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Aussie ISPs launch ‘follow the money’ campaign to tackle piracy
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 9 September 2014
While the web industry at large is busy hitting out at proposals for new anti-piracy laws in Australia, internet service providers in the country are trying to reorder the debate by taking the lead in a ‘follow the money’ campaign similar to that advocated by Mike Weatherley MP and the City Of London Police in the UK.
As previously reported, lawmakers in Australia are considering proposals to introduce a three-strikes system and/or web-blocking to help content owners battle the illegal distribution of their content online.
But many in the tech sector argue that a better approach for tackling online piracy is to try and stop those websites that assist with the illegal distribution of content from generating any revenue, either via advertising or donations. To be fair, the content industries also support such measures, though often in addition to three-strikes and/or web-blocking.
Citing the success of ‘follow the money’ initiatives in the UK, John Stanton of Aussie ISP trade group The Communications Alliance told reporters: “We are hopeful that a very broad coalition of companies – not just in the telecommunications sector, but right across the economy – will join the strategy and make real inroads against infringement”.
Stanton’s remarks came ahead of a forum in Sydney to discuss the Australian government’s anti-piracy proposals, and are likely an attempt to persuade legislators that tactics to cut off the income of piracy operations are better than any of the other proposed piracy-tackling initiatives, or at least they should be employed first.
