Australian internet users face an increased risk of prosecution if they pirate online, with five large ISPs proposing to act on suspected infringement notices provided to them from rights holders by passing on the notices to users and, in the most extreme circumstances, disclosing the details of alleged pirates.

Under a proposal released by telco industry body the Communications Alliance, users will receive an "education notice" if they are suspected of pirating content like movies. If they persist, they will be issued with up to three warning notices within a 12-month period. If a user continues to pirate content after that, they would then face the prospect of having their details passed on to copyright holders, allowing them to institute legal action.

A spokesman for federal Communications Minister Stephen Conroy welcomed "the industry working towards a solution to the issue of piracy" and said the government had been "encouraging the parties to work together for some time because it is important any proposed solution is supported by both ISPs and the content industries".

The Communications Alliance claims the experience in France — which employs a three-strikes policy at the end of which persistent infringers are disconnected from the internet — shows that "only 0.1 per cent of users who receive a first notice will continue their activities and receive a third notice".