[LINK] Fwd: Greens-Media: US free trade deal a threat to Australian IT industry: Greens

[Antony Barry]

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Tony


Begin forwarded message:

> Resent-From: greens-media at altnews.com.au
> From: Hans van Leeuwen <hans at nsw.greens.org.au>
> Date: 5 August 2004 3:04:42 PM
> To: tony at tony-barry.emu.id.au
> Subject: Greens-Media: US free trade deal a threat to Australian IT 
> industry: Greens
>
>  US free trade deal a threat to Australian IT industry: Greens
>  August 5, 2004
>
>  The Government and Opposition’s support for the US-Australia Free 
> Trade Agreement (FTA) has left Australia’s innovative IT industry at 
> the mercy of American corporations and their patent attorneys, The 
> Greens have warned.
>   
>  “Mark Latham and John Howard are both desperate to ram through the 
> FTA, and are now neglecting its impact on our IT industry,” said 
> Greens Senate candidate John Kaye.
>   
>  “The FTA is a blatant gift to big American multinationals, and 
> threatens to throw huge roadblocks in the way of the Australian 
> software industry.
>   
>  “Australia is a leader in the development of Open Source software. 
> Some 8% of all Open Source developers are Australian, including some 
> world-leading innovators. This is now under threat.
>   
>  “The FTA opens the possibility that patent lawyers working for 
> multinational IT giants will stifle local innovation with the threat 
> of legal action.
>   
>  “As with all aspects of the FTA, there is a very real danger that 
> American firms will be winners while Australians will lose out.
>   
>  “America’s patent laws have forced significant aspects of Open Source 
> activity to relocate to Europe and Asia, and we should not be going 
> down that route.
>   
>  “The Howard Government has rushed into this agreement without 
> explaining why it thinks the US patent system is the right choice for 
> Australia.
>   
>  “The Greens are opposing the FTA, and support an intellectual 
> property regime that stimulates home-grown IT innovation rather than 
> stifling it,” Mr Kaye said.
>  
>
>
>  Hans van Leeuwen
>  Media Officer
>  NSW Greens federal election campaign
>  02 9519 0877
>  0425 310 562
>
phone : 02 6241 7659 | mailto:me at Tony-Barry.emu.id.au
mobile: 04 1242 0397 | http://tony-barry.emu.id.au