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Pro-DRM Law May Be Coming To Australia
paxmaniac writes, "The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the Australian Federal Government will soon introduce laws making it illegal to circumvent copy control 'technological prevention measures' (or TPMs). The laws will make it illegal to modchip a console, to hack a DVD player to make it multi-region, to install DVD decoders on your PC, or to circumvent DRM in any other way. From the article: 'Anyone found to have used technology to circumvent copy control TPMs will face fines of up to $6600, while those guilty of distributing enabling devices and services to others through a variety of means face imprisonment for up to five years and possible fines of $60,500.' Australia is obliged to introduce these laws as part of it's Free Trade Agreement with the USA. Gee thanks, George!"
Is it just me or is the US using that fucking thing to basically pass laws in other countries? The Frog is coming to a boil.
"technology prevention" is certainly what DRM does.
"while those guilty of distributing enabling devices and services to others through a variety of means"
you mean like.. computers?
-- lol pwned
No need for thanks, Austrialia, we're just helping another Big Brother.
we sincerely appologize to all Australians. We are taking steps to correct this error.
http://www.CelloFourteGroupie.net
to install DVD decoders on your PC
What is the point in a DVD-Rom if we can't decode DVDs? On top of that don't we pay the same royalties for the DVD-Roms we buy that DVD player buyers pay?
to hack a DVD player to make it multi-region
Even if the manufacturer makes them multi-region?
The laws will make it illegal to modchip a console
Isn't modchipping a console sort of like putting a turbo on your car? So making MY PURCHASED PRODUCT better is against the law?
How is this GWB's fault? I'm all for criticizing when appropriate (see laundry list of details from Gitmo to secret prisons), but the little parting shot at the end just seems inflammatory.
FYI - Signed in 1994
He's the one you voted for last election cause he promised interest rates wouldn't go up if you did. He lied of course, but that's what politicians do.
How we know is more important than what we know.
But i sincerely doubt Bush had any direct effect on this law. You might want to start by being mad at Orrin Hatch and working your way through the rest of the U.S. Congress if you're going to complain.
laws will make it illegal to modchip a console, to hack a DVD player to make it multi-region, to install DVD decoders on your PC, or to circumvent DRM in any other way.
These should all be legal in the confides of your own home. But what should be illegal is you trying to make money and selling your hacks/modchips.
There's been news before about the Australia-US free trade agreement demanding DRM laws from Australia:
3 8213
http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/04/03/05/229228.shtml
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/12/27/2
This is back when John Howard thought being pro-Bush would be popular. One Kyoto Protocol rejection and two middle east wars later, he's left his country vulnerable to US style DRM ass-raping.
what.. you seriously thought FTAs were about trade and import barriers?
They've been trying this on south america for decades. Some countries have aligned themselves with the US (chile, mexico), others refuse to accept such kind of conditions though I don't know for how long they'll be able to resist. International and Internal pressure from investment groups and the like on the governments is huge.
"Luck is my middle name," said Rincewind, indistinctly. "Mind you, my first name is Bad." -- Terry Pratchett
The more DRM the more diversity in P2P downloads.
(Think about the range of US jurisdiction and countries with sane laws (like Sweden) before you answer)
Welcome to the club and good luck with your new version of the DMCA given the great success we here in the USA have had with a law such as this.
TheADDkid.com
You mean to say that, were I an Oz resident, I couldn't flash my DVD-drive to enable me to play my perfectly legally imported Region 1 DVDs? As a UK resident, I did exactly this so that I could get the missus a copy of Legend with the original-release Tangerine Dream soundtrack (not available in UK) as opposed to the ridiculous "director's cut" version that pollutes our senses to this day.
Isn't this just a huge step backwards in the natural global-information-culture progression? I mean, this difficult balance between the rights of consumers and the rights of creators and retailers is getting knocked all over the place with heavy-handed laws.
Piracy is already illegal, but there are many non-pirating practices that can make use of some of these technologies. Isn't this like throwing out the baby with the bathwater, when the bath was already drained anyway?
