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ISPs propose 3-warning rule for pirates

Industry agrees on 3 warnings issued to pirates before movie and TV studios can seek their details for civil action.

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2015-02-21_0133Internet Service Providers have now drafted an industry code of practice to deal with internet piracy, following the government’s demands that they agree on a set of rules or the government would do it for them.

The draft code follows parties being unable to reach agreement on how such a system would operate, including who would fund its enforcement.

Under the proposed rules, ISPs would issue pirates with three written warnings, before Rights Holders could seek their details for civil action in the courts.

“An ISP must not accept any requests by a Rights Holder to, disclose any personal information including the identity or any contact details of an Account Holder at any stage of the copyright notice scheme, unless there is a court order or written permission from the Account Holder expressly authorising such disclosure of personal information,” the draft states.

The draft code is specifically limited to residential fixed home internet connections. ISPs will be forced to keep track of customers’ IP addresses and be obligated to issue an escalating series of warnings to those accused of illicitly downloading movies and TV shows.

Those three graduated, written warnings are:

Step 1: Educational Notice

Warnings received by subscribers for their first alleged offense are designed to be educational. The notice will advise that a rightsholder has observed an infringement while detailing the content involved plus a time and date.

The notice will acknowledge that the account holder is not necessarily the infringer and will contain assurances that no information about the subscriber has been shared with a third party. Recipients will be warned, however, that they are now at a greater risk of being exposed to rightsholder legal action.

Any questions about the notice can be sent to the Copyright Information Panel, an adjudication body comprised of ISP and rightsholder representatives.

Step 2: Warning Notice

Second notices sent to errant subscribers are framed as a warning. Like educational notices they will detail the alleged infringement but will also underline the fact that the subscriber has already received an Educational Notice.

At this stage no information about the subscriber will be passed to rightsholders but will contain a stern warning.

“Receipt of a further notice may result in a Rights Holder instituting court proceedings against the Account Holder, including a preliminary discovery application to obtain the Account Holder’s details,” the draft reads.

Any questions about the notice can again be directed towards the Copyright Information Panel.

Step 3: Final Notice

In addition to detailing the alleged infringement, subscribers will be reminded that they have already received Educational and Warning notices.

The subscriber will be required to acknowledge receipt of a Final Notice (via registered letter or popups) and will be advised that rightholders may go to court to obtain their identity.

ISPs will make a record that a Final Notice has been sent to the subscriber but will not be required to send any further notices to an account holder who receives a Final Notice within 12 months of receiving an Educational Notice.

ISP customers can also appeal to an ‘Adjudication Panel’ if they are issued with three notices within a 12-month period.

Subscribers who feel they have been wrongly accused can file a Challenge Notice with the adjudication panel. An appeal will cost the subscriber $25 but will be refunded if the appeal is upheld. Fees may also be waived if the panel believes that would be appropriate.

But Choice campaigns manager Erin Turner said, “This scheme sets up a David versus Goliath struggle, letting corporate giants such as Foxtel and Village Roadshow Limited use their legal force against everyday Australians.

The Communications Alliance is seeking public comment on the draft code. The public comment period closes 5pm on 23 March.

 

Source: Fairfax, Computer World, Torrent Freak

41 Responses

  2. David, what happens if your an australian viewer and you don’t have foxtel, a show you like Airs on foxtel and you decide to wait for the show to come out on DVD but the show doesn’t come out on DVD?

    1. Effectively what happens is you miss out on the show. Bear in mind there are now new price entry points for Foxtel if you are really that keen. But a non-DVD release is not a free pass to break the law in any court.

    2. I am yet to find a current show where this happens. Even if the DVD is not released in Oz it is usually released in an OS market (usually cheaper and better quality as well). Most DVD/BR players nowadays are region free. Or come with instructions on how to make them so 🙂

  3. Sorry, but the truth is most people who have commented on this issue are thieves. I do not download anything because I believe the studios and artists deserve to make money if they are prepared to risk producing a show. Do you all not realize that if everyone downloaded and stopped watching tv or stopped going to the movies, the studios will stop making product. Then there will be nothing to download! Idiots…….

    1. That’s what the recording industry used to claim about music on the Internet. They’re still here after adjusting to the new reality. Artists didn’t stop making music in the interim – when the muse hits, artists will create and some portion of customers will be willing to pay to experience the muse. The TV industry will adapt too. Or they’ll die and someone else will rise up to provide mindless video entertainment to the masses. YouTube, Netflix, Amazon, and so on are making their own shows already. Industry threats to take their bat and ball and go home are just that – threats.

        1. I’d be fine if they just took a copy of it. Copyright infringement and software piracy are not theft, otherwise we wouldn’t need new laws to prosecute people who engaged in those activities.

          Not having access to content in a timely manner at a reasonable price is not an excuse for people to get hold of a copy for free but it certainly explains their motivations. It could be a win-win situation if only the content owners and distributors simply learned the lessons of what occurred with the music industry 10 years and met the demand that exists. Thankfully, new players such as Netflix are starting to do that.

