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Government Reviews Impact of Copyright Technology

Government Reviews Impact of Copyright Technology

Reforms to the Copyright Act that came into force in 2001 to address the impact of new technology are up for their three-yearly roadworthy certificate. As part of review announced by the federal government's attorney-general, the impact of a range of legal and illegal copyright cracking devices will come under the microscope.

Law firm Phillips Fox has been contracted to analyse the worth of the so-called "Digital Agenda" amendments over the next nine months. A statement from the attorney-general says that the "most controversial aspects" will come under scrutiny and key stakeholders are to be consulted in addition to a series of public forums, with technical, economic and legal aspects of the amendments to be considered.

As part of the review, Phillips Fox will research and analyse the economic impact of the act in relation to the markets of copyright holders, the use of technological protection measures and electronic rights management, and provisions that allow the decompilation of computer programs for specific purposes.

At the time of their launch, the reforms were touted as providing the legal framework to meet the challenges posed by emerging technologies and to "place Australia at the forefront of international developments in online copyright law."

Antipiracy groups that have launched actions or position papers in the last three months include the Australian Pay Television and Radio Association, the Business Software Association of Australia (BSAA) and Music Piracy Investigations (Australia Pty Ltd).

Research commissioned this year by the BSAA claims that a 10 per cent reduction in software piracy in Australia would create 7000 new jobs and inject more than $5 billion into the Australian economy, a figure that is widely viewed within the IT industry as somewhat over-optimistic.

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