Pirate Party Australia urges the Gillard Government not to consider any amendments to copyright law, following yesterday’s push by the heads of Australia’s biggest sporting codes for changes to the laws. The push for amendments comes little more than a week after Federal Court Justice Steven Rares ruled that Optus’ TV Now service – which allows users to record and playback free-to-air television with as little as a two minute delay – did not infringe copyright[1].

Pirate Party Australia supports the decision that the service provided is merely a progression from the ability to record television for viewing at a more convenient time.

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Pirate Party Australia condemns Labor’s plan to install compulsory full body scanners at international airports[1]. These systems have been proven ineffective time and time again, and the privacy and economic forfeitures far outweigh any perceived security benefits.

Despite having had only a handful of “terrorist plots” domestically – none of which were successful – the Government continues to push the myth that privacy invasion is necessary for “security”. Considering that the few planned terrorist attacks in Australia have been prevented under current laws, Pirate Party Australia questions whether introducing new legislation is actually in the national interest.

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A recent verdict handed down by Justice Lucy McCallum in the NSW Supreme Court could see whistle-blowers and anonymous sources lose their rights to protection in future disputes over the accuracy of news reports[1]. Pirate Party Australia objects strongly to any moves that force the identities of anonymous sources to be disclosed, or to be exposed to undue litigation.

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Pirate Party Australia is aghast at the closed-door meeting facilitated by the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport, where copyright holders have made demands that search engines Google, Bing and Yahoo actively censor search results[1][2].

“The lack of transparency is frightening, and echoes the opaque negotiations led by the Attorney-General’s Department between rights holders and internet service providers in Australia last September. Coupled with the secrecy surrounding ACTA and the TPP, we are beginning to see a clear picture of deliberate circumvention of the electorate in determining their future,” said Rodney Serkowski, founder of Pirate Party Australia. “We aim to lift the veil of secrecy that surrounds governmental decision making in both Australia and the rest of the world. The meetings here and in the UK are setting dangerous standards for the continued abuse of democratic processes.”

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Pirate Party Australia has decried the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).

ACTA’s claimed objectives are the establishment of new global standards for enforcing intellectual property rights, including increased international co-operation to address counterfeiting and ‘piracy’. The European Union became a signatory to ACTA last Thursday, joining Australia, the United States, Singapore and others.

The European Union’s rapporteur on ACTA resigned over the Agreement last week, claiming that there has been “no inclusion of civil society organisations, a lack of transparency from the start of the negotiations,” and “everyone knows the ACTA agreement is problematic, whether it is its impact on civil liberties, the way it makes Internet access providers liable [and] its consequences on generic drugs manufacturing.”[1]

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