Nic Suzor has written another insightful piece for The Conversation which looks at the Australian government’s leaked plan to combat piracy.
In conjunction with research assistant Alex Button-Sloan, the article users several words that I think fairly accurately sum up this plan: “unrealistic”, “vague”, “unlikely to help”. Some of the outcomes are equally depressing: “likely to raise the price of internet access”.
Everyone in Australia should read this article. This plan does nothing to address the root cause of Australian piracy – the simple fact that content is not made available on the same terms as it is in other markets.
The fact that this plan could “massively increase the potential risks for companies that provide legitimate services” also fills me with dread; Mammoth – in addition to being an Internet hosting provider – has been actively involved in legitimate content distribution since the late 90s, across video games, music, and movies. With our clients, we have struggled for years to try to figure out how to make sure Australians have access to the latest content.
These are not technical problems; they are licensing and rights problems caused by media companies carefully choosing how to maximise their profits. The fact that they are now cooperating with out government to literally change the laws to better suit their business model is kind of irritating.