Mug Funky
19th July 2004, 09:02
there's an election coming, and there's some stuff we all want changed.
so in the next few months, let's all harass our federal MPs (and of course all the others as well) to get Fair Use rights included in our outdated copyright law.
if enough of us do this, and put the right spin on it, it could be made an election issue.
okay... a bit of background:
- i got annoyed at the fact that EMI music australia only release CDS200 copy (read?) protected CDs, so i contacted the company and found out a few things. in short, my conclusion is that the law needs changing, rather than the company. the person i contacted at EMI said rather simply that EMI release these CDs in all countries that allow them to.
- australia has no Fair Use clause in copyright law, which, though not enforced, allows various forms of DRM and consumer-unfriendly practice to go unchecked, with no recourse for consumers - the ACCC can't do a thing against it simply because while there may be very slight violations of the Trade Practices Act, they do not amount to anything that the ACCC can act on, or would bother with if they could because of legal costs.
the best way to change this is to get the law changed.
now, most of us hear this kind of thing all the time, especially on forums such as this. but most of us don't really do anything about it - it stays on the forum, where really it will go unnoticed by people who may be able to help.
so let's all make as much noise as possible before the election. try google for "australia consumer" and contact any consumer advocacy groups that pop up. maybe "Australian Consumer Association" and a few similar bodies - remember that an established group like that will be more powerful than a group of individuals.
i'm currently compiling a letter that i will send to as many federal MPs and consumer groups as i can... just gotta find the right way to express all this stuff (after all, to non-geeks, it is incredibly boring stuff, though important).
if anyone wants, i can make this letter available before i send it so we can get something between us that we all agree on...
so in the next few months, let's all harass our federal MPs (and of course all the others as well) to get Fair Use rights included in our outdated copyright law.
if enough of us do this, and put the right spin on it, it could be made an election issue.
okay... a bit of background:
- i got annoyed at the fact that EMI music australia only release CDS200 copy (read?) protected CDs, so i contacted the company and found out a few things. in short, my conclusion is that the law needs changing, rather than the company. the person i contacted at EMI said rather simply that EMI release these CDs in all countries that allow them to.
- australia has no Fair Use clause in copyright law, which, though not enforced, allows various forms of DRM and consumer-unfriendly practice to go unchecked, with no recourse for consumers - the ACCC can't do a thing against it simply because while there may be very slight violations of the Trade Practices Act, they do not amount to anything that the ACCC can act on, or would bother with if they could because of legal costs.
the best way to change this is to get the law changed.
now, most of us hear this kind of thing all the time, especially on forums such as this. but most of us don't really do anything about it - it stays on the forum, where really it will go unnoticed by people who may be able to help.
so let's all make as much noise as possible before the election. try google for "australia consumer" and contact any consumer advocacy groups that pop up. maybe "Australian Consumer Association" and a few similar bodies - remember that an established group like that will be more powerful than a group of individuals.
i'm currently compiling a letter that i will send to as many federal MPs and consumer groups as i can... just gotta find the right way to express all this stuff (after all, to non-geeks, it is incredibly boring stuff, though important).
if anyone wants, i can make this letter available before i send it so we can get something between us that we all agree on...