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Networks welcome expanded legislation against piracy

Govt cracks down on piracy with steps to allow search engines to remove results for piracy websites.

Free TV Australia has welcomed the Government’s introduction of legislation to protect content creators by expanding the site blocking provisions of the Copyright Act.

Under the legislation, content owners can seek orders requiring search engines to demote or remove search results for infringing sites.

Until now copyright owners had to seek a Federal Court order to block pirate websites. The new steps enable a court orders to force search engines and ISPs to block or delete search engine results for pirate websites.

Free TV Australia CEO, Bridget Fair said “Free TV congratulates Minister Fifield for taking action to protect the programs that millions of Australians watch every day on commercial TV networks. This is a very important initiative to support Australian creators of all kinds against theft of their content.

“Australians love great local content and they love that it is available for them for free on commercial television networks. Free TV broadcasters are responsible for 6 out of every 10 dollars spent on Australian production. But our investment in great creative content is put at risk by those who choose to steal content through online piracy.”

The new laws would also allow copyright holders to more easily have mirror sites blocked. The Bill also expands the definition from “primary purpose” to also include websites that have the “primary effect of infringing or facilitating the infringement of copyright”. The presumption is the online location is outside Australia unless proven otherwise.

“We know that site blocking can more than halve the usage of online pirate sites. It works. This legislation will put a stop to the high-tech game of whack-a-mole copyright owners have been forced to play, by allowing content creators to quickly seek blocks on proxy and mirror sites and a wider range of overseas websites and file-sharing services,” said Fair.

Foxtel also welcomed the move.

17 Responses

  1. The tech giants have certainly opened up the demand for new drama productions and made for TV movies, (which also get big screen releases by Netflix) VOD viewers will want more 4K/UHD content for their expensive new TV’s. Among the coming streaming players next year will be Warner Media which will launch about the same time as Disney, some exclusive original shows with marvel and DC characters will be much sort after by fans. The message here is that pirating has (perhaps unwittingly) expanded the TV entertainment market, in some ways its past success has forced home the issue of VOD streaming for Pay TV consumers, something the old tech FTA would like to be controlled to protect their profits and media control, the same goes for the movie industry as well.

  2. Is local content really being pirated prior to b/cast?
    Under the DMCA Google receives 2 million removal requests per day.
    To date 3,779,630,858 links have been removed.
    The results seem to be as successful as our drug laws.
    Naturally, there is a list of removed sites that can be searched by Google.

    1. I would hazard a guess and say no, this is purely to stop people from pirating o/s content which *may* at some stage be aired here, I’m not sure if the Free TV argument is that local content is being pirated causing the networks to lose funds or that the o/s content that’s being pirated means the networks that may have aired the content are losing money which means they have less to spend on local content.

  3. Will this work, or is it more like putting cigarettes under the counter? Keep everything out of sight but it’s still there if you ask; e.g., using actual urls (or however it’s done to get to wherever) rather than going through search.

    1. Stealing deprives someone of an item or object.

      Torrenting involves copying files. Not every torrenter would’ve bought the movie, so not every torrent would be a lost sale.

      The music industry moved with the times, so Foxtel and village roadshow need to as well. They can’t just keep paying political parties to enact legislation to protect them.

  4. The networks and Foxtel wouldn’t have this problem if they stopped leaving content on the shelves or not buying it at all. There are so many programs from the US and UK which we do not get, or we still have to wait up to three years for, and people are not going to wait that long. With our multi-channels being filled with so many reruns, they have ample space in the schedule to swap those out for new content. Bake Off UK wraps up next week, but it hasn’t even started yet here. Gogglebox UK is midway through a season, but we won’t get it for another two years because Foxtel do not want Australian viewers to see content within the show which may be spoilers for shows they are intentionally delaying here. Where is new Would I Lie to You, QI, or The Conners?

    1. When it comes to seeing a series on FTA:
      -will the local broadcasters even buy the rights?
      -once bought will they even screen it?

      if they do actually screen it:
      -will it run in a consistent timeslot?
      -will it suddenly vanish from the schedule without a trace?
      -will it suddenly randomly appear and disappear on different channels without any notice?
      -will it get whole scenes chopped out for no good reason to fit more ads in?

      I’m sure plenty of more issues could be tacked onto that list. It’s a miracle anyone watches FTA at all in this country with all the crap the broadcasters put viewers through.

    2. Pretty much all US content that isn’t available through Australian FTA or subscription is available in some form either via a paid subscription (e.g. Hulu) or a free app (e.g. NBC app) with some VPN type solution and basic internet knowledge. There is no “need” to pirate any of this. There may be “want” but it is all readily available. I sleep well at night knowing the whole Chicago team are getting their clip from me because the way the 3 shows are broadcast in Australia is ridiculous.

        1. Sure, and if they want to block me they won’t get my money and I’ll look elsewhere. It’s a win win at the moment. They get their money and I get the content i what in a timely manner. The only won not winning is the local broadcasters but the way they treat viewers, they wouldn’t get my money anyway.

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