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Australia-U.S. Trade Agreement Contains DMCA-like Provisions
femto writes "The text of the US-Australian Preferential Trade Agreement has been released. It has significant implications for Free Software and the Public Domain within Australia. Implications include extension of copyright terms (death to the Public Domain & Gutenberg Australia), software patents (death to Free Software) and the DMCA (death to fair use). It is not yet law. The Europeans have shown that software patents are not a done deal. Now is the time to write letters to members of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Join the EFA. Contact your local library. Sign up to the mailing list to organise opposition. Just make a noise during this year's federal election."
It's too late to do anything about it now - our fucking government signed this over without giving us the full text - we got a scant summary and vague assurances (which scared anyway me in terms of IP rights)
Well, I say this with bile in my throat, but I for one, do NOT welcome Australias new DMCA wielding overloads.
You can't expect to wield supreme executive power, just because some watery tart threw a sword at you
Copyright is a law (otherwise known as an act of parliament). It cannot be altered unless a bill passes both houses of parliament.
The Australian Government has a web site about The Australian Legal System that explains all this.
Some of the reports I've read suggest that the USA/.au FTA is "so good" that it will be the basis of future US bilateral free trade agreements. So what Australia cops today, other countries seeking an FTA with the US will cop tomorrow.
.au government has yet to show us the carrots in this deal, all we seem to be getting is a whole lot of stick. Speaking of which, isn't it funny that two of the most vocal "drop agricultural barriers" advocates at the WTO didn't drop any agricultural barriers between them when they negotiated a bilateral FTA?
As for the carrot and stick. The current
I'm sure the New Zealanders (who were excluded from a US/NZ FTA because they wouldn't join in with Iraq and won't allow nuclear warships in port) are really upset that they missed out on this one.
Under existing Australian copyright law you're not allowed to create backup copies, even if you can legitimately prove you own the property in question.
I fail to see how DMCA-like provisions under the FTA will make current law even worse then it already is.
Not to mention most of the 'free' part of the deal doesn't come into the equation for another 18 years.
Great job, Mark Vaile.
I started a political party here in Australia in January, in the hope of getting 500 members and getting ourselves on the federal ballot for this upcoming election.
Currently we have 11 members. This is pretty slow going. If you're Australian, take a moment to visit our site (see sig for link). Slashdot our PO Box with membership forms if you think we are worthy!!
The only real way to fight this sort of law is to actually get yourself into the political system by running for and winning in the election. So that's what I intend to do. If you want to help, visit our site and drop into the forums there, or simply read what we are about and see if our ideals match yours. We are based primarily on the internet and have set ourselves up as an open source tech savvy party, meaning that not only do we use open source, but we are making all our documentation, reports and discussions open as well. This is really the only way to make politics accountable again.
You may also want to consider running for parliament yourself (either through us or by starting your own party - you can even use our Constitution etc as a basis!).
Anyway, visit us and if interested tell your friends. This is the only way in today's society of getting this sort of law repealed.
Visceral Psyche Films
No, meddling is when the government decides the tax on alcohol has to be high, the bar has to be closed at 3am and you can't bring more than one liter of hard liquor into the country. At least that's what people keep trying to say to the Swedish government.
Unpopular? Here? ROTFL.