From: dmhills{at}attglobal.net (Don Hills)

In article , "Geo."
 wrote:
> Negotiations for a trade agreement between the U.S. and Australia are
>raising a ruckus among Aussie digital rights activists. At issue is a
>plan to enact a law there modeled on the controversial Digital
>Millennium Copyright Act. By Patrick Gray.

Heh, heh. Your subject line well describes the result when any (relatively
small) country gets into bed with the USA on a "free" trade deal.
New Zealand chose not to. Related to DMCA, we're currently planning to
relax our copyright legislation slightly to bring it in line with the US
model to allow making a copy for personal use, such as copying into an iPod
(music) or into a home entertainment system (DVD). Currently, any copying
at all is illegal as is time shifting a TV program. Predictably, the media
interests here are screaming as if it's being introduced without the
benefit of the aforementioned lubricant. We (the general public) feel *so*
sorry for them. Being a small, isolated market we've been used as the
guinea pigs for testing many copy protection schemes over the years and we
resent it.

--
Don Hills    (dmhills at attglobaldotnet)     Wellington, New Zealand
It's ironic that people who are too smart to engage in politics are
governed by people who are not as smart.

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