ITWire

Australian government agencies asked for 145 items to be removed from Google's search, YouTube, Blogger and Google+ services in the second half of 2012, according to a report from Google.

In April 2012, the High Court of Australia dismissed an appeal made by 34 Australian and United States film studios and other owners or licensees of copyright in commercially released films and television programmes.  The judgment handed down by the Court sent a shockwave through the Australian telecommunications industry with one message: that internet service providers could not be held liable for copyright infringement carried out by their users.

A US Republican Party think tank has withdrawn a major policy paper on the reform of copyright law less than a day after releasing it. Pressure from the entertainment industry is to blame.