Australian IT Industry Concerned Over IP Implications Of FTA With United States

by Mary Swire, for LawAndTax-News.com, Hong Kong

11 February 2004

The Australian IT industry has cautiously welcomed the new Free Trade Agreement (FTA) reached with the United States at the weekend, although it has expressed concern with regard to several clauses relating to intellectual property protection contained within the pact.

Among the points which have raised concern are the extension of copyright, and the alignment of the Australian IP protection regime with the controversial US Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA).

Speaking to the Australian media, chief executive of the Internet Industry Association, Peter Coroneos suggested that the DMCA "is not necessarily a role model for the rest of the world," observing that:

"It has resulted in a lot of litigation, with disclosures of customer information in some cases where people subsequently turned out not to be infringers. We would have concerns about using a system that took away from us the right to manage these issues at an industry level through codes of practice."

Mr Coroneos also criticised clauses in the FTA which would oblige Australian ISPs to monitor the cacheing process, and subject them to removal orders, explaining that:

"Cacheing has become intrinsic to ISP operations in Australia. We fought very hard for recognition that ISPs are not benefiting from the content."

"The situation in America is very different, because much of the content is hosted in America. Obviously, ISPs here don't want to have to drag stuff across telecommunications cables every time there's a new request to access the same material."

However, he concluded by announcing that overall, the industry welcomes the fact that an agreement has been reached between the US and Australia.

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