Oh boy, I'm really annoyed (Everyone: "How annoyed?"). I'm so annoyed that I'm creating a new CSS class just to express it. It looks like the Australian Labour Party is set to pass the FTA legislation. Among the FTA's many aims is the "harmonisation" of Australian copyright and Intellectual Property (whatever that is) laws with those of the USA. The Senate's own analysis expects a whopping 0.7% increase in projected GDP over the next decade as a result of passing this legislation.

WOW!

And what are the other costs of this legislation, to generate this tremendous boost to Australia's economy?

• Sweeping new powers to copyright holders will create a massive legal burden to ISPs
• The government's own papers highlight the negative impact on local industries and consumers of new Intellectual Property provisions in the FTA
• Major US environmental protection organisations are convinced the agreement will have a negative impact on the environment.

and so on. This sucks. Particularly if you use and support Open Source software. Check out more well-reasoned complaints here. Time to move to Brazil. update: The Sydney Morning Herald has posted a piece explaining why the AUS-FTA may destroy the software industry in Australia.