[LINK] US Trade Rep criticises tech trade barriers in Oz, NZ

[Bernard Robertson-Dunn]

US Trade Rep criticises tech trade barriers in Oz, NZ
Wary of telecoms, cloud, patent and copyright rules
Richard Chirgwin
The Register
11th April 2012
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/04/11/ustr_dislikes_au_nz/

Australia and New Zealand have come under criticism from the Office of 
the United States Trade Representative (USTR) over a raft of tech issues.

In its latest 420-page National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade 
Barriers, the USTR expresses concerns at Australia’s National Broadband 
Network, and government concerns at offshore storage of personal data; 
while New Zealand is in the crosshairs for legislation currently before 
parliament that would ban software patents.

While the USTR recognizes that the NBN in Australia will create “improve 
the non-discriminatory access to network services”, it remains critical 
of foreign investment limits on the incumbent carrier, Telstra.

Of greater concern, however, is that Australian government agencies are 
taking a wary approach to cloud computing. The USTR singles out the 
Department of Defence, the National Archives, the Australian Government 
Information Management Office, and Victoria’s state Privacy 
Commissioner, all of which have at various times sent “negative 
messages” about cloud computing services.

The offshore hosting debate in Australia centers on two concerns: that 
cloud providers in other jurisdictions may accept lesser privacy and 
security controls than would be required in Australia; and that the data 
may become subject to laws in other jurisdictions. The USTR says the 
notion that data may be “scrutinized by foreign governments” appears 
“based on misinterpretation of … the Patriot Act and regulatory 
requirements”.

In particular, the USTR dislikes Australia’s proposed implementation of 
e-health, saying that legislation requiring onshore storage of citizens’ 
personally-controlled electronic health records (PCEHRs) “would pose a 
significant trade barrier for US information technology companies with 
data centers located in the United States or anywhere else outside of 
Australia”.

The legislation’s explanatory memorandum, it should be noted, doesn’t 
single out America, nor does it raise government snooping as the main 
concern. Rather, it notes that if PCEHRs are stored outside Australia, 
“very few effective enforcement options would be available if that 
information were to be misused or mishandled”.

Criticism of New Zealand is based on that country’s proposed laws to 
forbid software patents, and on the idea that rights-holders should have 
to help pay for the cost of pursuing alleged infringers through ISPs.

Regarding the proposed patent law, which seems stalled in parliament (as 
noted by Stuff.co.nz, it has been awaiting its second reading in 
parliament for more than a year), the USTR says the clause excluding 
software “departs from patent eligibility standards in other developed 
economies”.

The Kiwis also suffer the withering slap of the USTR’s censure for 
requiring rights-holders to contribute $NZ25 to issue an infringement 
notice under that country’s Internet file-sharing laws, a cost which it 
says “has deterred some rights holders from using the system”.

-- 

Regards
brd

Bernard Robertson-Dunn
Canberra Australia
email:   brd at iimetro.com.au
website: www.drbrd.com



-----
No virus found in this message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 2012.0.1913 / Virus Database: 2411/4928 - Release Date: 04/11/12