[LINK] Digital Agenda Act blues

[Nick Smith]

Linkers

OK, some thoughts about the latest talk on the Digital Agenda Act:

Specifically:
(1)
http://australianit.news.com.au/common/storyPage/0,3811,1764783%5E442,00.htm
l
About the PS clockchippers: as far as I can see , I was going to say that
Sony is overstating its case: that there is no law against taking a
screwdriver to the back of your PS. (And a screw driver is not a
'circumvention device'.) It was always going to be actionable/illegal to
offer to perform this service for other people or to make devices which are
designed to get around copyright protections (and have no saving purpose).

I was going to say therefore that modifying your own PS would not be an
offence. But I'm not so sure. This is grey. I guess Sony is arguing that the
modified play station itself is a 'circumvention device'. It was the
intention of the law that the tools of circumvention be taregetted but I
guess Sony will be taking the ball and running with it.

(2) It's illegal to forward email.

Newsflash: it's ALWAYS been a technical infringement to forward email
because a reproduction is made. Similarly, when someone posts an entire
article of Australian IT to Link that also is a infringement of copyright. 

There is more liability under the DA (the transmission itself is also
actionable) but it is not radically new. 

As for CRIMINAL liability, this is new. Being prosecuted for forwarding an
email is unlikely in the extreme but, I think, technically possible under
the new laws. 

132  Offences
	(2)	A person shall not, at a time when copyright subsists in a
work, distribute:
	(a)	for the purpose of trade; or
	(b)	for any other purpose to an extent that affects
prejudicially the owner of the copyright;
an article that the person knows, or ought reasonably to know, to be an
infringing copy of the work.

Section 132 above is a criminal provision. So: what does: 'distribute...for
any other purpose to an extent that affects prejudicially the owner of the
copyright.' This is potentially very broad...

***I was going to offer some reassuring words about the scaremongering about
the new Act but I don't think I can. I don't expect the law will be used to
it's fullest extent but the potential is really quite broad....

Nick

--
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Nick Smith
Executive Officer  ::  Australian Digital Alliance  
Copyright Advisor  ::  Australian Libraries Copyright Committee
PO Box E202   \\   Kingston ACT 2604
Ph: 02 6262 1273   \\   Fax: 02 6273 2545
Email: nsmith@nla.gov.au   \\   Web: www.digital.org.au
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