Meta will eat itself
in other news, australian will have to
...
stop doing basic algebra. it will be
illegal to do following:
1+1=2.
you may not have your computer COMPUTE
certain code (101010010100...) so it can
do certain(*) tasks.
sheesh
(*)example: understand/read a DVD from a
different region.
and there's other exceptions, including interoperability and security testing.
Be nice if the SMH actually bothered to link to the drafts. What is it with newspapers, they seem to think the level of detail you would read on a dead tree is applicable to an internet audience.
How we know is more important than what we know.
I wonder if some day in the (hopefully not too) far future DRM and similar laws restricting the distribution of information will be looked upon in the same light as we now look upon the Catholic Church's order to Galileo to cease teaching the heretical notion of heliocentrism.
My Computer Music Tutorial Videos
Time was you could immigrate to Australia. Time was you could own a firearm there. However stupid and reactionary you think the USA is, Australia has only itself to blame for its protectionism and inexorably diminishing personal liberty.
My $.02 anyway.
Here's a web site about the agreement:
http://www.dfat.gov.au/trade/negotiations/us.html
668: Neighbour of the Beast
I guess you could relate this to making picking bank vault locks illegal, when in fact it's the 'stealing money' part that's illegal.
stuff |
If they were to go after people for doing these things then they would have to be going after just about everyone in the country. If you own a computer and legel dvd software, aka .. PowerDVD then you are going to have to pay out major fines. The store is going to have to pay even more for selling world wide, industry recognized, highly popular software. Oh and how are you going to put a company in jail if they are inc. This sounds like more a paper law that wont be enforced but just to show compliance.
Believe me, I feel your pain. We only get very badly dubbed versions of movies in bad quality here if we buy a "local" region code DVD.
But what this is about is market share and control. The distribution cartel has the world divided in certain "sectors", that pretty much correspond with the RCs. And of course, they have to pay fees to the studios according to their presumed revenues.
Those revenues rely on you being forced to buy with them, though. If someone in, say, Europe could simply buy a DVD from the US (because it's out like a month earlier, mostly due to distribution negotiations taking a few days), the distributor in Europe is losing money. Also he would lose money because, as I said in the first paragraph, the dubbing is most of the time simply outright BAD. And I prefer to listen to it in the original anyway. So what do I do? Right. I buy it a month early in a well made box instead of a dubbed version in cardboard a month later.
And this is what they want to avoid. Besides, the distri in the US only paid them for the distri rights in the US (and Canada, afaik). Should nobody in Europe pick it up because they didn't think there'd be a market, the Distri in the US would make a killing (and leave the studio ripped off). Also, should it against all odds become a huge seller, they can still sell the rights for distribution in Europe and make money again, because I (here in Europe) couldn't have bought it in the US (because of RC lock).
It's all about money and market control.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Why don't we just make it illegal to copy un-drm'ed media. If it's possible, someone will do it. Making laws to prevent that is a waste, they need to fix the source.
Laws like this, i.e. laws that everyone breaks, are for control. Need a warrant? Let's see, does he have a computer? Great, we got one.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
When they do sign it their economy will still be 'fucked' because the US government will not enforce the agreement unless the US benifits. For an example check out the Softwood Lumber dispute between Canada and the US. Canada had to pay the $1 Billion (US), yes one billion dollars, to the the US goverment and their lumber intrests just to get them to drop illigal duties, found illigal by all FTA tribulas, the WTO and the US federal courts. http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/softwood_lumber/
Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
For some reason, I was under the impression that we already had some DMCA equivalent here. I guess not. However, that doesn't explain why I couldn't get libdvdcss from the Australian Ubuntu repositories.
Seriously though, the US is so completely culturally dominant, this sort of thing is inevitable. It's no secret that our country is snuggling up to the US, building relations, scratching each other's backs. This sort of thing was bound to happen sooner or later. Hell, the DMCA has spread far and wide. The law is staunchly backed by multi-national corporations that exist here too. Why would we be immune?
You know, there is a difference between trolling and pointing out the flaws in your reasoning. Just saying.
is it?
