Re: Not about Ivan :)

<snip>

At 08:51 PM 09/19/2000 , John Murray wrote:
>Yes, but legal constraints are a function of the regulations themselves and
>both the propensity for authorities to prosecute and private individuals to
>litigate.

</snip>
True, but if you have a government that is hell bent on total control, then
you have a nation full of people so busy trying to keep up with what's
legal and what's not, that they don't have time to worry about trying to
sue each other :) 

Last month in the Australian Parliament, a bill was passed (the Australian
Security Intelligence Organization Legislation Amendment 1999). All that is
required now is the ceremonial go ahead from the Governor General, and it
becomes law. Under the new law, the Attorney General can authorize legal
hacking into any private computer system and the alteration or removal of
data.  All that is required is for him to believe that it is relevant to
some "security" risk.  No permission required...they can just do
it...keyboard spies.

You can read more here: 

http://wired.lycos.com/news/politics/0,1283,32853,00.html

<snip>
>I'm not totally up to speed on it but Australia has sought to tighten
>censorship type law - is that right? Property rights have had no changes to
>specifically deal with issues raised by the internet. Is that right?
</snip>

The new censorship laws to be implemented by the ABA (Australian
Broadcasting Authority) come into effect in just over three weeks and
confusion reigns supreme.

more here: 

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,32942,00.html

You can read the original Digital Amendment 2000 Bill recommendations here.

http://www.sage-au.org.au/news/press_release_13.12.1999.html )

What they detailed was modifying the Copyright Act to prohibit the caching
of copyrighted electronic information. According to the System
Administrators Guild of Australia, this would make all proxy servers and
web browsers illegal in Australia...*cough*

Then there was the case of the hapless fellow in New South Wales (I think)
who dared to put up a website with stock prices etc. He wasn't a licensed
stock broker, so he was told to take the site down...what he was doing was
illegal.  I can't remember the exact detail on this, but from memory, I
think he transferred the site to a New Zealand domain...they tracked him
down, and he went to jail for his trouble. Not a life sentence, but he now
has a criminal record. There has to be more info on this on the web
somewhere if somebody wants to track it down.

Whilst they're so busy going into "control mode" it would be nice if they
got things right in their own backyard. The ability to register for an ABN
(Australian Business Number) online, saw the site being hacked with little
difficulty and personal information being available to pretty much anyone
that wanted it...ahem..just a small gaff :) 

On a personal note...I have a domain name in the US....the company is not
registered in Australia, so I can't trade here using that name until it is
registered with Corporate Affairs and I have an ABN and deal with the GST
and all the other lovely red tape. I can't register a new domain name here
or in the US until I register the name with Corporate Affairs in Australia
and jump through all the hoops. 

On the other hand, I can register a business name here, jump through all
the hoops and THEN get hosting in the US which is exactly what I intend to do. 

<snip>
>Still, I take your point. What's the weather like in Moscow. I could take to
>Vodka :)
</snip>

I dunno about the weather in Moscow and you can have the Vodka...I'll
settle for some good ribs, a LARGE margarita and a Texas night sky :))))))))))

Kym










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