FC: Nathan Cochrane on Australia and Berman's P2P bill

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

---

Date: Tue, 06 Aug 2002 14:37:22 +1000
From: Nathan Cochrane <ncochrane () theage fairfax com au>
Organization: The Age newspaper
To: declan () well com
Subject: Re: FC: Sonia Arrison on Berman's P2P bill: "Hollywood hacks 
consumers"

Hi Declan

I spoke with several people in IT security and cyberlaw last week and they 
said if an Australian's PC or network is hacked, then the owner should call 
the police who may lay charges. Civil action may also be taken in an 
Australian court against the head office operations of the copyright hacker 
and/or its local representatives.

Copyright holders are not immunised against criminal trespass in Australia 
if the law changes in the US. If those charged with computer trespass come 
into the country -- to attend a conference or produce a movie, for instance 
-- they may be subject to arrest. They would also be unlikely to be able to 
give evidence if called in a piracy case because their testimony would be 
suspect if thay had charges hanging over their heads.

The unintended consequence would be that a law designed to crack piracy in 
the US may aid it elsewhere, a lawyer says.

I understand that local trade groups are considering lobbying the 
Australian Federal Government for a reciprocal bill to Berman's. The Motion 
Picture Association of America has already taken an interest in the 
Australian regulatory environment, criticising the Federal Government's 
competition watchdog, the ACCC, over its anti-monopoly stance.

Copyright bill will create vigilantes: critics
By Nathan Cochrane
August 6 2002
Next

American movie, recording and software executives could be prohibited from 
entering Australia or extradited to face criminal charges if a copyright 
protection bill before the US Congress passes into law.

...

Under section 9a of the Victorian Summary Offences Act (1966), "a person 
must not gain access to, or enter, a computer system or part of a computer 
system without lawful authority to do so". The penalty if convicted is up 
to six months' jail.

Computer, Internet and intellectual property lawyer Steve White says the 
Berman bill is "stupid and counterproductive".

He says US executives may be unable to enter the country to give evidence 
in court cases, attend conferences, speak to government, customers or 
possibly to make movies because afflicted PC owners could seek to have them 
arrested for unauthorised computer trespass.

"It would also raise serious issues under the Privacy Act in relation to 
information obtained whilst computers are being hacked," White says.

Australian subsidiaries of US companies could also face charges for aiding 
and abetting US corporate parents, especially if local assets such as PCs, 
personnel and communications networks were used in the hacking attempts, he 
says.

...

White's view is backed by Dean Kingsley, co-author of the AusCERT hacking 
survey and head of Deloitte's security practice who says the bill is 
"state-sanctioned vigilantism".

"I feel that state-sanctioned cyber-vigilantism is a dangerous development, 
both because of the high risk of innocent parties becoming collateral 
damage . . . and because of the implied suggestion that law enforcement 
authorities, who rightly hold the powers to properly investigate alleged 
crimes, can no longer adequately protect us."

...

"(We) . . . believe that Congress will act prudently after they listen to 
all the relevant parties," Business Software Alliance president and chief 
executive Robert Holleyman says. "There's an important balance that needs 
to be taken into account for how users use software. My sense (is that) it 
is unlikely that the Berman bill will be adopted before Congress adjourns 
before the November elections."

MORE
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/08/03/1028157861719.html




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