LocalFOSS

Linux Australia president Jon Oxer has welcomed the release of the Australian House of Representatives Report of Technological Protection Measures under the AUSFTA.

"The report contains a range of measures that we feel will benefit both the industry and the consumer," said Oxer. "In particular the recommended exception for interoperability between computer programs and data, if adopted, will ensure that both the consumer and the industry are not shackled by vendor lock in or corporate agendas."

The report "clearly articulates the very issues that were a direct threat to Open Source developers and implementers in Australia and it is refreshing to see an informed and middle ground stance by the Government on this issue" says Rusty Russell, the Linux Australia IP Policy Advisor who has been lobbying about these issues for almost two years.

The report - released March 1st this year - contains recommendations that include a range of new exceptions to copyright anti-circumvention statutes as well as various other topics.

The report can be found here: http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/laca/protection/report.htm