[Linux-aus] Re: IP legislation threatens Australian ICT business!
Janet Hawtin
lucychili at internode.on.net
Wed Jul 5 10:45:03 UTC 2006
Greg 'groggy' Lehey wrote:
> Can somebody come up with some ideas? I'd be happy to review drafts,
> but I have neither the time nor the overview to write something
> myself.
>
> Greg
I wasnt specifically thinking of Robyn contacting the ICT committee.
I think that a broader number of people raising the issue from a range
of contact points is going to be important.
I did write a batch of examples targeted for specific interest groups.
they can be found and copied from http://lucychili.blogspot.com
Greg you were asking for a here and now example of DMCA applied in AU,
I can't write one because it isn't here yet.
There are very many examples being documented of the way it is being
misused in the US where it is already deployed.
Commentary on the new revised, broader and harsher DMCA version being
proposed there is also thick on the ground:
For example Felton proposed the risk to critical systems as an exemption
to the DMCA in the US.
Ed Felten in his Blog, Freedom to Tinker, describes the response of the
DMCA lobby:
"They’re worried that there might be “serious doubt” about whether their
future DRM access control systems are covered by these exemptions, and
they think the doubt “would be even more severe” if the “exemption would
turn on whether access controls ‘threaten critical infrastructure and
potentially endanger lives’.”
Yikes.
One would have thought they’d make awfully sure that a DRM measure
didn’t threaten critical infrastructure or endanger lives, before they
deployed that measure. But apparently they want to keep open the option
of deploying DRM even when there are severe doubts about whether it
threatens critical infrastructure and potentially endangers lives.
And here’s the really amazing part. In order to protect their ability to
deploy this dangerous DRM, they want the Copyright Office to withhold
from users permission to uninstall DRM software that actually does
threaten critical infrastructure and endanger lives.
If past rulemakings are a good predictor, it’s more likely than not that
the Copyright Office will rule in their favor."
http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=984
http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?cat=5
Having said that I am working on writing something, shorter and with an
industry angle, I am just not sure it will be what you want, so feel
free to customise.
Janet
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