ccipf

The Free Trade Agreement and Intellectual Property

The proposed free trade agreement between the US and Australia threatens
more than just Australia's media content and pharmaceutical prices.

It also requires Australia to closely conform to American intellectual
property laws, in particular the draconian DMCA (Digital Millennium
Copyright Act).

Under the treaty, Aussies must block any party that "manufactures,
imports, distributes, offers to the public, provides, or otherwise
traffics in devices, products, or components, or offers to the public,
or provides services that; are promoted, advertised, or marketed for the
purpose of cir***vention of any effective technological measure; have
only a limited commercially significant purpose or use other than to
cir***vent any effective technological measure; or are primarily
designed, produced, or performed for the purpose of enabling or
facilitating the cir***vention of any effective technological measure."

One effect of this will be to render impotent a previous decision by the
ACCC that "region coding" of digital media (for example DVD movies) was
anti-competitive and thus contrary to Australian Competition Law.

Under the treaty, Australians will not be allowed to buy "region-free"
DVD players, and will be barred from converting existing players to be
region free. This will mean that it will not be possible for
Australians to buy DVD movies overseas while on holiday and bring them
back, and will also stop the direct importing of overseas disks.

They will also be barred from other ways of cir***venting
anti-competitive practices, such as "mod-chipping" computer game
consoles to enable them to play games from other than the manufacturer
of the game unit.

This can only have the effect (as desired by the big media companies) of
driving up prices of electronic entertainment media, which have dropped
dramatically since the ACCC's ruling a couple of years ago.

It may also mean that ISP's will also be forced to reveal the identities
of (or even block entirely) customers who are sharing media content on
their PC via their internet connections.

Unfortunately Australian legislators are only concerned only about the
effects of the treaty on pharmaceutical prices. It would seem they are
unaware of the treaty's IP ramifications.

If the unfair provisions of the FTA are to be rectified then the IP
issue must also be addressed.

Please call you Member of parliament today and tell them what you think.
Contact details for all federal MP's is at:
http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/index.htm

Concerned Citizens for IP Freedom

seruhndipuhtee

so you're saying that you won't be able to access, download and share
pirated material and cir***vent copyright laws thereby depriving the
creators of the content their rightful royalties and income??? yes, we
should definitely stop people taking away the right of all people to abuse
copyright laws.

robert atkins

[Following up a mass-crosspost against my better judgement...]


The law which prevents me from backing up CDs and DVDs I own for
personal use is an ass. The law which prevents me from dumping the music
I've bought onto an iPod or my living room "media server" is an ass. A
law preventing me from using DVDs or computer games bought from overseas
is *anti*-competitive and also an ass. The law which keeps extending
copyright terms on everything just so Mickey Mouse never gets into the
public domain is an ass.

And my heart bleeds for the media conglomerates who want a global market
and then seek to control it by weak technical means and then go crying
to government for more legislation because people, quite rightly,
couldn't give a **** for the multinationals trying to manipulate the
market and just want to play their mail-ordered DVDs and console games
(which sometimes aren't even released here anyway). Not to mention
broken, non-standard "CDs" which lock up people's computers and don't
play in car stereos.

As I've said before: if they're selling us a piece of plastic, we can do
what the hell we like with the music and pictures encoded on it. If
they're selling us a license to listen to the music or watch the
pictures, they should exchange a damaged (DVD rot, anyone?) piece of
plastic for what it costs to press -- a couple of bucks. They can't have
it both ways.

I have no sympathy for record companies who sue DJs for distributing mix
CDs they've made as a "resume" to try and get work in clubs.

And if you want "depriving the creators of the content their rightful
royalties and income", go and read a record contract. It's all about
exploiting the musicians and screwing them out of all the money. Read
Steve Albini's "Some of your friends are already this ****ed"
(http://www.arancidamoeba.com/mrr/problemwithmusic.html). Hell, listen
to "Buy Me A Pony" by Spiderbait.

I have no sympathy at all for big companies with lots of money who want
to buy governments in order to further entrench their monopolies.

