US Expands Censorship in Australian Colony

[Nar Gilah]

[22]The Lengthening Arm of Uncle Sam's `Pirate' Justice

* [23]Myles Peterson
* May 6, 2012

File-sharing was firmly on the agenda when the head of the US
Department of Homeland Security touched down in the Australian capital
last week. The four new agreements - promptly signed before Secretary
Janet Napolitano flew back out of Canberra - were less about sharing
season two of Game of Thrones and more about sharing the private,
government held information of Australian citizens with US authorities.

pirate sam "Because today's threats do not recognise national
boundaries, our responses must also transcend borders," Ms Napolitano
[27]told her hosts in a speech overly dominated by assurances the US
would respect the privacy of Australian citizens.

The legal reach of the US government has lengthened considerably over
the past decade. Under the banner of fighting terrorism, law after law
has been introduced, up to and including the creation of the Department
of Homeland Security itself. Allies of the United States have signed up
to bi-lateral and multi-lateral treaties giving that country enormous
power over non-US citizens.

The perceived imbalance of many of these arrangements is starting to
draw official protests. British Parliamentarian Dominic Raab
[28]recently stated, "Richard O'Dwyer [is] subject to US extradition
orders based on [his] actions in Britain. Yet, no American has ever
been extradited for alleged offences committed on US soil. It smacks of
double standards, and strengthens the case for extradition reform."

[29]Richared O'Dwyer`s alleged crimes involve facilitating copyright
infringement via the website TVShack.net. Midway through 2010,
Napolitano's department used America's control of the .net domain name
register to extraterritoriality seize the TVShack domain.

Just under a year later the US Justice Department sought to have
O'Dwyer extradited for alleged breaches of US law. O'Dwyer's supporters
have strongly questioned why a UK citizen can be sent to the US,
despite having committed no crime on US soil for an offence that has
generally been considered a civil, not criminal, matter.

Meanwhile in New Zealand, German celebrity hacker and internet
entrepreneur Kim Dotcom is also fighting extradition to the United
States for allegedly breaching the copyright of US corporate interests.
Unlike the 23-year-old O'Dwyer, Dotcom has gained global media
attention thanks to a high profile and [30]limited access to
considerable resources.

While facing extradition to Sweden from the UK, Wikileaks' Julian
Assange also fears the ever lengthening arm of US justice. Sweden holds
a "special" arrangement with the United States which allows that
country to temporarily surrender people into American custody. Assange
and his supporters believe that should he be sent to Sweden, he will be
promptly handed to the US authorities. (Although it should be asked why
Assange does not fear he will be extradited by the British Government
themselves.)

Should either the UK or Sweden fail to do America's bidding, the
Australia Government reportedly has a contingency plan. In March this
year, the Australian federal parliament passed the [31]Extradition and
Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation Amendment Act,
lowering the bar to extradite its own citizens while removing many
previously held defences.

Combined with so-called "[32]Wikileaks Amendments" and other expansions
of their powers in the post 911 era, Australia's spy agencies are now
equipped to legally snoop on Australian citizens and share the
information internally. Napolitano's visit and the agreements she and
Australian Attorney-General Nicola Roxon signed allow for much greater
sharing of that information with the US government.

Australia's [33]Rama Brothers may consider themselves fortunate their
copyright infringement trial began before this bilateral legal regime
was expanded to its current form. Both received suspended jail
sentences under the Queensland legal system, unlike Britain's Richard
O'Dwyer who faces a lengthy sentence in a foreign country. Future Rama
Brothers will conceivably be shipped off to the United States for trial
and punishment, with little to no ability to challenge an extradition
under Australian law.

Last month the Australian High Court [34]emphatically rejected an
attempt by Hollywood studios to have local ISPs held responsible for
the file-sharing activities of their customers. The legal precedent is
binding in Australia and influential in countries who share a similar
legal system such as India, Canada and the UK.

Through bypassing the courts and going straight to our legislators, who
are [35]arguably compromised in their ability to deal with the United
States, the American Government is achieving the outcomes Hollywood
lawyers and lobbyists could not. If Australian law will not deliver the
results entities such as the RIAA and MPAA are pleased with, it can be
circumnavigated by applying US law instead.

We have reached a point in Australia where citizens can be arrested and
extradited to the United States based on information supplied by
Australian spies for breaches of US law on Australian soil. Australia
has effectively signed away its right to govern its own in matters of
copyright infringement when those matters overlap the interests of the
United States.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

About The Author

Myles Peterson was on the periphery of the Melbourne Underground in the
early 90s, sharing games that were unavailable or censored in
Australia. Peterson's former employers include the Departments of Prime
Minister & Cabinet, Environment and Health, law firm Mallesons and most
recently Fairfax Media where he was a journalist.

[36]Follow @mylespeterson

Related Posts

* [37]Australian Police Accused of Mass Software Piracy
* [38]The Department For ACTA
* [39]ISP: Secret Anti-BitTorrent Piracy Talks Are Failing
* [40]Australia: US Copyright Colony or Just a Good Friend?
* [41]Aussie ISPs Propose Anti-FileSharing Warning Notice Scheme

References

22. http://torrentfreak.com/the-lengthening-arm-of-uncle-sams-pirate-
justice-120506/
23. http://torrentfreak.com/author/myles-peterson/
24. http://torrentfreak.com/the-lengthening-arm-of-uncle-sams-pirate-
justice-120506/#disqus_thread
25. http://torrentfreak.com/tag/australia/
26. javascript:window.print()
27. http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/speeches/2012-napolitano-remarks-australia-
national-university.shtm
28. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9237663/No-American-
citizens-extradited-to-UK-over-crimes-allegedly-committed-in-US.html
29. http://torrentfreak.com/pirating-uk-student-to-be-extradited-to-the-
us-120313/
30. https://torrentfreak.com/megauploads-kim-dotcom-gets-750-000-
back-120428/
31. http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/
Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r4620
32. http://www.crikey.com.au/2011/07/05/asio-gets-its-new-powers-and-no-
one-will-tell-us-why/
33. http://torrentfreak.com/moviex-bittorrent-tracker-founders-escape-
jail-time-110914/
34. http://torrentfreak.com/iinet-isp-not-liable-for-bittorrent-piracy-
high-court-rules-120420/
35. http://torrentfreak.com/australia-us-copyright-colony-or-just-a-
good-friend-120121/
36. https://twitter.com/mylespeterson
37. http://torrentfreak.com/australian-police-accused-of-mass-software-
piracy-120424/
38. http://torrentfreak.com/the-department-for-acta-120325/
39. http://torrentfreak.com/isp-secret-anti-bittorrent-piracy-talks-are-
failing-120322/
40. http://torrentfreak.com/australia-us-copyright-colony-or-just-a-
good-friend-120121/
41. http://torrentfreak.com/aussie-isps-propose-anti-filesharing-
warning-notice-scheme-111125/