Lexi Metherell reported this story on Friday, February 14, 2014 18:14:00

MARK COLVIN: The Federal Government's setting its sights on internet downloading and copyright.



The Attorney-General George Brandis used a speech in Canberra today to foreshadow copyright law changes.



He's considering asking providers to warn customers who illegally download, or to block sites where content can be downloaded illegally.



But providers argue that one of the keys to tackling piracy is speeding up the release for open sale of films and TV shows in Australia.



Lexi Metherell reports.



LEXI METHERELL: Australians are among the worst offenders when it comes to illegal downloads.



DAN ILIC: We love stealing stuff, that's what we do, and a lot of that stealing comes from a frustration of not being able to get it in through any other channels that are legal.



LEXI METHERELL: Dan Ilic is among other things a filmmaker, with an interest in digital creation and copyright. He says internet piracy not only hits the major studios and production companies, but also smaller Australian outfits.



DAN ILIC: The filmmakers for One Hundred Bloody Acres, which is a shock-horror kind of feature film which got released out earlier this year, they made that film for very little money and because it got so pilfered online, no one went to the cinema to see it. However the flip side to that is the distributors of that film chose not to show it in many cinemas.



In every capital city of Australia you can only see it in one cinema, so in order for people to be able to see that they would have had to make it through one cinema in a state capital near them to see it. That's kind of crazy in today's world.



LEXI METHERELL: Cracking down on internet piracy is on the agenda of the Attorney-General, George Brandis.



GEORGE BRANDIS: The Great Gatsby, Australia's most successful film at the local box office last year, is now centre stage after its haul of 13 AACTA Awards and an Oscar nomination. Unfortunately the success achieved by The Great Gatsby has lead to the piracy of the film, placing the sustainability of our screen industry at risk.



LEXI METHERELL: Copyright holders like film and television studios have argued that it's internet service providers - or ISPsí - role to prevent internet users from illegally downloading their content.



But in 2012, in a landmark ruling, the High Court found the ISP iiNet was not responsible for its customers' illegal activities.



Now, Senator Brandis, is considering mechanisms to deal with internet piracy.



GEORGE BRANDIS: This may include looking carefully at the merits of a scheme whereby ISPs are required to issue graduated warnings to consumers who are using websites to facilitate piracy.



LEXI METHERELL: The Attorney-General recognises it's a complex reform and there are issues about how the costs of such a scheme are shared between rights holders and ISPs.



ISPs say studies show such schemes where customers are given increasingly severe warnings don't work.



And Dan Ilic agrees with them.



DAN ILIC: The problem is that this kind of scheme really hasn't worked anywhere else in the world. Because of the nature of the internet people are going to find ways to get around this scheme, ways to get around being able to be reported for this scheme and such.



LEXI METHERELL: The Attorney-General has also flagged another potential solution.



GEORGE BRANDIS: Another option that some stakeholders have raised with me is to provide the Federal Court with explicit powers to provide for third party injunctions against ISPs, which will ultimately require ISPs to take down websites hosting infringing content.



LEXI METHERELL: John Stanton is the head of the Communications Alliance, which represents ISPs. He says itís possible block sites, but that raises questions.



JOHN STANTON: That's certainly possible, it raises all sorts of questions about the freedom of the internet and access to sites but the Attorney-General talked about the potential for court injunctions requiring ISPs to block access and certainly ISPs will always respond to court orders and comply with them.



LEXI METHERELL: I mean that would be websites like YouTube, like Facebook. So many websites which have content on it, which are subject to copyright. It sounds sort of almost sort of impossible to be able to block all those.



JOHN STANTON: Well that's certainly the risk, firstly that you end up blocking things that oughtn't be blocked, that you reduce the utility of the internet and so it's by no means a simple fix. There can be unintended consequences by moving in that direction.



LEXI METHERELL: The Australian Screen Association, which represents film and television studios and distributers, says it backs the measures proposed by Senator Brandis this morning. It disputes the Communications Alliance's claim that graduated warnings schemes don't work.



The Association also says blocking rogue websites is an effective solution that's worked in many countries.



But John Stanton from the Communications Alliance argues a key part of beating the scourge of internet piracy in Australia will be releasing content here faster.



JOHN STANTON: You can track the prevalence of improper downloading against content which isn't available in Australia at the same time as it's released overseas and it's that frustration, the inability to buy affordable and legal content that often tempts internet users to go via alternative methods.



MARK COLVIN: The head of the Communications Alliance John Stanton ending Lexi Metherell's report.