Swedish plasma phys. PhD student; MSc EE; knows maths, programming, electronics; finance interest; seeks opportunities
Sometimes I feel a little homesick and then Slashdot publishes a story like this.
The Aus/US FTA was a pile of crap to begin with and I can't wait for it to start affecting ordinary Australians who apparently didn't give a crap about it at the time.
There was nothing to be gained and everything to lose. At least John Howard will be remembered for having sold the nation for nothing.
Then I thought about the fact that you are the one footing the bill for this lock. You are purchasing it,you are consuming it, but you have absolutely no say in how it's used. And it restricts usage of the media that you purchased in the name of stopping pircay.
You know, there is a difference between trolling and pointing out the flaws in your reasoning. Just saying.
Now do you believe me when i called the WTO one of the most dangerous things on the planet?
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Don't you mean GOING to Australia? ;)
Faith is a willingness to accept something w/o complete proof and to act on it. Reason allows you to correct that faith.
It just controls where/when you can play a DVD. That is, it is a play control mechanism, not a copy control mechanism.
So as long as they only outlawed circumventing copy-protection mechanisms, they haven't actually affected DRM. The MPAA rhetoric basically comes back and bites them here -- by lying about what the issue is, they get a law that doesn't actually do what they want.
- "History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of men" -- Blue Oyster Cult, 'Godzilla'
The beginning of the end. They are taking our computers away from us.
Soon we will be good little cattle in geekdom as we are in the realm of TV movies and newspapers.
Computers will be folded into the mass media.
Chicks Have All The Fun
And of course the numbers could come out different depending on if you use mean or median education level, etc. In the end I'd guess that the average education levels of voters is more or less the same for Democrats and Republicans.
Their lobbying efforts have pushed these laws while politicians and *most* Americans don't really know what's going on. The fact that most of these corporations develop heavily in countries like the US would make it appear that the country and not the corporations are the source, but don't be fooled.
I'm sure all the eighteen million people who live in Australia are going to get upset about that.
Well, it only makes sense that in order to make free trade, the involved parties should stop their customers from using the purchased goods freely, right?
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
What's the point in voting when all the candidates act the same way anyway? People aren't voting because there's are rarely ever any people on the ballot worth getting up to vote for. What's the point if Jack Johnson (R) gets into office instead of John Jackson (D)? They'll both make the same stupid decisions being made in the interests of big business or some special interest group anyway. We're left with is this ridiculous Rebulicrat/Demican waltz that goes on forever.
The worst part about all this is the sheer number of people who think voting democrat instead of republican or republican instead of democrat will fix anything.
You want people to vote in this farcical circus we call a democracy? Get the DMV involved and make it a requirement to have voted in the previous election in order to get your driving license renewed, or something equally retarded. The only way to get people to take part in something that's not worth doing is to either change the thing so that it *is* worth doing, or to force them into doing it.
Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
IMDB user comments suggests that it was the Tangerine Dream soundtrack used only the USA that actually spoiled things, albeit gave it a dramatic ending. However, not having had the chance to compare, I would want to see both and see for myself.
Who signed off on the DMCA? This whole mess is on both sides of the isle, and it isn't going to change until we people show the government who they are supposed to be working for. Right now, they think they work for lobbying industries such as RIAA, MPAA, etc.
> The laws will make it illegal to modchip a console, to hack a DVD player to make it multi-region,
So if I, hypothetically mind you, recently helped my Aussie in-laws to find the region unlock code on their DVD remote so they could watch some shows which were legally purchased (and only available) in America, then if/when this law passes will they get sent to Gitmo??
