As some of you may have noticed, Australia scored a free trade agreement with the US. Looking briefly at some of the things, it looks like a very mixed bag. On one hand, it looks like the telco market will open up, and we may begin to see competition from US based ISPs. This probably means a drop in internet access prices (yay!).
On the other hand, if I'm reading the fact sheet (http://www.dfat.gov.au/trade/negotiations/us.html) correctly, copyright laws are going to tighten up significantly. Slashdot is reporting that we'll be subjected to the DMCA-style copyright laws like the US have. Could we be sued by the RIAA for illegal filesharing and downloading of music if this is the case?
Thoughts?
On the other hand, if I'm reading the fact sheet (http://www.dfat.gov.au/trade/negotiations/us.html) correctly, copyright laws are going to tighten up significantly. Slashdot is reporting that we'll be subjected to the DMCA-style copyright laws like the US have. Could we be sued by the RIAA for illegal filesharing and downloading of music if this is the case?
Thoughts?