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Draconian Australian Research Law Hits Scientists

Posted by Soulskill on from the blunder-down-under dept.

An anonymous reader writes: The Australian government is pushing ahead with a draconian law placing "dual use" science (e.g. encryption, biotechnology) under the control of the Department of Defence. The Australian ACLU, Civil Liberties Australia, warns the law punishes scientists with $400,000 fines, 10 years in jail and forfeiture of their work, just for sending an "inappropriate" e-mail.

Scientists — including the academics union — warn the laws are unworkable despite attempted improvements, and will drive researchers offshore (paywalled: mirror here).

4 of 150 comments (clear)

  1. I must be reading it wrong by burtosis · · Score: 5, Informative

    Because it seems to criminalize a wide swath of legitimate civilian research. From TFA
    high-performance, neural, optical and fault-tolerant, computers,
    electronics,
    wavelength research (remember, wi-fi was ‘invented’ in Australia),
    heat-shielding,
    telecommunications,
    information security research,
    robotics,
    human, animal and plant pathogens, both bacterial and viral,
    fibre optics,
    cryptography.
    satellite technology.
    sensor technology.
    signal and image processing.
    composite materials, andthe list could go on and on.
    This effectively criminalizes half of all science related activity at colleges. It's not just the best and brightest it's literally asking the A ark to sail in some kind of reverse HHGTG parody.

  2. The DSGL list contains processors 40 MHz !!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    The The Defence and Strategic Goods List includea :

    " “Microprocessor microcircuits”, “microcomputer microcircuits” and microcontroller microcircuits, manufactured from a compound semiconductor and operating at a clock frequency exceeding 40 MHz;

    Note: 3A001.a.3. includes digital signal processors, digital array processors and digital coprocessors."

    See http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2013C00051
    CATEGORY 3 — ELECTRONICS, 3A001

    I'm speechless :-(

    contains processor or

  3. Re:Wouldn't it be nice by Pi1grim · · Score: 3, Informative

    Hei, Russia doesn't have second amendment, explicitly bans guns and yet, for some unknown reason they too have roving street gangs, political assasinations, gangs slaughtering entire households, but I'm pretty sure that if US were to cancel the second amendment and prohibit gun ownership, then school massacres and roving street gangs would dissapear. I mean, how can you buy a gun, if you are prohibited to own it. Gangs would be forced to use baseball bats and harsh language.

    Or, perhaps, it's not about gun ownership at all and much deeper problems are in play and prohibiting gun ownership is like slapping a plaster on a leper?

  4. Outraged x2 by countach · · Score: 3, Informative

    I'm outraged by this law, sure.

    But I'm doubly outraged that I had to read on slashdot that this just passed the senate and there has been ZERO coverage of this in the mainstream media. Shame on you Fairfax, News Ltd and ABC. You went to sleep and betrayed us.