Perfectly Normal Industries
Roadstar 2501X
http://www.dealclick.co.uk/product/10902501/Roads
To enable multi region these are the steps:
- Power off your DVD player
- Power on your DVD player
- Press the Open button on your remote control to open the drive tray
- Press the 1 button on your remote control
- Press the 0 button on your remote control
- Press the 3 button on your remote control
- Press the 0 button on your remote control
- Press the 0 button on your remote control for multi-region playback
- The onscreen display will indicate the currently selected region
- Power off your DVD player
- Power on your DVD player
That's not a hack, thats turning on a feature that is ALREADY THERE! how much prison time can I get for that? Does holding down SHIFT when closing your CD drive count as "circumvent(ing) DRM in any other way"?I can see this going the same way as recording from TV to VHS or ripping mp3s. Was illegal for a very long time but everyone did it and no-one was ever prosecuted. This was recently ruled as legal with changes to copyright laws. info here
I can see no-one getting done for this except mod-chip sellers/services, unless of course the *IAA throw their weight around and demand a few big fines to keep the masses in line.
Thanks again Johhny Howard for bending us all over to take another one from GW.
I really admire the New Zealand government for consistantly having the backbone to stand up for what is "right" the heavyweight nations. They have a long tradition of doing this whereas Australia has started to get a reputation for folding when the USA starts throwing their economic/military weight around.
Examples:
+Anti-Nuclear policy - 1985 refused nuclear powered and armed ships access to their ports
+No "Free-Trade"* agreement with the USA (*also known as a "you scratch our back and we wont squash you agreement")
+Staying out of the "Coalition of the Willing" for IRAQ invasion.
If John Howard had half a backbone we wouldn't have been in the "Coalition of the Willing(to Invade)" either, but hs is all about the economy and for that he needed to sell out to the USA. Except now we are screwed in IRAQ and screwed by the agreement as well. Nice move.
From the Attorney-General website on the issue:
--------
TPMs must be connected with copyright infringement
The scope of the scheme is limited to preventing circumvention of TPMs designed to stop copyright piracy. The scheme will not cover TPMs which are not designed to prevent or inhibit people from infringing copyright. The scheme will not apply to TPMs solely designed for other purposes, such as market segmentation (eg region coding) or the protection against competition in aftermarket goods (eg spare parts) where the TPM does not have a connection with copyright.
--------
Looks to me like your region-free DVD players and mod chips will still be fine.
Aren't Thailand and Korea getting "Free" Trade Agreements rammed their {down|up} $ORIFICE ?
IIRC, the Thai one was subject to a lot of protests, so the venue was moved to the US where there are "Free Speech Zones" to handle any Thai with the money and time to fly to the US for a protest.
Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
To be even more specific, Canada won every round in every court that mattered, INCLUDING the WTO and the NAFTA arbitration panel (that consists of 2 Americans and 1 Canadian). Unfortunately for our lumber industry, winning in court has no effect on the USA since they have shown they are totally willing to simply ignore the results if they do not fall in their favour. The current conservative government is more concerned with sucking up to the Americans than they are about protecting the interests of Canada, so they are ramming the agreement through, and the industry and provinces are pissed off but reluctantly agreed in order to get some semblance of normalcy back to the market.
Ultimately, however, I suspect that the lumber situation will mean the end of NAFTA. The conservatives under Harper have demonstrated a distinct lack of backbone when dealing with the USA, so are unlikely to be elected in their current form, and pretty much every other party has declared that they want NAFTA renegotiated. What is the point of having an "arbitration panel" if the USA simply ignores their decisions?
Shame can be an instigator of change. If everyone who was ashamed of the actions of our country left, then the problems would only get worse. Just because someone is ashamed to be an American, does not mean they want to leave. On the contrary, many want to stay so they can make a difference.
Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
you're 100% wrong, see above comments above
Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
Blinding blaming Bush for everything our Goverment does gets old after a while. The DMCA was done in 1998, yet Bush has been blamed for that. EUCA (European DMCA) was done based on a trade agreement of 1996 by the WIPO.
We made a Free trade agreement with Australia that effectively says you must conformed to the decisions of this group. Remember that President Bush didn't write this all himself, he didn't sign this law himself. Australian goverment and our own congress approved this law too, John Kerry was also a huge supporter (supposidly).
But continue to call on Bush alone as if no one else but him did any of this.
The way to deal with this is to either organize like in the old union workshop days of the 20th century or to more likely come to an understanding that any one of 'our people' (defined by us) is simply not subject to any adverse consequences of not following the copyright laws. This is a difficult concept to convey because 'we' have no real political power and this is basically a politcal issue.
