Business News Legal

Aussie ISPs told to come up with anti-piracy plan by April

By | Published on Thursday 11 December 2014

Warning Letter

Internet service providers in Australia have been given until next April to come up with a voluntary code for better combating online copyright infringement, otherwise the country’s government will force new anti-piracy measures onto the net sector.

As previously reported, Australia’s Attorney-General George Brandis announced earlier this year that he was looking into new rules to help copyright owners stop the unlicensed consumption of their content online.

Most likely would be some kind of legislated web-blocking system forcing ISPs to block access to infringing websites, and/or a graduated response programme sending out warning letters to suspected file-sharers. So the usual suspects.

In most countries net firms have been very resistant to the suggestion they do more to combat piracy, though in the UK the ISPs have been less vocal in their opposition of late. Some in the Aussie net sector remain hostile to such suggestions though.

According to Billboard, the government has given ISPs 120 days to come up with their own anti-piracy programme. In a letter setting out this deadline, Brandis and Federal Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull wrote: “[We] recognise that addressing online copyright infringement is a complex task with shared responsibility between rights holders, ISPs and consumers. We also appreciate that this is a dynamic issue, affected by changing technology and consumer behaviour”.

They went on: “As such, the government has sought the least burdensome and most flexible way of responding to concerns about online copyright infringement, while protecting the legitimate interests of the rights holders in the protection of their intellectual property”.

It remains to be seen how the Australian ISPs respond, and whether a voluntary scheme can be hatched, or if new government regulation will, indeed, be required.



READ MORE ABOUT: