Poor access to content still the root of online piracy

Expensive, hard to access content remains the big driver of Australia’s national online piracy problem according to new research from the peak telecommunications lobby group, the Communications Alliance.

But if internet service providers, like Telstra and Optus, are forced to shoulder the responsibility for identifying, monitoring and punishing people who illegally download content from the internet, consumers fear they will face higher internet bills.

The report — which was undertaken by JWS Research and included a national online survey of 1500 respondents conducted between October 22-27 — found that 55 per cent of Australians agree that illegal downloads are a problem in Australia, and a majority of people recognise that content creators are the hardest hit by the illegal activity.

But it also found that two thirds of consumers believed that if content distributors offered better pricing, people would not download illegally. Some sixty per cent of respondents believed that if content was made available in the same time as it is available elsewhere, this would also act against the practice of illegal downloads.

The research included a pricing sensitivity model, derived from survey responses, which indicated that the ideal price for a downloaded television episode is in the range of $1.20 to $1.70. This compares with the current local download per-episode price of $3.49.

This research comes as the government considers responses to its discussion paper on online copyright policy options.

“It paints a picture not of a nation of rampant pirates, but rather a majority of people who agree that action taken should include steps to reduce the market distortions that contribute to piracy,” Communications Alliance CEO John Stanton said.

Mr Stanton acknowledged that while some rights holders had made efforts to improve availability and pricing, he said proposals to force telecoms companies to monitor and cut off repeat infringers was not the best approach to tackling online pirates.

“In our submissions to government on these issues we have stressed the need for a multifaceted approach to online copyright infringement — a scenario in which all stakeholders have a constructive role to play,” he said.

“For our part this has included moving toward a cooperative ‘follow-the-money’ strategy designed to restrict the advertising revenues flowing to websites that promote or facilitate online copyright infringement.”

Rights holders, including Village Roadshow, have pushed ahead with plans to attack copyright piracy with moves to introduce a ‘three-strikes” rule that would see the internet connections of repeat offenders slowed down or terminated.

Telcos, including iiNet, however, have warned that such a proposal — which depends on identifying offenders through IP (internet protocol) addresses — is flawed and could result in unwitting victims being caught.

It has been argued that if such a plan was implemented ISPs would be faced with an influx of possibly millions of allegations which could drive up the costs of internet prices.

This story was first published in The Australian