[Linux-aus] Format shifting ruled legal

[James Polley]

When I read about this on the weekend, I was excited, as it seemed our
government had got something right for a change....

Well, apparently not...

The article you linked to below (which I read in the dead-tree version of
yesterday's SMH, so presumably it's on that site as well) says:

The new laws will also make it legal for people to tape television and radio
programs for playback later, a practice currently prohibited although
millions of people regularly do it.

Just as I got your email, I also got SMH's daily technology update email.
The lead story in that email is
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/05/14/1147545211338.html, which has more
detail about what this means:

Under the proposed changes announced over the weekend by the
Attorney-General Philip Ruddock, it will only be permissible to watch a
recording from TV once, after which that recording will have to be deleted.

It will also make illegal the time-honoured tradition of lending recorded
copies of favourite shows and sporting events to family and friends who
missed them on television.

The changes will overwrite the current laws which currently make it illegal
to record *anything* from the TV or off a CD.
Also,

But the new laws will not mandate the making of back-up copies of CDs. A
format-shift copy needs to be in a different audio format to the original.

and

Under the changes, however, no such format-shifting will be allowed
with DVDs.

While you can dub a video onto a DVD, you will not be permitted to, for
instance, transfer a DVD film onto your computer or onto a portable video
device.
Can anyone point to a copy of the actual proposed changes and/or tell us who
we need to continue lobbying to make sure that the sensible provisions are
kept and the less sensible provisions are fixed?

On 5/15/06, Chris McCormick <chris at mccormick.cx> wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> Contratulations to everyone who lobbied for this.
> <
> http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/music-to-the-ears/2006/05/13/1146940775897.html
> >
>
> Best,
>
> Chris.
>
> -------------------
> chris at mccormick.cx
> http://mccormick.cx
>
> _______________________________________________
> linux-aus mailing list
> linux-aus at lists.linux.org.au
> http://lists.linux.org.au/listinfo/linux-aus
>
>


-- 
There is nothing more worthy of contempt than a man who quotes himself -
Zhasper, 2004
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