Petteri Pyyny
3 Aug 2004 15:23
As part of the free-trade agreement (that was signed today) between the United States and Australia, Australian government and the leading opposition party of the country have both accepted the fact that Australia now has to implement all the key proportions of the American DMCA legislation into its own national legislation.
This means that after Australia implements the required changes, selling, developing or distributing of tools that allow copy protection circumvention will become illegal. Open source DVD players for Linux? Illegal. DVD backup tools that circumvent CSS copy protection found on virtually all DVD movies? Illegal. Copying tracks to your iPod from a copy-protected CD that you legally own? Illegal.
The agreement also requires Australia to allow software patents -- patenting code has been so far impossible in Australia -- and requires Australia to extend the time that copyrights are valid.
More information:
News.com
Herald Sun