pull the plug. In the meantime, I had three days notice. What would you do, fight it out with an isp that wants to disconnect you? Or hurry up and find another isp so that you could get your revenue producing content back online? Are all of your internet travels really within your isp's tos? Including your posts to slashdot? ISPs, if necessary, have enough loopholes to disconnect you within their terms of service so that if they get a takedown letter, they simply pull the plug rather than deal with any legal issues.
Since my local telco doesn't allow servers on their dsl connection, and since they require that the service be disconnected before another dsl reseller can place an order for service, and since the order for service takes anywhere from one to three weeks, there is no way of avoiding a several week downtime. And my local telco is the local telco for most of the northeast, and most of the east coast of the US.
It's easy to say don't allow the p2p use. But when you have pre-teen and teen children on your connection, you'll think differently. And if I "share" a number of files, yet firewall off the files so that they can be seen as being shared, yet can't be uploaded from my server, that does not violate the dmca, yet would result in a dmca takedown letter. No files were uploaded from my server to anyone else's computer, they can't be. Yet the way that the mpaa/riaa is scanning for shared files, they "see" the files as being shared, and that results in a takedown letter. So I'm not violating any law, yet the riaa/mpaa get to pull my plug and cause me economic harm?
I have some limited technical knowledge. Try explaining this to a small business owner, or someone who relies on email, internet access, and some reason (web server, vpn, mail server, etc) for a dsl connection for work. They get their plug pulled and are disconnected for 2-3 weeks or longer while they scramble to find a new dsl provider because the mpaa/riaa is looking for revenge and twisting the dmca law to their benefit? Cable isn't an option as a backup, as they don't allow vpn, and don't allow servers. A second dsl provider involves extra cost, and a separate additional phone line, or line drop, and it still involves ip number/dns interruption.
Changes to the dmca law need to be made to prohibit this vindictive behavior by the entertainment cartel. A net connection is no longer viewed in our society as a luxury. It is a necessity. No one should have the right to completely pull the plug on someone's connection. There are steps that can be taken to prevent copyrighted file sharing. Pulling the plug is an unconscionable action on behalf of a very bitter, vindictive cartel, and exposes them for who they really are.
The Verizon court case, where the entertainment cartel are attempting to ascertain the identity of a file sharer is a case in point. They state that they want to find out the identity of the person so that they can "tell them what they are doing is illegal". Really? Wanna bet they want that plug pulled and want the isp to "sever all business relationship" with that person?
Those outside the US, those in Australia, take this lesson to heart. When the laws in your country are being fought out, make sure the above situation is not allowed to happen as a matter of law. The entertainment cartels will look for any advantage they can get. You need to be equally vigilant that your legislators protect your rights. And speak up. Or you will also lose in the end.
Here is the full information on the DMCA takedown letter, and I believe the story above is linking to it also, although the story link may be a higher level link. My link goes direct to the letter and background.
This is a re-posting of an original post I made. I don't like to do this, but it is more relevant here, than at the original location several days ago. Here's the story location of the previous post for full disclosure, and here's the original post. Please don't mod this down, as this is a real world example of someone hurt by the DMCA, and is very relevant to the current topic. If you agree and have a mod point to spare, I would appreciate it. Thank you.
The entertainment cartel have declared war on us. We are all on the firing line right now and are taking casualties. Good luck to us all. We are going to need it.