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.
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.”
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]
Pirate Party Australia has finished its analysis of documents released under the Freedom of Information Act, and has found evidence that former Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, supports schemes that “must be educative and aim to change social norms.”[1]
In September of 2011, the Attorney-General’s Department convened talks with internet service providers (ISPs) and representatives of the content industry (such as AFACT), to discuss progress on co-operative anti-piracy strategies. Not only does Mr McClelland promote a consumer-excluding “industry-based solution,”[2] it also appears that he was more than prepared to force social change in order to prop-up the dying content industries.
An open letter to authors and publishers worldwide.
To Whom it may concern,
Last week Apple announced the launch of its iBooks 2 app which includes iBook Author, software designed to help writers lay out their Ebooks. [1][2]
There are many features in iBook Author which are quite useful for authors, particularly writers of textbooks. However, any perceived benefit from easy to use lay-out software is offset by one of the most far-reaching EULAs (End-User Licence Agreement) ever devised.