Australia To Adopt U.S.-Style Copyright Laws

An anonymous reader submits "Australia has just announced that it has finalized a Free Trade Agreement with the United States. Included in the treaty is an agreement for Australia to implement American-style DMCA copyright laws, extensions to the term of copyright, and an agreement to move towards American-style patent and trademark laws (and we all know how well those work, don't we.) I suppose this is the misery-loves-company school of treaty negotiation."

Comments

Beginning of a frightening trend?

[digitalvengeance]

This brings up an interesting notion. At what point does financial globalization lead to the homogenization of national laws, even horrible ones? In the past, idiocy could be somewhat contained due to the fact that different countries have vastly different review procedures and generally different sensibilities about abstract concepts such as intellectual property. This article serves as a frightening example of how financial interests may lead to the exportation of horrible ideas.

One is also led to wonder what good ideas will be lost as testing of creative ways to deal wth modern problems could be in violation of treaties such as this one.

Re:Beginning of a frightening trend?

[Lemmy Caution]

There's a word for this. It's called hegemony. It has repercussions far, far greater than this.

That geeks only are aware of it when it affects those few IP rules that they care about, is sort of sad.

Why can't anyone get it right?

[Anonymous Coward]

I live in the USA. Sometimes it's government does things right and sometimes it does things wrong. When a bad decision is made by the US government, I look to the rest of the world to show them the light... but what happens? They say "great job! we'll do the same stupid thing". Why can't some countries do something different than the US and prove that there is a better system out there.

If the world becomes homogeneous we will lose out on the benefits of diversity. Europe became strong because it was so diverse. Once it and the rest of the world is thoroughly homogenized, the world will be a worlthless clump. It will never grow. Competition and diversity breeds success.

Not another one...

[Kid Zero]

Man, the list of countries the people of the US have to apologize to because we can't keep our stupid Government in it's own backyard keeps growning and growning...

Re:Offtopic: Shocking lack of financial benefits

[Resound]

Absolutely! Which is why you certainly won't see us looking at other brutal regimes too closely in case someone actually expects us to do something about them! Crap, if we'd actually wanted to make a stand against crimes against humanity we would have had to go into shitholes like Rwanda and Cambodia and who knows where else! I mean...what?...oh riiight...sarcasm, huh? Sorry I spoke out of turn.

Re:You brought it on yourselves.

[oingoboingo]

This is what happens when you give up your guns.

Absolutely fucking hilarious. The Australian posters on this board are all outraged that they're going to be forced to adopt U.S. style copyright laws, and that our government is nothing but a spineless U.S. puppet...and your insinuation is that by adopting more U.S. attitudes and laws, that will somehow make it all better? Maybe we needed to negotiate a free trade agreement on whatever it is that you're smoking right now.

"What?!? You don't like the taste of shit? I know how to fix that! Here's some more shit for you to eat!!"

Re:You brought it on yourselves.

[kcbrown]

This is what happens when you give up your guns.

Yep. Why, with all the guns in the hands of civilians here in the U.S., the government would never dare pass a law like the DMCA.

Oh, wait...they did.