u can but not oz....
Aussie Government admits Kockums' propeller details
given away to US..
===http://www.abc.net.au/pm/stories/s260911.htm
PM Archive - Thursday, 15 March , 2001 00:00:00
Reporter: Camille Funnell
COMPERE: The Federal Court today heard that the Commonwealth
Government had admitted handing to the United States top secret
design drawings of the propeller for Collins Class
Submarines.
KOCKUMS, the propellers' designer, is seeking an injunction in the
Federal Court to stop the Government from delivering one of its
Collins Class propellers to the US Navy. The Commonwealth had
previously given an undertaking not to hand over the propeller
pending today's court hearing. But as Camille Funnel reports, in
spite of that commitment the court was today told that the
propellers' design had been handed over to the US several years'
ago.
CAMILLE FUNNEL: The case now before the Federal Court is about
intellectual property rights and a submarine propeller, the most
vital and secret part of a submarine.
Kockums, the leading designer of non-nuclear submarine technology,
maintains the submarine's propeller is highly commercial sensitive
information that must be protected. That's why, the company says,
propellers are covered up when they're not in water.
Kockums, a Swedish company, has accused the Federal Government of
failing to protect its intellectual property rights by sending one
of its Collins Class propellers to the US Navy for service. Last
month the Commonwealth promised not to release the propeller to the
US Navy pending today's court hearing, so the propeller is now
being housed in closed storage on a boat two days off the US
coast.
Kockums was well pleased it had stopped the delivery of its
propeller to the US Navy, that is, until today. This morning, as
the Federal Court was about to begin hearing the matter, counsel
for Kockums, Brian Rayment [phonetic] QC, was presented with an
affidavit which, he said, showed a great deal more material had
already been provided by the Commonwealth to the US than was
previously suggested.
After a brief adjournment Mr Rayment QC told the court the
affidavit handed to him that morning stated copies of the design
drawings of the propeller had been made available to the US several
years' ago. Mr Rayment told the court the author of the affidavit,
a senior public servant, a Mr Stuart [phonetic], had 'been kept in
the dark' about the matter by other officers of the Commonwealth
until yesterday. The court was later told Mr Stuart was the
director of Submarine Platform for the Commonwealth
Government.
While one propeller is now in the waters off the US coastline, the
Federal Court was today told on two other occasions the Federal
Government had sent its Collins Class propellers to the US. Mr
Rayment told the court the first had been sent in 1998 and he said
no consent had been sought from Kockums. They did the same thing
again, he told the court, in 1999, again without the permission of
Kockums.
Mr Rayment said Kockums' motivation in taking the Federal
Government to court was simply to protect its confidential
information. He said it had been proposed that a sub-contractor to
the US Navy do work on the propellers and that sub-contractor was a
competitor to Kockums, they also made propellers. Mr Rayment said
in light of the affidavit stating that designs had been handed over
to the US several years' ago, Kockums may well [inaudible] in its
court action against the Federal Government.
A decision on that is likely later tonight, when legal counsel for
Kockums speak to the company's headquarters in Sweden.
COMPERE: Camille Funnel.
1.u wont be a second time stupid.Right?
2.would the 180 years sub contractors trust oz again even
with
the settlement
Monday, 28 June 2004 123/2004
Joint media release fr Aussie Ministers for Defense and Finance and
Administration
NEW ERA FOR AUSTRALIAN SUBMARINES
(Aussie)Defence Minister Robert Hill and Finance Minister Nick
Minchin today announced a settlement of all outstanding commercial
issues relating to the Collins Class submarines between the
Department of Defence, Australian Submarine Corporation and Kockums
AB of Sweden.
The key features of the settlement are as follows:
§ Defence and ASC have full access to Kockums intellectual
property for maintaining, supporting and upgrading the Collins
Class submarines throughout the life of the Class.
§ Formal termination of the various contracts between the parties
for the design and construction of the submarines, and subsequent
settlement of all claims arising from these contracts.
§ Provision of a contract under which Defence and ASC may have
access to Kockums design services for support of the Collins Class
submarines as required.
The settlement provides full access for Defence, ASC and their
subcontractors to Kockums intellectual property for the Collins
Class submarines within a framework that protects Kockums
proprietary information and also facilitates Australian access to
United States submarine technology.
The Ministers said they were pleased with the outcome of the
settlement, which will provides an effective and sustainable basis
to increase Australias in-country capability to support its
submarine fleet.
The settlement marks the end of long and complex negotiations
between Defence, ASC and Kockums, and the subsequent beginning of a
new era for ASC as the company strengthens its role as designer and
provider of through-life support of the Collins Class
submarines.
All future work by ASC in maintaining, supporting and upgrading the
submarines will be carried out through a long term strategic
relationship with Defence under the $3.5 billion Through-Life
Support Contract signed in December last year.
The superb capabilities of the Collins Class submarines will now
be further enhanced, as will their valuable contribution to the
nations defence and their strategic support of our allies, the
Ministers said.
This settlement will ensure the submarines remain at the forefront
of technological advances and continue to maintain their
world-class capability.
The Ministers noted that the settlement with Kockums brings to an
end the ongoing legal negotiations and proceedings and expressed
their appreciation to Kockums for their assistance in resolving
these issues.
ENDS
