Comms Alliance & ISPs unveil piracy prevention plan

Stuart Corner
Friday, 25 November 2011 14:24

IT Policy - Regulation

Communications Alliance and five of Australia's largest ISPs - Telstra BigPond, iiNet, Optus, iPrimus and Internode - have proposed an education-based notice scheme to combat online copyright infringement.

The scheme - developed in collaboration with AAPT, Ericsson Australia and the Internet Industry Association (IIA) - would require ISPs in response to evidence provided by rights holders, to forward education and warning notices to customers whose Internet accounts have been detected undertaking activity that might infringe copyright laws.

Comms Alliance says the scheme is "designed to encourage a sustained and positive change in the behaviour of Internet users who engage in online activity that may be an infringement of copyright laws'¦typically via peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing or unauthorised content downloads."

The proposed scheme "flows from discussions held during 2011 between ISPs, the Federal Government and representatives of the movie, music, software, gaming, publishing and other sectors who hold copyright over material that can be accessed online."

According to Comms Alliance those discussions are ongoing and final agreement is yet to be reached, but meanwhile the ISPs have outlined their proposal in a discussion paper - available at www.commsalliance.com.au - "to further the broader debate on online copyright issues."

"The proposed scheme has a strong emphasis on educating consumers - many of whom may not be aware that their online activity could be illegal," Comms Alliance says. "It is also designed to assist rights holders to protect their copyright in cases where Internet users persist in improper activity despite repeated warnings."

However the proposed scheme does not provide for termination of consumers' Internet accounts, nor for any punitive sanctions to be imposed on customers by ISPs. And it gives consumers the right to appeal if they receive a notice but believe they have not done anything improper.

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