--- Date: Tue, 06 Aug 2002 14:37:22 +1000 From: Nathan Cochrane <ncochraneat_private> Organization: The Age newspaper To: declanat_private 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Like Politech? Make a donation here: http://www.politechbot.com/donate/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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