Aussies Brace for DMCA

Rusty writes "Aussies are counting down to the introduction of the US-FTA-required DMCA legislation, and trying to pressure the government to listen to consumers and innovators, not just industrial copyright holders. Linux Australia has kicked off the campaign with iownmydvds.org and iownmymusic.org."

Comments

FTA Is A Joke

[GaryPatterson]

The ruling elite here in Australia, the increasingly ironically named Liberal Party, solid the FTA on the basis of free and equal trade between Australia and the US. Because, you know, we have an equal seating at the bargaining table. Australia and the largest economy on the planet. Equal.

Yeah, that works.

After about a year we find that US imports have nearly tripled, while Australian exports to the US have dropped.

Amazing surprise to some of us who spoke out at the time but were silenced by the scream of 'free money' from the US that so many thought they'd see.

The FTA also included a number of hilarious provisions like "you can export beef to the US in 18 years, unless they veto it in the meantime" and "bend over for our DMCA."

So now we welcome our US overlords, and hope that they don't brutalise our nation too badly when we become a new vassal province (or dare we hope - a state!). The national anthem never really caught on anyway. It has the word "girt" in it, which was too much for most Aussies.

Go DMCA! It's a bloody bonza idea, you beauty! (just practicing for the re-education camps)

Ah, the beautiful FTA

[MavEtJu]

I love it when John Howard goes over to the USA for a visit and comes back...

... One time he came back with the idea of an Free Trade Agreement

... And the next time he came back with the idea that nuclear weapons were safe and that same-sex marriages were dangerous.

I don't know what they feed him there in Washington, but it surely isn't healthy.

Re:Decide Now Media Moguls - Which Way ?

[KiloByte]

Ok ... I'm happy for the record companies to have a choice, either:

A: I buy a DVD, and I own it ... I can copy it, put it on my hard drive and if I lose it I have to buy a new one.
B: I buy the rights to play the DVD... I can't copy it, however if I lose it I can walk into a store and take another one free.

[...]
If I ever get nabbed for some stupid DMCA law, I'm going to very publicly sell my several thousand dollars of purchased DVDs to pay for some of my defence.

You assume that you have any rights to whatever you bought/licensed. The whole point of DMCA-like laws is to deny you these very rights. Including the right to resell your purchased DVDs. Just wait for the (mandatory) DRM.