Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Australian Media 'Crooks' to Come in from the Cold

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the waiting-for-the-other-shoe-to-drop dept.

pagefault writes "News.com is reporting that millions of Australians who tape TV shows and copy CDs will soon get the right to do it with a clear conscience. From the article: 'The Federal Government will next year legalize the video recording of television shows for personal use, and the transfer of songs from CDs to MP3 players, in a bid to overturn a ban which has made criminals of much of the population."

7 of 273 comments (clear)

  1. Tax? What tax? by brunes69 · · Score: 3, Informative

    I mean, I live in Canadam, and I can buy a spindle of 50 blank CDRs for 8.99 CDN or so on sale, 50 DVDs for 9.99. Thats 18 measly cents a disc for CDRs or 20 cents a disc for DVDs... its even less for DVDs if you figure it per GB. The levy is pretty much irrelevant.

  2. Re:Any Enforcement? by OzJimbob · · Score: 4, Informative

    Nah, they were rarely enforced. Most people don't know they exist, and that's fair enough, because you assume if you buy a CD you have the right to make a copy of it for yourself. That makes sense. The laws against it don't. It's only with the rise of portable MP3 players that the media has picked up on the fact that, before the recent opening of the Australian iTunes store, there was almost no legal use for an iPod in Australia, yet they were selling in their thousands.

    --
    -"I still believe in revolution; I just don't capitalize it anymore." - srini!
  3. Re:Everyone's a criminal! by MichaelSmith · · Score: 4, Informative
    You're forgetting that Australia is a nation that was founded by criminals. They are truly a nation where everyone was once a criminal.

    And more to the point, many of the people originally shipped to Australia were convicted of offences which would be considered barely criminal today, like stealing a loaf of bread (or copying a CD?).

    I wonder if any of the convicts on the First Fleet were sent over for stealing music? Sneaking into a concert hall for example?

    --
    http://michaelsmith.id.au
  4. Re:Everyone's a criminal! by CRC'99 · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's interesting that nearly EVERY comment is about Australia being founded by criminals. Do they teach nothing more than that in other places around the world?

    What about the fact that it's the country (a government department no less!) that invented 802.11g?

    What about the fact that a hell of a lot of healthcare stuff is started in Australia?

    I remember reading something a while ago about the bionic ear was an Australian invention, and probably a ton of other stuff...

    --
    Sendmail is like emacs: A nice operating system, but missing an editor and a MTA.
  5. Re:Everyone's a criminal! by rohan972 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Actually, we don't drink Foster's beer, we export it to people who ARE willing to drink it. Ha.

    --
    http://marriedmansexlife.com/
  6. Re:Everyone's a criminal! by Fred_A · · Score: 5, Informative

    Drink it ? Is that what you're supposed to do with it ?
    I use it to kill weeds and small children.

    --

    May contain traces of nut.
    Made from the freshest electrons.
  7. Re:Everyone's a criminal! by Vreejack · · Score: 3, Informative

    Australia was used as a penal colony because after the War for Independence they could no longer use America as a penal colony. Previously, those sentenced to "transportation" were shipped to Georgia.

    --
    "Will future ages believe that such stupid bigotry ever existed!" -- Ivanhoe