On the issue of intellectual property, in particular, almost 3,000 software developers from Australia and abroad have publicly opposed the proposed intellectual property clauses in the FTA.
Recently, a senate inquiry on the FTA was told why open source is actually anti-industry, and why protecting it is not in Australia's interests.
I believe that open-source activists don't represent the Australian software industry. Open source activists nowadays stress that they love and support copyright. Technically they are correct; they use copyright to force restrictions on downstream users. But in practice, the movement is an undermining of copyright. Open source uses copyright to strip the benefit from the creator, rejecting the original intent of copyright. It relies on the original drafters of copyright never imagining that beneficiaries of copyright would use it to deny benefits to themselves.
My submission to the inquiry is reprinted below.
I would like to address some of the claims that open source activists and other copyright opponents made in hearings before the two Committees.
In general terms, I see harmonisation with Western copyright regimes as being important in building Australia's creative industries. I disagree with the general concerns expressed about this aspect of the FTA, especially with respect to the alleged open source industry. Open source is actually an anti-industry, and protecting it is not in Australia's interests.
I am a research software engineer, copyright owner and policy researcher. I have a strong interest in the success of Australian creative industries, particularly software. I have studied and worked in those industries for 20 years, and personally developed several valuable software technologies.
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"Open Source is bad for Australia" is such a blanket statement that I would have to disagree.
The author makes valid points about GPL on occasions hindering, rather than enhancing business, but GPL is not the only Open Source model. GPL is often used with the attitude "I am not making any money out of publishing this code, so why should anyone else." Unfortunately, R&D investment can not be warranted "commercially" on a GPL system, because the entity spending the money does not get any benefit (except knowing they might make the world a better place).
There are also instances where Open Source would be detrimental to commercial interests in Australia. But Open Source often brings benefits, which is why I disagree. One of the problems with proprietary source code is that if the particular vendor goes bankrupt, or a relationship sours with a vendor, your data is effectively held hostage (Most of the time, you can not simply port to another vendor's package). Whilst open source doesn't guarentee flexibility (there may be binding contracts even in open source), in my view you are certainly more secure.
Secondly, many open source products are free. This is not co-incidental, but a consequence of GPL and alike. In fact, this is one of the factors hinted at in the article. I would like to suggest that Open Source classes, databases, languages, APIs and alike can significantly reduce development time. Most open source products have public documentation, so they don't need to be re-documented. Furthermore, not having to pay license fees can assist a software company to be more profitable.
Thirdly, on following on from point two, cheaper development costs inevitably lead to more competitive markets and cheaper prices to the end user. This makes software more accessable to Australians.