Communications Law Centre launch
[Wednesday, 17 February 2010]

A new voice in protecting freedom of expression


Australia's only independent centre representing the public interest in the media and communications industries is being launched early next month by the University of Technology, Sydney.

The non-profit Communications Law Centre (CLC), specialising in media, communications and online law and policy will be welcomed on Wednesday 3 March by the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy.

The centre's Director, Professor Michael Fraser, for 21 years the CEO of the Copyright Agency Limited, said the CLC will represent community concerns in the coming shakeout of Australia's media and communications.

'We're on the cusp of a new information economy and we are working out the ground rules now,' Professor Fraser said. 'There are landmark legal cases and issues, such as the liability of internet service providers, the Google books deal, proposed content filtering and the rollout of the national broadband network (NBN).

'Whoever controls communications can control the society and the decisions being made are crucial to the maintenance of liberal democracy. The CLC will contribute to the debate and promote policy to serve the public.'

Supported by UTS's faculties of Law and Arts and Social Sciences, the CLC is the descendant of a centre first established in 1988 at the University of NSW, which moved to Victoria University before closing in 2008.

'The original centre made great contributions to law reform, policy and public debate and I hope to build on the work of my predecessors,' Professor Fraser said. 'Ultimately it's about freedom of expression and that's why I do it.

'We will intervene in the public interest in court cases and have already done so ahead of this official launch, in particular the cash-for-comment case before the Federal Court last year.'

Professor Fraser, recently awarded an AM for service to the arts, particularly through the promotion of the interests and rights of Australian authors and artisans, will deliver a UTSpeaks public lecture on the vexed issue of copyright in the digital age on Thursday 20 April.

A leader in developing international norms and systems for management of rights across borders, he will argue the case for radical regulatory reform that could produce a win-win result for both content producers and consumers.

The 3 March CLC launch, at the offices of Clayton Utz, will be preceded by a seminar, NBN: The State of Play, delivered by the CEO Communications Alliance Anne Hurley and the CEO NBN Co Mike Quigley.