Sponsor's Message

It seems that if you want an FTA with Uncle Sam, you also have to accept his idea of what constitutes fair and reasonable copyright protection, along with a few other aspects of US law.

Right now, our government is working very hard to also try and strike up an FTA with the USA, in the hope that it will benefit our exporters and manufacturers.

Well that's what they say -- but the reality is that the Aussie deal has produced very little direct benefit for Aussie businesses, with the vast majority of the benefits actually going to the USA itself.

Perhaps the biggest benefit the FTA has brought to Australia is that it makes it easier for them to attract overseas investment capital. In fact, without an FTA, New Zealand is at a decided disadvantage and many commentators believe we're already losing many investment deals to our Trans-Tasman cousin because of this.

But if an FTA is struck between NZ and the USA, what will this mean to our own copyright laws and, from this perspective, will become just another state of the USA?

Now have your say Got something to say about today's column, or want to see what others think?  Visit The Forums While you're here, why not visit the Aardvark Hall of Shame and perhaps make your own nomination.

Well according to this story on the IDG website today, that is unlikely to happen -- well not just yet anyway.

Associate commerce minister Judith Tizard assures us until an FTA is struck, US policy won't affect NZ policy.

Well that's cold comfort isn't it?

According to the minister, the government has "a commitment to go back to users and owners, so any legislation will be widely debated" -- which is poli-speak for "we'll make a lot of noise but ultimately, what the USA says goes".

Call me a cynic but I believe this whole "public consultation" thing is a crock.

Hands up all those who remember how the public was consulted on the issue of reducing the number of MPs in parliament?

An overwhelming majority of NZers stated very clearly in a referendum that indeed they did want fewer MPs in parliament. Do we have fewer MPs in parliament?

Given the amount of money involved and benefits to a privileged few with political connections, I strongly suspect that any "public consultation" on the matter of copyright law reform in the lead-up or wake of an FTA with the USA will receive exactly the same consideration by government as the results of that referendum did.

So I fear that it's only a matter of time before the DMCA becomes enshrined in our statutes as well as those of Australia.

Enjoy your limited freedoms while you can.

Lighten Up
It's time for your weekly dose of more mirth, mayhem and miscellany from the web.

Here's a very topical Flash animation, why not join Mr Otto at the Olympics. It just gets funnier and funnier.

In the wake of a documentary produced by Fox, there has been a great deal of debate over whether man actually landed on the moon or whether it was all a carefully crafted hoax. Well at last, here's the missing evidence.

Keep em coming folks!

If you feel that this is a good thing and/or you hold a "geniune affection" for yours truly -- then you are welcome to gift me some money using the buttons provided. In gifting this money you accept that no goods, service or other consideration is offered, provided, accepted or anticipated in return. Just click on the button to gift whatever you can afford. NOTE: PayPal bills in US dollars so don't accidentally gift more than what you were intending :-)

Contacting Aardvark
I'm always happy to hear from readers, whether they're delivering brickbats, bouquets or news tip-offs. If you'd like to contact me directly, please this form. If you're happy for me to republish your comments then please be sure and select For Publication.

Other media organisations seeking more information or republication rights are also invited to contact me.

Just add a couple of lines of JavaScript to your pages and you can get a free summary of Aardvark's daily commentary -- automatically updated each and every week-day.

Aardvark also makes a summary of this daily column available via XML using the RSS format. More details can be found here.

Contact me if you decide to use either of these feeds and have any problems.

Linking Policy
Want to link to this site? Check out Aardvark's Linking Policy.

Did you tell someone else about Aardvark today? If not then do it now!