Overview
Ah, piracy. The youthful and agile foe to a government of middle-aged men with dial-up internet and longstanding Foxtel subscriptions. Copyright in the digital age has been an absolute nightmare for artists and legislators alike in the past decade (and a godsend for broke students with a healthy addiction to HBO). Though we all agree in principle that filmmakers and producers should get paid for the work they create, the shift to digital modes of delivery and a dispersed audience has made the process of distribution and regulation completely untenable. It's widely acknowledged as a global problem with no easy answer.
But hey, that won't stop the federal government giving it a go. Last week saw widespread reports of potential movement on the issue spearheaded by Attorney-General and Arts Minister George Brandis. Outlining two proposals to be considered by the federal cabinet, Brandis set his sights on the users themselves as well as the torrent sites responsible for making this content available. As the news dropped on a Monday — otherwise known across the country as 'the day for downloading Game of Thrones' — this posed a potential problem for Australian pirates. Take heed of the warning or call the bluff?
Since then, there's been no further news on the potential reforms. The proposed measures originally outlined in the ALRC report of Copyright and the Digital Economy have since gone through the wringer of online cynics and tech nerds — and come up wanting. Everyone watching the latest episode of Game of Thrones breathed a giant sigh of relief.
In light of all this, we've done a bit of research and compiled for you a handy user's guide: five things you can expect from the Government's so-called piracy crackdown.
A few angry letters
The first of George Brandis's proposed measures was the creation of a three-strikes policy. In theory, this would involve internet service providers tracking the addresses of those using torrenting sites and issuing warning letters to Australian pirates. Upon receiving their third correspondence, users would be faced with potential litigation, fines and possible termination of their accounts.
In reality, this is a textbook scare tactic. Known as the 'graduated response system', this policy has already been implemented in France, the UK, New Zealand and South Korea and has seen only very limited success. Since the law passed in 2009, just one French user has been penalised — 15 days without internet and a fine of €600. It has since been repealed in favour of legislation that instead penalises those profiting commercially off the piracy. In New Zealand the law still stands, though it has proven incredibly expensive to enforce and is commonly referred to as 'Skynet'.
If or when this system is implemented in Australia we can expect similar problems with enforcement. As much as I like the idea of Tony Abbott and George Brandis spearheading a militant letter writing campaign with personalised stationery and blood red frowny face stamps, it's hardly a solution to the problem.
Politicians yelling about The Pirate Bay
The other proposal Brandis raised was the filtering of torrenting sites such as The Pirate Bay. In what is tantamount to the cursed internet filter of 2011, ISPs would be obliged to block Australian users from accessing sites that enable such illegal activity. On one level this seems like a feasible idea. Though it raises recurrent concerns around internet freedom and the bounds of free access, it outwardly seems like a good plan to stop the downloading.
Here's the problem: it would never ever work. Anyone who thinks otherwise probably still uses Internet Explorer, has a Hotmail account with an embarrassing alias thought up as a teenager, and is confused why their MSN Messenger is no longer working. It's dumb. Just really, really bad.
The very nature of peer-to-peer file sharing means it's near impossible to shut down. With no centralised node to attack, individual users can pop up and share copyrighted content on any platform at any time. Even if The Pirate Bay was blocked, smaller sites would rise up and take its place. It's like trying to rid your apartment of ants by attacking the colony only to realise they're actually also all over your kitchen and snuggled in your bed, obnoxiously writhing around on your face and body. Also they can never die. It won't work.
Add to this the fact that a lot of Australian pirates already have location-blocking or VPN software installed on their computers. The ISP block wouldn't be able to pinpoint the user's location and The Pirate Bay would be ready and available anyway.
Politicians will moan and gripe about it for awhile in an effort to look tough and scare off some casual users, but really it will do nothing in the fight against the unkillable ants on their face.
A few thousand outraged Facebook statuses
Of course, this all seems pretty scary to the untrained eye. People hear that Tony Abbott's coming after their Monday night Game of Thrones and they're bound to freak out. Add to that the paranoia that grows when they hear the government is blocking their internet access and ordering ISPs to watch their online activity — there'll be a clicktivism campaign that blows Kony right out of the water.
In fact, The Pirate Party — who else? — are already on it. Their Change.org petition to the Australian Senate already has over 5,000 signatures and understandably takes a strong stance against Brandis's proposals. The petition declares its condemnation of laws against online piracy because they are "ineffective", "expensive", and "a serious invasion of privacy". It asks that the Senate not allow the proposed legislation to pass and put any future legislation regarding digital rights to committee, ensuring expert opinions can be considered.
When translated to the Facebook dialect of that high school friend you've been meaning to delete, that amounts to: "WTF what even? As if they can look at our computers. That's fkd." Have fun with that.
A fight from your ISP
The most trying part of the proposed piracy crackdown is that it would have to be controlled and enforced by your ISP. And as a company that makes money off your downloads and your loyalty, why would they ever want to punish you? Not only would the restrictions harm their business, they would also come with an enormous administrative cost. If this is to happen resources must be devoted into tracking online activity, contacting individual users and then issuing punishments. Then, if the ultimate punishment is loss of connection, they lose your valued business too.
Regardless, both the government and international production companies claim ISPs need to start taking responsibility for their part in online piracy — providing the platform on which it takes place. From 2008–2010 iiNet battled a mammoth law suit from 34 production houses including Village Roadshow, Universal, Disney, Paramount Pictures and Dreamworks. In a landmark decision, it was ruled that the ISP was not liable for the actions of its users.
In the USA and Canada, ISPs have also gone as far as protecting their users' identities when faced with individual litigation. While a recent court ruling ordered a stop to this practice, pirates will find it comforting to know your ISP has your back. They definitely don't support piracy, but they're sure as hell not going to police it.
Access to timely legal content at a fair price
Loljks. Though everyone pretty much knows this is the correct answer, no one's committing to making it happen. Cheaper downloads from iTunes and streaming services such as Spotify have helped ease the burden in the music industry, but the Australian alternatives for film and television are next to naught. If you want to see Game of Thrones before spoilers flood in from overseas, you better dig deep for that $85 monthly Foxtel bill.
Australians are paying more for their entertainment across the board and the lack of competition from new sources only works to drive up prices further. A government inquiry last year discovered that when compared to an industry average, we're actually paying 16 percent more for eBooks, 52 percent more for music and 82 percent more for games. It's no wonder we're all turning to piracy.
However, we're definitely still willing to pay for timely, legal content. All we ask is a fair price. American services such as Netflix and Hulu are even seeing big influxes of Australian customers who are willing to circumvent the geo-blocking software in order to set up accounts. It's a legal grey area with no standing precedent, but with how-to guides already published by Junkee, Gizmodo and thousands of blogs, it's quickly becoming common practice.
Local alternatives like Foxtel's Presto and Quickflix are trying to crack the market — but as they offer half the content at double the price, it's hardly a fair fight.
So, when all's said and done, the piracy crackdown has little likelihood of changing matters. Little can be done about the offences until a new system emerges that better combats the realities of the digital economy — Australia needs innovation before it jumps to legislation.
For now, as the trumped up bickering and outraged finger wagging gets ready to hit the nation; George Brandis can take some advice from an unlikely source. In the words of millions of teenage boys' Myspace pages from 2004: "Don't hate the player, hate the game."