But it starts with the deeply radical thought that 'we', the technological elite of the world, are 'immune' to the consequences of any laws concerning technology that 'we' don't agree with. Once enough of 'us', regardless of our nationality or political status, come to an unspoken agreement amongst ourselves that this is the way that it is going to be, then we can decide amongst ourselves what (if any) punishment should be allocated to our people by our people for enjoying the world's culture through file sharing and other technological means.
This again is a deeply radical concept because it assumes that the technological elite of the world (that's us, folks) will not be subservient to national or corporate laws that govern the application of technology. Currently it is assumed by the political and corporate forces of the world that the people who create, design, program, and operate technology are subject to the same whims of the politicians and CEOs as are all the other peasants, er, excuse me, consumers.
As you realise as a Slashdaughter, that is not exactly true. We need to define and conceptualize among ourselves the extent that we, as a new class in the new world order, will allow ourselves to be subjected to the whims of the CEOs, dumb-as-dirt politicians, and other Luddites. You see they can't really continue to rule as they currently do without our co-operation.
They depend on the technology that we create for them. That makes them limited in the extent that they can use this technology against us.
These discussions about DRM and the RIAA/MPAA on Slashdot are a sign that we, as the world's technological elite, are beginning to recognize this situation for what it really is.
I am a US citizen, but i am agianst free trade. I am for fair trade. Free trade only works for developed countries and screws the smaller countries rev. they need to run. As for forcing laws i have to say F*CK the current administration and its republican party to hell. btw i am a centrist so i also believe there should never be only one party ... but we don't have a balance of power today so again F*CK those republicians that think we are better off with only one party.. which of course is the GOP.
They're obliged to introduce it, due to fair trade agreements... but are they obliged to PASS it?
"I will trust Google to 'do no evil' until the founders no longer run it." Hello Alphabet.
Overrated signifies that the score of a post is too high, without giving any specific reason WHY it is too high. It is usually used to counter +1 Funny if a post is not humorous, because there is not a -1 Unfunny. 100% Overrated would indicate that at least 3 people (I think) Rated your 1, then 0, then -1 rated post as -1 Overrated, which means that the consensus of the moderators is that the post in question does not even deserve a -1, but they cannot force it lower than that.
you mean like.. computers?
Like general purpose computers. A literal interpretation of this law says only "trusted" computers and operating systems (as in TCP with Windows) can legally be sold. User programmable machines are "enabling" devices. I hope you Aussies like the Microsoft OS.
Oz can sign a free trade agreement with Canada. To HELL with the USA and their stupid and self serving DMCA type legislation and software patents.
The world ignored their stupidity on the non-reprocessing of nuclear fuels which has created a backlog of spent fuel (Europe and Japan reprocess and have been for decades).
This spent fuel contains literally 100's of years of energy which will sorely be needed in a few years. Note that spent fuel contains about 1% Pu and 1% U235 which is 2% fissle. Contrast this to natural U which contains 0.7% U235 = fissle. A Candu can burn natural U so it certainly can be configured to burn spent U after the nuclear poisons have been removed. Since there are over 100 (enriched) reactors in the USA and they have been running for about 50 years it follows that the spend fuel can be used in a fleet of about 100 Candu style reactors for several decades. Note that spent fuel is less than about 2% nuclear poisons. The remaining 98% can be stuffed right back into reactors after processing. The reason the USA didn't want reprocessing in part is because Texas oil would not have been worth much if there were a viable nuclear industry. Another reason is that anti-nuclear folks wanted a big pile of waste to point fingers at and what better way to get a big pile of waste than to prevent its use.
As oil prices soar above $70** bux per barrel it would do people well to look into nuclear energy and especially the Integral Fast Reactor (see Wikipedia, and check the IFR talk pages too). There is enough fuel already mined for 1000's of years of power production and there are no long term wastes. IE. We've all been lied to by self serving USA pollies.
