very biased news without any local knowledge or facts!

[jarthel]

I was just reading the news about trade agreements and say it does not favor consumer.

Well I live in Australia and we don't have fair use laws. But with the introduction to US trade agreement, the parliament are planning to include fair use clause to current copyright laws. How is the introduction of fair use detrimental to the consumer?

I would just wish that you could research a little more before you post this types of article.

[jarthel]

I never said DMCA is good. read my original message again!

I said trade agreement is good cause it brings "Fair Use" to Australia.

[jarthel]

My point is that trade agreements are not all about the negative stuff!

[Doom9]

But with the introduction to US trade agreement, the parliament are planning to include fair use clause to current copyright laws. How is the introduction of fair use detrimental to the consumer?Before you bash other people, better document your gripe: I have previously reported on the US - Australia free trade agreement and the fair use legislation your country plans is not part of the free trade agreement to the best of my knowledge. But if you can prove otherwise, here's your chance...

I promise to correct the story immediately should I be wrong.

[Mug Funky]

@jarthel:

we've been considering fair use for much longer than the FTA has been in the works. have you read the FTA? i've only read the last chapter (intellectual property) and a smattering of the other chapters, and there's nothing there about fair use that is actually useful. there's a bit about conditional use for academic institutions, but AFAIK none of that extends to backing up DVDs et cetera.

instead of asking doom9 to check his facts, you might want to do some reading yourself. the AUS-USA FTA is available in full in pdf format if you look for it (google).

any consideration our government has about including fair use is simply due to pressure from the public, and has nothing to do with the yanks (who would just as soon do away with fair use in australia, as it doesn't really benefit THEM at all) and their FTA.

[edit]

i'm not saying the FTA is all bad, however i'm deeply suspicious of it. in the current political climate, FTAs are the next big thing, and i think negative effects of the USA one could be offset by our negative impacts on other countries (thailand, singapore, etc) with our own FTA's. all i can say on the matter is that (a) the IP chapter can pretty much be dropped, or at least severely re-written, and (b) free trade is not equal to fair trade.