Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Communications) Share this | Hansard source

Piracy is a breach of copyright. It is the unauthorised copying, distribution or use of copyright material, and Australians do it more than almost anyone in the world. Game of Thrones is the most pirated television show in history, and last year Australians illegally downloaded it more than any other country in the world. According to data gathered by file-sharing site monitor TorrentFreak, in 2014 we accounted for 11.6 per cent of illegal downloads of Game of Thrones. In 2013, we also topped the list for pirating the Breaking Bad finale. Eighteen per cent of illegal downloads of that show were right here in Australia. Why is this happening? There are lots of reasons, but the main reason is that, if Australians cannot get access to the content that they want to watch or listen to and they cannot get access to it cheaply and quickly, they will find another way, either by using a VPN to access overseas content or by peer-to-peer file sharing or accessing overseas websites like The Pirate Bay.

The Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Bill 2015 establishes a legal process to block access to websites like this. Under this legislation, copyright owners will be able to apply to the Federal Court, requiring internet service providers to block access to overseas websites, like The Pirate Bay, which have the primary purpose of infringing copyright or facilitating the infringement of copyright. This is not unique. It is not new. Thirty-nine countries around the world have legislation that is similar to this.

This bill has been subject to an inquiry by the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee. It received 49 submissions, and most of those submissions were broadly supportive of the bill, but some raise concerns about its reach as well as the costs associated with it and its effectiveness.

In relation to reach, there are concerns that were raised in submissions—and are reflected in the committee's report—about whether VPNs might be caught up by this scheme. The minister has raised the same concerns himself. I am glad that the committee recommended changes to the explanatory memorandum to clarify the status of VPNs, but they do not appear in the amendments to the explanatory memorandum that the government has circulated in relation to this bill. I ask the government to make a change to the explanatory memorandum to ensure that this occurs and to ensure that the explanatory memorandum is amended to reflect the concerns raised by the committee.

ISPs have also raised concerns about costs and indemnity issues. Once again, the committee recommended changes here to the explanatory memorandum, and once again I do not think the government's changes to the explanatory memorandum sufficiently address the concerns of ISPs or the committee. I also do not think they reflect the position set out in the government's own discussion paper, which said:

Rights holders would be required to meet any reasonable costs …

So I ask the minister to have another look at this.

The amendments that the government has circulated also do not include the two-year review of this legislation that the committee recommended. So, when the minister speaks in reply later in this debate, I ask him to make a commitment to do this as well.

Piracy is illegal. If this legislation helps to reduce piracy then that is a good thing. But there is still good reason to be sceptical about how effective it might be. There is lots of evidence that site-blocking legislation can have an impact, but sometimes that impact is temporary. Sites that have been blocked often disappear for a while and then reappear down the track under a different domain name or web address. The Minister for Communications has made this point himself. On 10 December 2014, he said:

If you are asking me is it possible for, say, Pirate Bay to then move to another IP address or another URL for that matter, of course that is true …

We have seen evidence overseas that that is what happens from time to time. Last month, in Sweden, The Pirate Bay's official domain name was seized by the court, but, as The Independent newspaper reported on 19 May this year, the people behind The Pirate Bay have already said that the site is likely to be able to get back up and running at an alternative address.

What this shows is that, to be effective in combating piracy, you have to do a lot more than just pass laws like this. A lot of the responsibility for that rests with industry. A survey conducted by iview for Choice last year found that 50 per cent of people downloading illegal content said that their main reason for pirating was price, and 41 per cent said it was that they wanted specific content sooner than available in Australia.

The take-up of services like Spotify and Netflix demonstrates that when people can get access to content cheaply and easily, they take it up. Last year, research conducted by Spotify said that there was a 20 per cent decline in music piracy over a 12-month period. Netflix has had a similar impact. In April, Netflix's chief content officer Ted Sarandos said:

The real great news is, in the piracy capitals of the world, Netflix is winning. We're pushing down piracy in those markets by getting the access.

Netflix is expected to sign up one million Australian customers by the end of the year. About six million Australians have used Spotify.

The take-up of services like Netflix, Spotify, Stan, Presto, iTunes and Pandora show that Australians want content and they are prepared to pay for it if it is cheap, quick and easy to get. All of these services are great examples of industry responding to the needs and the demands of modern day consumers. But there is still more to do. On that point, it is a mistake to assume that is just teenagers illegally downloading shows like Game of Thrones or Breaking Bad. People of all ages do it.

Research commissioned by the Australasian Performing Rights Association in 2013 found that 44 per cent of people aged 18 to 30 engage in piracy, 25 per cent of people aged 30 to 49 do it and so do 11 per cent of Australians aged 50 to 69.

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