Published on the 29/07/2014 | Written by Newsdesk
More detail has emerged regarding the Federal Government’s planned crackdown on internet piracy – which splits responsibility between copyright holders, ISPs and consumers…
A discussion paper into online copyright infringement championed by the attorney general Senator George Brandis and the minister for communications, Malcolm Turnbull, can be viewed on the internet courtesy of online news service Crikey. The planned crackdown has been rumoured for several weeks.
For businesses which produce or access large volumes of copyright material for dissemination over the internet, the report makes interesting reading. It suggests that Australia may well head along the same road as the US and the UK which have copyright alert systems in place which oblige ISPs, once alerted to a particular copyright infringement, to send warning notices to consumers – presumably corporate or individuals – to stop the infringing behaviour.
Recidivists can have their activities thwarted by a reduction in internet speed, or site blocking. Without the ability to apportion costs, ISPs would have to shoulder the burden themselves, which would likely force up the cost of internet access for all.
The discussion paper (which can be viewed here) however also notes New Zealand’s graduated response system, which also allows ISPs to charge consumers for every violation notice processed by the ISP.
While most of the responsibility seems to fall at the feet of ISPs, the discussion paper does note that rights holders need to ensure content can be accessed easily and at a reasonable price by consumers. Where it fails to give any guidance is on what might constitute a “reasonable price”.
It is also not yet prescriptive as to the steps that an ISP could take to ensure copyright is properly protected.
According to the report; “The Government believes that even when an ISP does not have direct power to prevent a person from doing a particular infringing act, there still may be reasonable steps that can be taken by the ISP to discourage or reduce any copyright infringement.”
The paper calls for suggestions as to what those “reasonable” steps might be, and how it might measure the success of any online copyright crackdown. It has also sought comment from business as to the regulatory impacts that the proposals could have.
According to the paper posted on the internet, submissions will be accepted until 24 August.
