-- JonathanMo - 14 Sep 2015

Technological Protection Measures (TPMs)

Criminal penalties and civil remedies exist for making, importing and commercially dealing in devices and services which circumvent technological copyright protection measures (such as decryption software). There is an exception if the device or service is going to be used for various 'permitted purposes' (such as certain activities by libraries, educational institutions, governments, and decompilers of software organisations for the relevant purpose). There are also criminal penalties and civil remedies for manufacturing or dealing in devices designed to enable the unauthorised reception of encoded subscription broadcasts (for example, decoders designed to allow unauthorised reception of pay TV signals).

As a result of the US-Australia free trade agreement, amendments were required to amendments to the CA to include the following provisions:

• sanctions against the use, manufacture and supply of devices designed to circumvent TPMs that control access (whether or not that access control is for the purposes of inhibiting or preventing infringement)
• sanctions against the use of a circumvention device or service to get access to copyright material
• considerably restricted exceptions, rather than 'permitted purposes', relating to the supply or use of a circumvention device or service
• introduction of legislative or administrative proceedings to greater control the conditions under which a person may be allowed to circumvent a TPM in order to make non-infringing uses of copyright material.