Dear Australia: Software Knows No Borders

from the yeah,-that'll-work dept

Wed, Jan 14th 2009 3:45am — Mike Masnick

Ross Lazarus points us to the rather surprising news that an increasing number of Sun MySQL employees have been barred from entering Australia on short-term business visas, due to the worry that they'll somehow "compete" with local businesses. There certainly may be more to this story, but on the face of it, it seems pretty ridiculous. Preventing employees of a certain company from entering your country may (barely) have made sense in the past and in some specific industries, but with software on today's internet, it's positively laughable. Somehow I doubt that the "local" Australian database developer community is resting easier thanks to their country's border patrol safely keeping MySQL employees abroad.

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Filed Under: australia, customs, mysql, open source software
Companies: sun

15 Comments

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EH, 14 Jan 2009 @ 4:39am

Non-story
Just about any country does that. Go to Canada some time and say it's for business, or to do any sort of work whatsoever. The real story hear is that there are people who don't know that your reason for visiting is always vacation.
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FarSide, 14 Jan 2009 @ 4:58am

Re: Non-story
Seems like it might be hard to apply for a "short-term business license" and say it's because you are on vacation...
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Dave, 14 Jan 2009 @ 5:01am

Re: Non-story
No, saying your are on vacation is lying. I go to Canada a lot and the magic phrase is "I'm here to consult with ". I know it is silly, but "work" = bad, "consult" = OK.
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Dave, 14 Jan 2009 @ 5:51am

Re: Re: Non-story
I've gone to enter the US and used both of those words to get sent for secondary screening and yelled at that I'm stealing American jobs.

Once I got sent back (not refused) by an overzealous border guard.

Don't laugh at Australia when the US does much the same.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jan 2009 @ 5:53am

hahaha
mySQL people can't enter! Heavens! I guess they will have to grow Australian nationals into mySQL gurus then!
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simon, 14 Jan 2009 @ 5:55am

good ideea, wrong application
while is nice to see that some care about local software production stopping foreign competition at country border is stupid, better give support (tax wise or whatever) for those who buy domestic software and help domestic industry to develop and promote this in media, then stopping people at border...
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Parker, 14 Jan 2009 @ 6:22am

Australian Border Patrol Is Crazy
I went to Australia a few years ago on a student visa to do a one-year post-graduate degree. I order to bring avoid paying hefty duty charges on my laptop, I had to bring proof that I had purchased it a year before the day I was to enter Australia.
An American Football team traveling on the same plan as me had to unload all of their luggage at customs and wash off the bottom of their cleats so as not to bring any foreign soil or seeds onto Australian turf.
That seems reasonable to me, not barring entry of newer laptops or database dudes.

I definitely agree with Simon that resources should be better sent supporting local software development.
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DS, 14 Jan 2009 @ 6:42am

Re: Australian Border Patrol Is Crazy
"I definitely agree with Simon that resources should be better sent supporting local software development."

Then they should make a better product, or have better service. That way, they won't need gov't protection. With gov't protection, every Bruce in Australia will be stuck with products that can't compete on the world market.
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PaulT (profile), 14 Jan 2009 @ 7:10am

Re: Non-story
So, you don't think that the fact that Australia is apparently banning the employees of a particular company is newsworthy, just because they didn't bother lying at immigration? What a strange viewpoint.

I'm sure you wouldn't mind it if I lied at immigration next time I visit the US, maybe overstay my visa and/or negotiate contracts away from local companies while I'm there... After all, everyone does it according to you.
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DS78, 14 Jan 2009 @ 9:00am

Another good phrase
My company has both a US and Canadian branch. When I travel to the Canadian sites I just tell them I'll be in meetings for the duration of my stay. The never ask any other questions...
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Virtual Web Symphony, 14 Jan 2009 @ 9:34am

Issue is some thing differrent
I don't believe that Australia can deny entry just on this flimsy ground. There is something more which is not understood from this report.
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nasch, 14 Jan 2009 @ 10:47am

Check the link
Check the original source for this:

http://blogs.mysql.com/kaj/2009/01/12/on-open-source-and-open-competition-in-a-not-so-open- world/

The claim that the visas were denied for competition reasons looks to me like pure speculation. All the guys knows is one person was denied a visa for unknown reasons, and the other decided not to go because he thought he might be denied entry.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jan 2009 @ 12:43pm

Re: Non-story
All business is conducted on vacations these days anyway... better environment for both sides of a deal, keeps everyone friendly and energetic. Vacation more!
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Sos, 14 Jan 2009 @ 3:18pm

So the "increasing number" turns out to be two, one of which actually got a visa but decided not to come because he 'might' be overturned by immigration.

This sounds like a case of a visa being rejected due to belief that the holder will violate the visa conditions, which Australian immigration does quite regularly. This can be as stupid as coming in on a vacation visa but bringing a hardcopy of your resume
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whatever, 19 Jan 2009 @ 3:50pm

Dear Techdirt
Once again your lack of fact-checking skills rears its head. Sensationalism at the expense of the facts. Tsk, tsk.
Nice job. You just lost a loyal and long-time reader.
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