“Australia appears ready to adopt U.S-style copyright laws, courtesy of a Free Trade Agreement deal negotiated between the two countries. But the agreement has some Australian civil liberties advocates and lawyers crying foul. They say it’s nothing more than a money-grab by the powerful U.S. copyright owners lobby, and claim the Australian government has sold consumers’ rights to media conglomerates in the United States for dubious trade concessions in other industries.” – Wired.
The TeleRead take: Oh, and think of the damage here in the States from Washington’s fixation on exporting the DMCA. With D.C. so keen on pleasing the Hollywood elite, just considered the prosperity and general goodwill bargained away in the other direction. Mightn’t more than a few U.S. blue-collars workers and farmers be out of work because Hollywood-bought pols valued the Tinsel Town tycoons more than average Americans? Not all the U.S. concessions may be “dubious” from an overseas perspective, and in any event, it is clear what so many U.S. politicians’ real priority is–getting elected or re-elected with Hollywood cash. Meanwhile best wishes to my Australian friends in resisting the stupidies that Washington is trying to bully them into replicating.
