Crackdown on illegal downloaders in Australia

Fairfax.

AHOY THERE: An Australian internet provider has begun disconnect customers who it believes repeatedly downloading illegally copied material.

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One Australian internet provider has started to crack down on copyright infringers, as the the music industry's plan to have telcos disconnect the internet services of illegal downloaders gathers steam in Australia.

The move by Exetel comes amid intense pressure by record labels worldwide for internet service providers (ISPs) to send warning notices to customers who have been identified as illegal downloaders, and to disconnect the services of repeat offenders.

This week, Japan's four major ISPs, representing about 1000 individual providers, agreed to adopt the "notice and disconnect" policy. The British Government has indicated it may legislate to force its ISPs to do the same if a voluntary code of conduct is not brokered between ISPs and rights holders.

Earlier this month, the culture and justice ministers in Sweden announced that courts would soon be able to demand ISPs give copyright owners information about suspected file sharers.

While legal music downloads are on the rise, this has not been enough to offset falls in CD sales, which the music industry blames on piracy. It also believes ISPs are responsible for ensuring their users do not use their internet services for illegal activities.

Exetel's modified notice and disconnect system, which executive Steve Waddington said in a blog post had been operating for two years, prevents users who have been fingered as copyright infringers by a "recognised industry source or their legal representatives" from browsing any web pages.

The user can still send and receive email but cannot surf the web until they resolve the issue with the issuer of the infringement notice, which in many cases is the anti-piracy watchdog of the local music industry, Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI).

And in a departure from MIPI's proposed system, instead of summarily disconnecting illegal downloaders, Exetel instead simply blocks their web surfing and gives the user the option of terminating their service if the issue can't be resolved.

Waddington said Exetel had already received emails from outraged customers looking to switch providers as a result of its piracy crackdown.

But while MIPI may have succeeded in convincing Exetel to crack down on infringers, the idea has been rejected outright by the ISP industry body, the Australian Internet Industry Association (IIA).

"At this stage there has been little movement from the [local] ISPs, however in light of the sea change that is occurring internationally we are hopeful that ISPs in Australia will voluntarily implement the scheme," MIPI general manager Sabiene Heindl said.

"We would prefer not to take legal action against individual file sharers or ISPs in Australia and remain committed to a negotiated code of conduct."

The IIA insists the proposal is problematic and unnecessary, saying ISPs should not be required to police the actions of their users or adjudicate on whether or not a person is infringing copyright. It feels there are already adequate procedures and remedies available to copyright holders through the courts and the Copyright Act.

Peter Coroneos, chief executive of the IIA, has said Australian ISPs are looking for a proposal that doesn't involve threatening and intimidating users. He said the music industry should instead focus its efforts on understanding why people steal music in the first place and provide a cheaper way for people to obtain tracks legally.

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Anon   #3   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

So what about the privacy act? lets just forget about that and all focus on the copyright law! If they make music readily avaliable to download for a decent price and at high quality then there would be no need for illegal downloads!

Lorem Ipsum   #2   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

What happened to privacy? Perhaps the ISP's that we pay huge amounts to for internet access should be paying some royalties? As in the start the song was put on the internet through an ISP.

Jon Smith   #1   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Monitoring people's communications is highly illegal. MIPI should be charged and convicted as they are operating outside the law, ironically just like the illegal downloaders.

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