  4. Gee the government needs to get their act together,2 worry about this,what about the terrorism,goverment fighting,i suppose to keep foxtel happy.and don’t start me on the way fta treats its viewers,mentalist 1 week on next gone,lists go on,what we need is more reality shows,How to cook an egg in ten easy eps,how to butter the right side of the toast in ten easy 90 min eps,How to change the tv chanel if something is on that you don’t like in 3 easy daily 9hr blocks.LOL

  5. Looking forward to reading the 2020 version of this article, which will be all about an epic court showdown between the networks/studios and the VPN providers.

    1. Hopefully this isn’t an issue and by then the movie and tv studios have woken up to the technology available and consumer demands and we have a global Hulu type service for shows coming out of the US and a similar one for shows coming out of the UK. Shows are available in HD for a low subscription within 24 hours of their initial international viewing. It is billed at the rate of the country of origin so the only pricing difference is exchange rate. And the apps are available on all mainstream devices (and some not so mainstream devices).

  6. Doesn’t go far enough. The argument that studios need to provide at a reasonable cost is complete garbage. I know serial offenders that can afford to pay but don’t see why they should. these people have hard drives full of downloaded content, and even downloaded shows that you can currently watch for free on Stan with the one month free trial because they are too lazy to register. The issue here is that many do not see they should have to pay for the content whatever the price.

    1. The fact that this is a top priority for the government when we are supposedly in debt and fighting terrorism? goes to show who really is running the country. i also guarantee people have HDD full of stuff that they probably never watch cause there’s not enough time in the day. Just like a netflix library.

    2. That’s not the point, take Downton Abbey for instances aired in the UK in September, aired here in February. And that season is available to be purchased from either New Zealand’s JB HiFi website or mightyape.com.au just before Christmas. Why in this day and age isn’t an online option available to watch shows as soon as they are aired overseas. Even my 60 year old Mother who isn’t technology versed can even see that’s a good idea.

      1. If ITV want to stream Downton Abbey to Australian viewers through a web portal or iTunes same day as UK that’s up to them. They own the copyright. If they want to distribute it Seven that’s also up to them. Delayed shows are frustrating, but not a free pass to breaking copyright law.

    3. I am happy to pay for content. I already have Foxtel, and planned also to register for Stan, and probably Netflix too when it arrives. I watch lots of TV. But not rubbish.
      I have a computer, an internet connection, and televisions in other rooms.
      But wait, apparently I need another device – a Chromecast dongle or Apple TV, and wi fi, to get the programs off the computer and onto the television so I can watch them. Huh?
      Sorry, it’s all too hard for this old timer. Foxtel is easy with the IQ box, why isn’t Stan?

    4. No its not. I know plenty of people who are happy to pay and have a US Netflix and some a Hulu subscription to get back catalogue and recent shows (in HD in most cases). As a user of these services myself, I find that they meet most of my needs and the $25-$30 a month is reasonable. Hulu is missing CBS shows and cable, but I have Foxtel as well so there are only a few gaps in what I like to watch.

      There will always be people who do the wrong thing but in 2015 in Australia, it is easy to fill the many holes in quality and content that the disgraceful FTA networks and Foxtel have.

      It is a pain to broadcast Stan on TV’s and the device range is very limited. I have separately posted what I think the solution needs to be. This would significantly reduce any perceived need for piracy IMHO.

  7. How is this going to make channel nine air Arrow? The show is already 14 episodes behind the US and counting.

    Its not the isp’s job to police its users and this does nothing to fix the problem of availability of content and lack of fast tracking.

    1. Exactly. There needs to be a “Step 0: Content Vendor Notice” where the content vendor is sent a warning about what is being downloaded and offered the opportunity to provide a URL for where Australians can obtain the same content legally the same day. The URL is included in the notice for steps 1 to 3. If said content is not made available over the Internet the same day as the alleged infringement then the ISP will not engage in steps 1 to 3. In other words, if you won’t make it available then don’t complain when users get it from other means that do make it available.

  8. this is hardly affecting Australians, because shows are aired here for the first time and if you miss them they get repeated or put on their respective channels streaming service website. No one downloads Australian shows.

    this is all got to do with Murdoch and others starting subscription streaming services like Netflix and Stan and wanting to profit the most of them. Most shows that get downloaded we don’t even see on Australian television or its played at 12am and out of order. With the control of what people can download they can charge more for the streaming services, where as its $10 a month for US Netflix users it will be $30 for us.

    1. Sorry Andrew your first statement is patently untrue. Ever heard of Wentworth? You are also overlooking the fact that people who download Game of Thrones or Downton Abbey has impact on Australian businesses, and therefore their employees and ability to reinvest in local content.

      1. they cant invest in local content because the government is cutting funding left right and center. Maybe I worded it wrong but I meant to say it affects the international market more than Australian one which is being used as the reason to do it. Our home made shows rate quite well because its first aired here. Like I said people would be happy to pay for a streaming service if they got their shows straight away or in binge sessions but we know they will overprice it, that’s why we’re being stopped from subscribing to the US site.

