Turnbull could present recommendation to tackle piracy before Christmas

Attorney General George Brandis and Minister for Communications Malcolm Turnbull could present a proposal to combat Australia’s online piracy issue to parliament before Christmas.

The pair have been considering a few options since the leak of their online copyright infringement paper in July. While the recommendations were based largely on the US, UK and New Zealand anti-piracy schemes, sources suggest the ministers will emulate the UK’s forthcoming graduated response Voluntary Copyright Alert Programme (VCAP).

Sydney Morning Herald has reported the proposal, if utilised, will see the government force ISPs to send their customers letters about alleged digital copyright infringement from rightsholders like film studios. It also could see the government adopt a similar strategy used in Europe where sites like The Pirate Bay and KickassTorrents are being blocked; the minister’s proposal recommends the Australian government offer rightsholders the ability to seek an injunction in court that will force ISPs like TPG and Exetel to block websites that host infringing content.

Speaking to Fairfax at the CommsDay ‘NBN Rebooted’ conference on Monday, Turnbull said the work on online copyright infringement “is fairly well advanced”.

What has been made clear though, is the strategy to slow down the download internet speed or disconnect the internet for repeat copyright infringers won’t go ahead.

The submission to cabinet follows broad industry input and a discussion forum in Sydney in early September where Spotify’s Director of Economics Will Page put forward his Australia-focused analysis. Page's report showed online music piracy declined 20% in the 12 months from Dec 2012 to Dec 2013. The forum was also attended by Jane Van Beelen, Executive Director, Telstra; Peter Duncan, Writer/Producer; David Buckingham, Chief Executive Officer, iiNet Limited; Richard Freudenstein, Chief Executive Officer, Foxtel; Brett Cottle, Chief Executive Officer, APRA AMCOS; Alan Kirkland, Chief Executive Officer, Choice and Graham Burke, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Village Roadshow.

Late last month Australian ISP iiNet opposed a discovery order submitted to the Australian Federal Court by the film studio behind Dallas Buyers Club. The studio requested customer details of those who may have infringed copyright laws by downloading the film via peer-to-peer sharing.