**Note: Matt Simmons suggests oil may be over $350 per barrel before long - Translate that into the cost of filling your tank!
The point is these short sighted self serving liars are continuing and now we hear them in the area of Digital Rights Managment and Software Patents. So just tell the Yanks to stay home.
BTW - the Vietnam war is another example of when the Yanks should have been told to stay home. I sure hope the growing strife in the middle east which clearly is over access to their oil will not turn into another Vietnam.
I didn't vote for Bush. And I'm not voting democrat again.. ever. At which point your argument will be moot, with respect to me, as far as I am concerned.
-Clio
Karma: Bad (mostly from not giving a fuck)
Blog: http://clintjcl.wordpress.com
Those were not backs you were scratching. You were lied to by USA pollies again.
The name of this section on SlashDot is "Your Rights", right?
Right.
So, why is it that things like this end up posted here? Wouldn't it be fit to make a new category like "So Much For... Your Rights", "There Goes... Your Rights", "R.I.P. Your Rights", or "In Loving Memory Of... Your Rights".
More news like this and anytime soon, SlashDot will have to post: "Sorry, we're closing this section because you have no Rights left to be discussed here."
BTW, somebody should make a chronology of Rights we lost over the years, I think it would make a great poster, if we still could have the right to print it then.
Right?
The sheeple will only know when they fire up that new Vista box, and try to copy a CD, and see "Operation denied-copyright restriction". Then, you will see a sudden mass interest in DRM...at which point it will be too late.
There is one solution to this. Ignore the law. If your government wants to make you a criminal then embrace your criminality. Put the financial burden of enforcement and prosecution on them and their corporate sponsors. I used to believe that way to protest things like this was to exercise your vote but... that just doesn't work, at least not by itself. No.. I think if you don't like the way you're governed, you have to refuse to be governed.
Case in point: In Canada we had a retarded gun registry that made criminals overnight out of the better part of the rural west including most of my family. Needless to say, the law was ignored and amongst the members of my family alone we've probably got enough firepower for a small army - all "illegal". We were not the only ones by a long shot.
And the governments attempts to "bring people on board" gradually went from pathetic to laughable. It was a well known fact that the majority of gun-owners refused to register their firearms and the government spent millions on ad-campaigns trying to encourage registration, almost begging actually. Their credibility pretty much hanged on compliance. Then the deadlines kept getting extended....
Well, billions of wasted dollars later the long-arm portion of the registry is finally being scrapped by the new conservative governement. There's not a lot of fanfare approving of the dismantlement because quite frankly it was never a big issue out west. We just ignored it and as a consequence it didn't impact our lives in any way.
Granted...there's a difference in a law requiring active participation to do something versus a law that makes it illegal to do something, but the point is this: Western democratic governments may sometimes pass inane legislation, but most (I hope?) are faily loathe to actually criminalize any substantial part of their constituency. So really... if you find a law objectionable and not obeying it doesn't actually harm anyone... then just refuse to let it affect your life in any way.
And don't forget to vote. Probably won't change anything by itself but you'll feel better knowing the bastards didn't get *your* vote.
The World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty, signed on December 20, 1996 (more than 4 years before Bush was in office) requires all the signatory states to pass laws implementing this. In the USA, the relevant law was the DMCA, and the treaty went into force in the USA on March 6, 2002.
/ 94dc.htm
The text of the treaty is http://www.wipo.int/documents/en/diplconf/distrib
A total of 60 countries signed the treaty.
It may have been a trade agreement with the USA that dragged Australia into the WIPO mess; but it could have been a trade agreement with Canada or the EU. The WIPO treaty is viral, and attaches itself to any trade agreement in which any current WIPO signer is a part.
"Australia is obliged to introduce these laws as part of it's (sic) Free Trade Agreement with the USA."
It's = contraction of "It is"
Its = possesive (e.g. "Its his money.")
Let the flaming over grammar begin...
