If you want to stop piracy, don't embark on expensive schemes to block websites - instead, make it easier for those Australians who are eager to pay for quality content, writes Alan Kirkland.

In the late nineties, I used to break the law on a weekly basis. It sounds scandalous, but I think most Australians were doing the same thing.

For reasons that are lost to me now, I was hooked on Melrose Place. If I was going to be out when it went to air, I would set my VCR to tape it. This sounds pretty harmless, but up until 2006 it was illegal according to copyright laws. Video tapes were common in Australia from the mid-eighties, but decades passed before using them in the way they were meant to be used was legal.

This seems absurd on its own, but imagine if the local television industry had campaigned to keep tapes illegal? Or what if when DVDs were introduced, the video tape companies lobbied the government to outlaw all non-VHS recording devices? Obviously it would be ridiculous to force us all to keep using old technology, especially when we know there are better options out there.

It might sound ridiculous, but that debate is happening right now in Australia. The big Hollywood studios and companies like Foxtel are currently trying to ensure laws are passed that protect their outdated business models at the expense of Australian consumers.

Today it is possible for television content to be delivered to us instantly over the internet. But often this option is simply not available, or not available at a fair price, for Australian consumers.

For example, Australians wanting to watch the upcoming season of Walking Dead will be paying up to 376 per cent more than people watching the same show in the United Kingdom. Some premium content, like Steven Soderbergh's new drama The Knick, is simply unavailable in Australia because of artificial barriers and exclusive dealing arrangements.

The government is consulting on laws to try to stop online piracy, but its proposals don't actually address the reasons people download content without paying. The laws being considered involve introducing an industry-run internet filter - where ISPs will be required to block some sites. In addition, they'll make internet service providers responsible for policing alleged illegal downloading occurring on their services.

These laws will create costs for all users of internet services, whether they download illegally or not. To implement a filter system, ISPs will need to increase expenditure on infrastructure to support the policy. Policing downloads and serving users with "warning notices" also has costs, with a similar scheme in New Zealand costing service providers more than $900,000 in set-up costs between them, with additional costs of $500 per notice sent. These added costs are likely to be passed on to all internet users as ISPs try to recoup these losses.

More importantly, international experience with these kinds of laws shows that they don't work to stop piracy. There is no evidence to support the claim that blocking websites will significantly reduce piracy. Pirate Bay has been blocked in the UK since 2012, but earlier this year the UK had the third largest percentage of internet users pirating Game of Thrones - even higher numbers than some countries where the site isn't blocked at all. A Netherlands court recently lifted a ban on Pirate Bay that had been in operation for years, finding that the ban was completely ineffective.

Australians love entertainment, and they are eager to pay for quality content. The issue that we all face as consumers in this country is that it is not easy to do this. I think most of us are familiar with the phrase "this content is not available in your country".

Artists and creators deserve to be paid for their hard work. I do not support piracy at all. But if we want to stop piracy, we need to address the real causes of piracy by giving Australians more options for watching television or listening to music.

What we want is competition. The government should not legislate to lock Australians in to using one type of content delivery service. It took two decades to make taping a show legal. How many years will it take to undo the damage of these "anti-piracy", anti-consumer laws?

Alan Kirkland is the CEO of CHOICE, Australia's leading consumer advocacy organisation. View his full profile here.