Linux Australia, an organisation that claims to represent Linux and open source developers and users in Australia, set up an online petition last month to protest against the impact on the open source community if the pact comes into effect.
Linux Australia spokesperson, Paul Russell told Builder AU that the open source community was concerned about abuse of aspects of the legal regime in the US covered mainly by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and US patent system.
"We needed to publicly air our opposition to adopting such laws here, and the danger of binding ourselves to laws which will hurt us in the near future," Russell said.
Protestors who have signed the online petition believe that chapter 17 of the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement will have a negative affect on the open source community by making some open source software illegal and possibly preventing the Australian Parliament from changing its own intellectual property laws.
"By making 'unauthorised' circumvention of an access control illegal, they have a free hand to implement DVD region-coding, DVD "no-fast-forward" zones, Windows-only music, and whatever other odious restrictions they might choose." Russell said.
"In the United States, the DeCSS code used by open source DVD players (such as those on Linux), is illegal, and we'd have to follow that here. In addition, distribution, creation or import of this code brings criminal, not just civil, penalties," he added.
"Australia has been a leader in developing and adopting open source software, which gives us great potential for future services in this growing sector. We shouldn't be passing laws which hobble competition in these areas".
A copy of the petition will be sent to every Australian MP and Senator along with a letter annotated by points from their local constituents.
According to ABC reports today a federal parliamentary committee tabled a report on the free trade agreement that found the deal was in the national interest.
The coalition government is keen to have the treaty passed by the Senate to cover off its ratification on the Australian side, while it must also be passed by US Congress to come into effect.
1
EE - 24/06/04
Right!! Protest as hard as you can and fight for your rights. These software patents et.all are really rediculous, but they are are a horrible and real dreadfull thread. The more one thinks about its implications, the more one becomes aware of its negative impact.
Fight for your freedom down under!! It is worth it. If it is not successful, at least you know you have tried and given your best.
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2
Brandon Franklin - 28/06/04
Unfortunately, I don't think they're listening to us. Money seems to be screaming much louder than we are.
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3
Ralph D. Wilson II - 15/07/04
While I agree with the idea that one should have the right to copyright a program, I completely disagree with the concept of "software patents", especially when applied to things like the "look and feel" of a _class_ of applications. After all, if one is building a spreadsheet application, how many ways can one lay out the screen? How bright does one have to be to realize that having a right and left mouse button that can be clicked and held, single clicked, or double clicked means that you have six distinct functions you could use to trigger distinct functionalities that might even include causing a window to open?
Fight on OZ! With a little luck, the fight can be spread to other regions!
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