Cheers, Robert.

tt

Maybe a nice hot cuppa and a lie down now ;-)

BTW A very passionate post to which I entirely agree. Won't this FTA open
up R1 discs to be distributed here?

Regards TT

pt

Is this the latest crap that Latham is putting out and post in non
related news groups.

Its enough for me to put Latham last at the ballot box.

Now lets talk dvd considing aus.dvd is a dvd news group.
If the FTA ever gets passed then dvd's that most of us buy from the US
will be a hell of a lot cheaper as will most things related to this
area.

The ALP has had 6 months to look at it and Latham still flip flopping
every day on this. It was going to be blocked no matter what three
days ago. Then the next day the ALP conference backed it so Latham
said we will be supporting it the next day. We get to the next day and
he is acting like a spoilt little brat.

the ALP had 6 months to decide what to do. They have left it this long
to decide because its a election trap to cause friction. Blood stupid.

All the ALP states want the FTA to proceed.
What's going to be the holdup tomorrow. Get on with it.
there are laws in place to protect all the things that Latham is so
worried about. Latham just playing politics yet when he has a book to
launch with a Liberal he is all rosy and cosy.

Latham just a B grade actor at best.

italo

Cheers to you too Robert, that is the best, most interesting and concise
post I've read in a long time... and I agree completely.

One point that is worth reinforcing is how multinationals and big
corporations always go on ad nauseam about the supremacy of the market
system... and then use their enormous commercial and political power to
manouver politicians in doing exactly what's advantageous to them.

--
Italo

napalm68

Read the post you dumb fool. It will affect DVD importing, and is
definitely of interest to people here.

And BTW, both Latham and Howard both support this bill now, so we are ****ed
either way.

eddie

Don't be blind! Any decent thinking person will support anti-piracy laws,
but, I for one am sick of US self-protection. What is at stake here, is,
amongst other things, freedom of choice. Have YOU ever bought a book,
magazine or other literery work abroad, and took it home? You will find that
a lot of printed media is country specific. Eg, I was in the Philippines
last year and bought a paperback triology of a C.S. Lewis work. It was for
sale only in US or specific Asian countries. It is also available in other
countries of course, in different editions. No problem. I bought the books
and took them home, read them and will keep them. However, with draconian IT
laws, the US are trying to stop me buying DVD's etc in other countries and
veiwing them at home. This surely, is against the 'fair usage' philosophy
that the US is supposed to have. There is a world of difference between
buying pirate dvd's and real ones. A similar thing with copying DVD's. I
would like to back up all the ones' I have bought, and use only the backups
as, experience has tought me that it is very easy to destroy electronic
media.

Microsft have finally learnt something in relation to piracy. Not too long
ago, their products like, Word, Excel, Office etc were 'corporate-priced',
that is exhorbitant. Many people use these products at work and like likem
them but could not afford to buy the product, so, off to Imbi Plaza in KL
and buy heaps of pirate copies. MS finally got the point and offered
'Academic' pricing (which has been around for decades) to all, providing it
was not for commercial use. I would suggest that as a result people have
begun to buy the real product rather than an 'iffy' Asian pirate copy. This
is one way to beat piracy. GREED on behalf of the industry has driven people
to piracy. Cut the greed and you will cut Piracy. MS products are now within
the price range of the normal person and, I would suggest that as a result
more people buy.

Likewise DVD. Region coding is an appalling blight, a disgraceful
restriction upon free choice. Cut the price of DVD's and you will eat into
the piracy market. (Incidentally, MS has got th point in the Third-World,
where they sell their products much cheaper so at least some of the
population can afford them!)

Copyright laws are one thing. Greed another.

Eddie

eddie

Ummm, You must be a Lib! But hey, no matter, it's your comments that are
wrong. DVD's a 'hell of a lot cheaper'? Pull the other one. What is stopping
them doing that NOW!

Region coding is an atrocity. Full stop.

Eddie

stephen oakes

Well said.

--
Stephen Oakes