Weatherall's Law: IP in the land of Oz (and more)

I'm always looking for information about copyright. How it protects the rights of the authors/creators of a work and how encouraging people to do the "right thing" can be achieved.

I think the next iteration of the Copyright Act in Australia could well prove a bit more challenging than my poor understanding of it all can cope with. Especially when those with obviously more understanding of it seem to be having difficulty working out how it is supposed to be effective.

I have been reading Weatherall's Law: IP in the land of Oz (and more) (and others on the same topic) for a few weeks now, and it just makes me feel more confused as to the purpose of the new law - apart from the compliance aspect of current trade agreements.

How will the proposed criminal penalties affect how we use all this new technology in our libraries? Will it affect public libraries in different ways to educational libraries? I have a suspicion that this new copyright legislation in its current form could well prove challenging in how librarians can support/use some of the newer technologies.

I think the scariest part is the possibility that (apparently as it currently reads) being unaware of the law, and not having an intent to deprive the copyright holder of their dues would be no mitigating circumstance should criminal charges be laid.

Now I find that a scary thought.