Search engines such as Google could be required to remove or demote search results for piracy websites in Australia, following a campaign from Foxtel and other film and TV giants.

Since 2015, copyright holders have had the power to seek an order from the federal court to get an internet service provider (e.g. Telstra, Optus, Dodo etc) to block access to websites that are hosting pirated content (e.g. The Pirate Bay).

Under legislation introduced to parliament, a copyright holder (e.g. Foxtel, which has rights to HBO shows in Australia) may seek an injunction requiring search engines to remove or demote search results for websites that are hosting copyrighted content.

The proposed laws would also allow copyright holders to more easily block mirror or proxy websites, according to QUT Associate Professor Nick Suzor, who has taken part in government consultation on behalf of the advocacy group Digital Rights Watch.

In other words, if you're using a proxy site to access The Pirate Bay and download Game of Thrones, it may become a little bit harder to find this proxy.

But not that much harder.

"I don't think this is going to be successful at limiting infringements," Associate Professor Suzor told Hack.

"These types of measures might make it slightly harder for the casual downloader, but there are very easy ways to get around these blocks.

"The people who are offering sites like The Pirate Bay are pretty determined. They'll continue to offer new proxies at a faster rate than we can keep up."

Is piracy going down?

The 2018 triple j What's Up In Your World survey of 11,000 Australians aged 18-29 found young people are downloading less than before.

Almost three-quarters said they were illegally downloading less than they were 12 months ago, although almost half continued to pirate content monthly or weekly.

According to industry reports, piracy has fallen steeply.

In February, a report produced for the Australian Screens Association to assess the efficacy of site blocking showed a 53 per cent reduction in the use of pirated sites which were targeted by a blocking order (under the 2016 legislation mentioned above).

But it would be misleading to trust these figures too much, Associate Professor Suzor told Hack.

"It's really hard to measure piracy," he said.

Everyone is making up figures here.

"The report said traffic to blocked sites has gone down, but there's no way of knowing if people are just accessing proxy sites or using a VPN."

The What's Up In Your World survey found about a third of young people were using a VPN to access international streaming media.

That suggests a lot of piracy isn't being measured.

How do you stop piracy?

In our survey, about 70 per cent of those who illegally downloaded said they streamed because the content was not available through paid services in Australia.

Associate Professor Suzor said this is part of a global trend where the television and movie industries were moving towards an "exclusive release model".

This was the opposite of the music industry, where almost every music label is represented on a single music streaming platform. Instead, certain shows or movies can only be found on specific platforms.

As a result, consumers need to subscribe to several platforms, or else simply can't access the content as it hasn't been released in their country.

"They're moving towards more exclusive releases meaning consumers will have to pay much more to get access to services."

"There is still a lot of content that isn't available through streaming.

"The root causes of piracy in Australia is often a lack of cheap and effective easily accessible legal options.

"Whenever we talk to consumers that's the big concern. Many people want to pay but too often can't get access to content they want at price they can afford."