From the draft law:
"TPMs must be connected with copyright infringement
The scope of the scheme is limited to preventing circumvention of TPMs designed to stop copyright piracy. The scheme will not cover TPMs which are not designed to prevent or inhibit people from infringing copyright. The scheme will not apply to TPMs solely designed for other purposes, such as market segmentation (eg region coding) or the protection against competition in aftermarket goods (eg spare parts) where the TPM does not have a connection with copyright. "
FTA:
You blame a hand puppet? That's like blaming the weatherman for a hurricane. You give him way too much credit. Look in the mirror, folks. I don't see any real change in voting trends here. You can expect more of the same, and worse until you put a stop to it.
What?
/flamebait /tinfoil-hat /asbestos-undies
.......
Sure this makes sense, without any oil why would the USA otherwise want to trade with Australia.
Makes sense that they try to force their brain dead laws on their partners^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H minions
Everyone in this part of the world knows that Howard is Bushes whipping boy.
Bush probably only had to cough and Howard would do anything he wanted, whats next extend the USAs brain dead patent system into Australia
The US-Australia Free Trade pact has been a disaster. Our idiot trade minister, Mark Vaile, negotitated an agreement that excluded agricultural products. Hello. Australia is an agricultural country. The figures releases have shown following the agreement more money flowing to the US and less to Australia.
Sold out. By our own government. Fortunately the Australian opposition leader, Kim 'Ban Boobs on the Internet' Beazley, a fat racist turd, is no different.
We're phucked!
From the article itself
"However some exceptions will apply to educational institutions and libraries, where an access control TPM damages a product or is obsolete, lost or damaged, and will not apply to region code controls, according to Minter Ellison."
So region coding is not part of the new laws.
I think that I speak on behalf of all Aussies when I say SEPPO CUNTS FUCK OFF!
... this message was encoded with ROT26. Circumvention will result in prosecution.
...yes, harder, America, harder! You da man!
Seriously though, my government's sheeplike tendencies depress me almost as much as the fact that most people actually seem to support them.
So a DVD manufacturer make a DVD player where I can for example press:
STOP 74298 STOP
and make my DVD player multi region, and by doing so I break the law.
Why hasn't the manufacturer broke the law by having that routine in its player in the first place? uhhh!!!
I emailed my federal member of parliament about this. He replied the next day.
All you need to do is say that you live in their electorate and you disagree with this legislation. This is our last chance to block DMCA-style law.
Aussies, get your MP's email addy here!
I should buy some cement.
It's certainly not too late to affect the specific provisions of this law. The Attorney-General's office is currently calling for comments on it. We can influence what it ends up looking like.
I found some more good links:
One very interesting provision is this:
Comments will be accepted until Monday 25th Sep 2006.
I should buy some cement.
Australia: this is your glittering prize for sending your soldeiers to Iraq. Howard gets invited to "The Ranch", George passes laws in your country, you are required to abolish all your import tarrifs; and in return, um.
Um.
Great work. Well done.
And all this so australia can sell lamb?
I mean I miss my lamb, but going back home was an option I always loved..
Expat aussie in Seattle
Wow, and all we had to do to secure this fabulous Free Trade Agreement was send a bunch of our people to die in some foreign desert! Bargain at twice the price!
...circumvented with the intention of gaining commercial advantage or profit to be an offence.
1 04554107 Groklaw had a good discussion of the exposure draft.
And our judges will require them to ACTUALLY BE TPM's; legal precedent here is already clear that region coding, for example, is *NOT* a TPM but rather an illegal barrier to trade.
There is still debate about the specific implementation, but the judicial review has clearly indicated that the offences "...which mimic the infringing acts identified above, but for the addition of the action being done "with the intention of obtaining a commercial advantage or profit"."
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20060905
Panic is fun, but facts are better.
err!
jak.
Wow, someone in the government has bought a DVD player!
I’m old enough to remember 16K of memory being described as “whopping”
I am reminded of the way Mark Latham (former opposition leader) described John Howard.
"Arselicker".
And how he described the Liberal party's front bench as
"a conga line of suckholes".
if only Mark Latham was running for PM this year, unfortunatly Howard is a shoe in because he is less incompetent than current opposition leader Kim Beazly.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.