A few thoughts on the below-referenced U.S./Australia free-trade agreement, from the Australian student who cracked Apple iTunes 4.5:

"The recent announcement of the pending Australian-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA) has sent shivers down the spines of many Australians, in all levels and areas of society.

However, one niche outcome of the AUSFTA that has not been significantly discussed in the Australian press and other public forums, is that of changes to our intellectual property laws.

Along with things such as the unnecessary increase in Copyright durations, which was put on the table [in] the states after huge lobbying by the entertainment industry (specifically Disney), comes a very frightening change which will bring 'tighter controls on circumventing technological protection of copyright material.'

This is equivalent to the core portions of the [U.S.] DMCA.

[...]

Bringing such laws to Australia is not necessary. The laws have [proven] useless in stopping copyright violations, but rather, have been used as a device by the media giants to maintain and increase their monopolies."

Via Slashdot via Frank Field.