      2. HBO have said they aren’t worried about the illegal downloading of GOT, they get a lot of social media benefit from a larger audience and most of them wouldn’t subscribe to HBO if they couldn’t download it so that actual loss is small. Many fans illegally download the eps to watch them before they get spoiled and collect the DVDs to have and watch again. They don’t want to pay twice, once to watch them once and once to keep.

        Wentworth is not likely to be illegally downloaded much, few extra Foxtel subscriptions will be sold if they can stop it, and Wentworth will be made regardless because they are required to spend 10% of their budget on local production and it has OS sales. News Corp’s revenue (Not Foxtel’s because they will transfer price or loan the revenue out of there so as Telstra get less and they pay less tax) would go up a tiny amount but do you really think they…

        1. Also the merchandising sales for GOT and The Walking Dead is huge. This would offset a lot of their costs which is a big advantage over most shows who don’t inspire that type of fandom.

          2. @David – AMC must be making money out of TWD merch, they constantly flog the stuff on Talking Dead and their website. I’ve think I’ve got about half of it in my house!

      3. There are barely any Australian shows available to torrent due to such a lack of interest in downloading them. Wentworth, Offspring and Please Like Me are readily available (but PLM only really since the U.S. funding) but most are pretty difficult to get. I certainly won’t be shedding any tears for poor old Foxtel losing GOT money and as it is, I doubt most people who download it would have signed up for it anyway, so they are not actually losing anything. The networks and studios only have themselves to blame with their sheer greed and short sightedness. They have basically pushed people into learning how to pirate.

          1. Get it right, it’s copyright infringement not theft. Still illegal but there’s a difference. I pay for the majority of shows I watch & I’d pay for them all if they had reasonable costs like $1 per episode on iTunes instead of the cost of a boxed set. Some like GOT & TWD I pay for but get them early so I can join in the conversation online.
            My comment wasn’t to ‘justify’ theft as to point out that the Aus TV industry have created this problem for themselves. A lot of people got jack of excellent programs not being available at all here, very delayed screening, inconsistent time slots, overpriced content, too many/badly place commercials, the list goes on. They should have taken note of the music industry’s handling of piracy years ago.

  10. I just wonder how this is going to work where one connection is being shared at a business or shared house, first how do they prove the account holder did anything wrong and how do you stop others from doing the wrong thing on their connection short of changing pass words weekly?

    The best solution is for networks to stop pulling shows after a few weeks on the air with no indication they will be returning and better online services at a sensible prices or free like iView.

    More users will be getting VPNs if this comes in.

  11. I hope the rights holders are going to fund this not the ISPs. If the ISPs have to fund it then they will have to pass on the additional costs to the consumer, Internet usage is already expensive enough without that. It’s not the ISPs role to police their users, just as it’s not a car dealers role to keep track of whether their customers commit a crime in a vehicle purchased from them.

  12. This makes me so angry.

    The horrible Australian networks want downloading stopped and it seems like the Government are agreeing to what they want.

    Yet they get away with treating viewers like s**t. Overruns, sloppy scheduling, reruns of the same show, crap reality shows, shows in one week out the next etc.

    Something needs to be done. Why is no one considering the viewers?? I really don’t understand.

    1. I totally agree. I think many people who illegally download wouldn’t do so if the shows were aired here, fast tracked, on a reasonably priced or free system. You have to meet the consumer halfway and not just issue warnings, that will only create bad will.

    2. And yet the government is making cuts in health and education – glad they are prioritising the most pressing Australian issue, to protect Uncle Ruperts’s assets!

  13. The rights holders organisation are demanding that ISP hand over use data so they can sue have stated this is non negotiable.
    This scheme by the ISP indicates they are are still refusing to hand over data without a court order or consent, which is current situation and the main area of disagreement.

    ISPs are agreeing to agree to give 3 warnings with no penalties though (this has either reduced illegal downloading in NZ or driven it further underground through anonymising services depending on who you believe). The 3rd warning record would help with a prosecution if the Right Holders can obtain the identity of the copyright violator and take them to court.

    Though I don’t know what Choice is complaining about because Rights Holders can currently go to court and get a court order at any time without having to complain 3 times, It’s just difficult, expensive and bad PR to be…

    1. There are ways they can track torrents to IP addresses. They just access the torrent and can track back to people currently downloading or uploading.

      Then the meta data make everything so easy. It will let them search every single IP who has say visited a known downloading website. So they can simple search everyone’s internet history for ‘The Pirate Bay’ Url. Then they can look and see the names of torrent files you downloaded. Which of course will all be time logged right after you went to the website.

      So just look at your own internet history. scroll to this website and you’ll see references to every story you clicked on. it’d be no different to a pirating site.

      Then if you’re using programs to circumvent and hide the traffic. They can simple load into a database every known website that you can download the program. Search URL’s for certain key phrases. Then know to…

  16. Or the movie and tv studios could just provide content in a timely manner, at a reasonable cost and at a range of quality levels and actually fix the problem in the first place.

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