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Aussies Brace for DMCA

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the spreading-the-love dept.

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."

10 of 121 comments (clear)

  1. Hang on a minute... by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What "US-FTA-required DMCA legislation"? The Australian AG's office only recently published revised copyright information that seemed to be fixing some of the silliness: time-shifting using VCRs, format-shifting of music, etc.

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    1. Re:Hang on a minute... by the_unknown_soldier · · Score: 5, Interesting

      When it comes to copyright Australia has some of the worst laws for consumers. The USFTA was what provided the Attorney General with the political capital to establish some sort of "fair use" doctrine. Currently while (according to the high court) you can use things such as mod-chips and reverse engineering (unlike America) you do not own the copyright to anything you buy. So while it is legal to break the CSS encryption on a DVD, it is ILLEGAL to copy content off that DVD whether it has CSS or not.

      Basically: Australia is establishing fair use, and then in the same swoop allowing content holders to take it away through DMCA provisions. The aim of all this is to make the laws as similar as possible to the laws of that great shit heap some like to call the US congress.

      This all of course pails in comparison to what the USFTA is doing to Australian healthcare. You Americans bag Canadians public health system but Australia's is one of the best in the world. Since the Australian government buys all drugs, we are able to get them cheaper. But the big med companies don't like that. The only reason America made this trade agreement was to please the pharmaceutical companies. this copyright/patent stuff is just coming along for the ride

    2. Re:Hang on a minute... by GaryPatterson · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Have you seen what those new laws entail?

      After you record a show from TV, you are allowed to watch it exactly once, after which you must *by law* delete it.

      Yes, we finally get some of the Fair Use rights enjoyed by our US friends but it's not yet sane or sensible.

    3. Re:Hang on a minute... by Tim+C · · Score: 2, Interesting

      you do not own the copyright to anything you buy

      How does that differ from any other country's copyright law? You own the medium and a licence to use the content on it in certain limited ways. Some countries specifically allow you to (eg) media- or format-shift the content, some (including the UK and apparently Australia) do not.

      However, those that do have such "fair use" clauses do *not* grant you the copyright on anything you buy. The exception to that, of course, is when you enter into a contract with someone which states that you do own the copyright, but that's only because the person or organisation is specifically selling it to you.

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    4. Re:Hang on a minute... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      On the subject of technological prevention measures, I think this Italian Judge had the right approach. He turned down the request that H3G customers removing SIM card locks (and businesses offering unlocking services) be prosecuted for criminal offences such as unauthorized access to an information technology system, information technology fraud and unauthorised possession of access devices. H3G and LG had sold over 6 million video cell phones at cut down prices, together with 1-2 year subscriptions to network services. However about 500000 subscribers unlocked their phones to use cheaper SIM cards. Milan based Judge Braghó ruled that H3G's request was unfounded because the customers were the legal owners of their phones.
      H3G+LG could sue their customers for breach of contract, which is a civil law matter. However customers were not informed of the restrictions when purchasing the phones, so no contract was legally entered. This was reported last week on La Repubblica (in Italian).

    5. Re:Hang on a minute... by the_unknown_soldier · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Under Australian law you haven't even bought "content". You haven't even bought the right to view content. All you have bought is a peice of plastic. Doing anything to the copyrighted material on it other than listening straight off of the disk (read: mp3's) is illegal. It's semantics, but i take your point.

  2. It's not ideal, but at least seems an improvement by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Yes, I did think that particular example was daft. (I read several of the responses the AG's issues paper and the AG's subsequent comments while preparing a submission of my own for the UK's Gowers review.)

    That said, it's a lot less daft than selling VCRs but saying that all time-shifting is illegal, which seemed to be the case before. It might not be ideal, but at least things are going in the right direction. :-)

    I thought some of the other provisions, such as the format-shifting I mentioned before, sounded a lot more reasonable.

    Do you know what the article here is talking about? Both links were Slashdotted (despite apparently being cache links... go figure) and unless I'm missing something there's nothing mentioned by name to go and look up. What is this new legislation, and how does it fit in with the AG's issues paper and the review of the ACA?

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  3. Decide Now Media Moguls - Which Way ? by craznar · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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.

    Seems reasonable to me...

    Wait ... there is one flaw in my plan, just one word. I'm sure you can guess which one it is.

    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.

    I think that will make the point...

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  4. Re:FTA Is A Joke by graffix_jones · · Score: 2, Interesting
    After about a year we find that US imports have nearly tripled, while Australian exports to the US have dropped.

    Anyone with a rudimentary understanding of economics can tell you that this has more to do with the weakening of the US Dollar versus some sort of sinister plan to infiltrate your market with American goods. Even if you don't understand economics, common sense tells you that if something becomes cheaper, more of it will probably be sold, which is exactly what is happening in this instance. And since the AU $ is now stronger vs. the US $, Americans can afford to buy fewer goods exported from Australia.

    Doesn't that sound like a logical explanation?

    Usually at this point is when trade protection measures pop up to protect domestic production, so that the cheaper prices of imported goods are offset with either a tariff on the imported good, or a subsidy to the domestic good manufacturers to once again level the playing field... if you keep your eyes open I'm sure you'll see that happening shortly.
  5. Free Trade MY ARSE by sr180 · · Score: 2, Interesting
    After we signed the free trade agreement, imports from the US went up, and exports TO the US went DOWN.

    We got screwed, royally.

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