> Personal Message: > I wonder if others on the list are starting to get as concerned about this free > trade bit as I am?
I'm worried about the changes to Intellectual Property that will come about as a result. Excepting the FTA will mean that Australia will adopt the US patents systems, and other IP related systems. The US Intellectual Properties laws have become a disgusting tool for big business to stifle innovation, competition and creativity, and the adoption of such laws will only make Australian businesses and individual more beholden to large US corporate interests. I read an article recently where the author claimed (with good evidence) that so far, every FTA between other countries and the US has involved signing up to US IP laws, and that the US were willing to negotiate on almost any part of the agreement but this. The author claimed that the US is using these FTA's to force US IP laws on other countries because, regardless of what they would need to give up in the short term, this was good for the long term interests of large US corporations. Sadly, IP law is complex, and as such not easy fodder for the media to tackle, so it's been ignored for the most part. However, these changes to IP laws will dramatically impact on small to medium size businesses in Australia, as well as individuals. Rodd ------------------------------------------------------ - You are subscribed to the mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put in the message body 'unsubscribe insights-l' (ell, not one (1)) See: http://nsw.uca.org.au/insights-l-information.htm ------------------------------------------------------
