LinuxSA Mailing list archives

  From: Brian Astill <brian.astill@flinders.edu.au>
  To  : <linuxsa@linuxsa.org.au>
  Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2000 16:54:33 +1030

Re: Cracking down on copycats: enforcement of copyright in Australia.

On Thu, 07 Dec 2000, Glen Turner wrote:
> http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/laca/copyrightenforcement/contents.htm
> 
> Lots of less-than-positive stuff.

Agreed, though the OVERALL thrust of the committee's recommendations aren't
unreasonable IMHO.
So far as business software is concerned, SFAICT adherance strictly to the
licence conditions of commercial software is the exception rather than the rule.
I don't have a problem with an attempt to have people keep to the conditions of
a contract they have knowingly entered into. ie pay for the use of copies of
commercial software.
I think it was always blindingly stupid of non-commercial organisations to bind
themselves irrevokably to one commercial product (or range of products)
produced by one organisation, anyway. 
Maybe copyright enforcement will wake them up to the advantages of open source
and GNU/Linux FreeBSD and the like - to everyone's advantage (except M$).

My worry is in concepts such as possession being the offence rather than use,
and the possessor being assumed guilty unless they can prove innocence.
I don't like this, either:
The Committee recommends that a provision be introduced into the
Copyright Act 1968, similar to section 72 of the Supreme Court Act 1981
(UK), which withdraws the privilege against self-incrimination in civil
proceedings for the infringement of intellectual property.

I don't mind this, however:
"The Committee recommends that a provision be introduced into the
Copyright Act 1968, similar to section 100 of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988 (UK), which authorises a copyright owner or their agent
to seize a copy of their work (or other subject matter) that is offered for
sale or hire from a place other than a regular or permanent place of
business."
ie if you are offering to sell copies of M$Office from your home - watch out!

Seems to me that the types of intellectual property and the ways in which just
copyright can be infringed are so varied that one Act should not attempt to
cover all situations. In attempting the impossible the Committee have accepted
a task only a fool would contemplate.

2c paid in full :-)

-- 
Regards,
Brian

********************************************************
Dr Brian Astill  Visiting Research Fellow
Flinders University Institute of International Education
********************************************************

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