Trouble is brewing for the likes of The Pirate Bay and Kick Ass Torrents as Foxtel confirms it is seeking legal advice on how to put new federal anti-piracy legislation into effect.
The pay TV company will become the first rights-holder to pursue legal action since the site-blocking legislation was passed by the Australian Parliament in June.
Foxtel said it was “currently assessing what action can and should be taken to give effect to the legislation”.
If Foxtel’s legal pursuit is successful, internet service providers (ISPs) will have to block access to the IP addresses of online pirating sites containing copyright infringing material.
“The Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Bill does nothing more than give copyright holders similar rights in relation to foreign websites which steal their content to those they would have if the sites were based in Australia,” a Foxtel spokesperson said.
“Because these pirate sites do not exist in Australia, rights holders are not able to take direct legal action against them. Similar laws exists in Europe, the UK, Singapore and many other jurisdictions.”
Choice Australia Policy and Campaigns advisor Sarah Agar said it was disappointing to see companies choosing to filter internet content instead of addressing why people pirate.
“We know the internet filter won’t work to stop piracy, given how easy it is to circumvent a website block with a VPN or other tools,” Ms Agar said.
“The filter does nothing to fix the underlying problems.”
A recent survey commissioned by the Department of Communications revealed that around 43 per cent of Australians accessed some of their content illegally, almost twice as much as those in Britain.
Melbourne student Isabelle Farlie said although she’d like to access content legally, she chooses to stream and torrent content online because it is free and more convenient.
The 20-year-old said she doesn’t think fines or suspension are much a deterrent for downloading content.
“I don’t think they could ever find each individual who pirates things so I don’t worry about it too much,” Ms Farlie said.
The survey revealed only 21 per cent of Australians would stop infringing if they received a letter from their ISP saying their account would be suspended. Australians said they were more likely to stop infringing if the legal content was cheaper, readily available and released the same time as it is elsewhere.
“If Foxtel was serious about stopping piracy, this is what they’d be doing instead of heading to the courts and messing with peoples’ internet access,” Ms Agar said.
“It begs the question – does Foxtel really care about reducing piracy, or is it just trying to protect its outdated business model from competition?”
Foxtel has made attempts to meet growing demand for content by offering same-day viewing of content such as “Game of Thrones”. The pay TV company launched its Foxtel Go streaming service earlier this year to compete with the likes of Netflix, Stan and Presto.
Photo credit: Jade Bate
