i have been so caught up with stuff going on around my life personally, that i have not had a chance to follow up on this stuff.
the david hicks debacle shows clearly that our current federal government is more interested in 'being friendly' toward the usa than worrying about the rights of australian citizens. [do note that mr griffiths is a british national, not an australian.]
i have said elsewhere that copyright laws are stupid, doubly so in the usa. this is not really about copyright - as you point out - it's about the inappropriate use of power, and the hard-to-justify continuing failure of our executive government to care about the rule of (our) law.
with hicks the 'argument' was that, well, he hadn't committed any offences against australian law and would have to "go free" unless we let the usa make up a law of their own to convict him of ... O_o
here we have the usa applying a dumbarse law of their own making against a person outside of their jursidiction - but for the helpful intervention of our government. who chose to hand him over.
it's not that our government is subsuming our sovereignty to the usa, so much as only when dealing with the usa do they consider the laws and policies and politics and economics and bullshit of the usa to be in need of our compliance/complicity. oh, wait a moment ... O_o
it is very clear that the single most obvious characteristic of the neocons* is that money is the only value. it is god.
to face the possibility of extradition over allegations of theft/fraud of $1000 gives copyright law - usa copyright law - a position unlike any other. it costs more than that just to fly a single person to the usa. extradition requires at least one, usually two, babysitters (erm, police) to accompany. that's not to consider the other costs involved.
in other news: i'm getting my british passport as soon as i can. and will be using it any time i have to enter usa controlled-territory.
* none of their cons are new. just stupidly in power at the moment :(
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2007-05-11 04:37 am (UTC)the david hicks debacle shows clearly that our current federal government is more interested in 'being friendly' toward the usa than worrying about the rights of australian citizens. [do note that mr griffiths is a british national, not an australian.]
i have said elsewhere that copyright laws are stupid, doubly so in the usa. this is not really about copyright - as you point out - it's about the inappropriate use of power, and the hard-to-justify continuing failure of our executive government to care about the rule of (our) law.
with hicks the 'argument' was that, well, he hadn't committed any offences against australian law and would have to "go free" unless we let the usa make up a law of their own to convict him of ... O_o
here we have the usa applying a dumbarse law of their own making against a person outside of their jursidiction - but for the helpful intervention of our government. who chose to hand him over.
it's not that our government is subsuming our sovereignty to the usa, so much as only when dealing with the usa do they consider the laws and policies and politics and economics and bullshit of the usa to be in need of our compliance/complicity. oh, wait a moment ... O_o
it is very clear that the single most obvious characteristic of the neocons* is that money is the only value. it is god.
to face the possibility of extradition over allegations of theft/fraud of $1000 gives copyright law - usa copyright law - a position unlike any other. it costs more than that just to fly a single person to the usa. extradition requires at least one, usually two, babysitters (erm, police) to accompany. that's not to consider the other costs involved.
in other news: i'm getting my british passport as soon as i can. and will be using it any time i have to enter usa controlled-territory.
* none of their cons are new. just stupidly in power at the moment :(