‘Piracy Will Turn The Souls Of Australian Communities Dark’

Village Roadshow is no stranger to colourful language in its anti-piracy submissions to government. The last time it submitted one, it compared film pirates to paedophiles and terrorists. Now Village Roadshow is back with another rant-filled submission, and it’s loaded with amazing quotes.

Here are some of our favourites.

On job losses:

Village Roadshow has always argued that increased piracy rates would erode the Australian film industry and put thousands out of work. Now the studio argues that piracy will turn vibrant Australian communities into post-apocalyptic wastelands…

In real-world terms, continued rampant online piracy means…the Australian film and television drama production industry would be shut down. Without copyright protection there is just no business model.



Australian families and kids whether it be in Frankston, Parramatta, Ararat or Launceston have the cinema as the social hub of their communities. If the product is stolen there will be no viability and not only will there be massive job losses but arguably the soul of communities will go dark.

Pirates sell drugs to kids:

It’s all about the kids this time. On arguing against the business model of pirates, the submission wanders into allegations of drug dealing…

Pirate websites are widely reported to be run by criminal gangs who make millions of dollars by selling advertising. Unlike free or pay TV they create no content and provide no entertainment. They are leeches living off stolen product. Additionally pirate sites are a sleazy neighbourhood which our children go to and they are selling hard-core pornography and scams such as party pills and steroids.

ISPs are full of shit:

I don’t even…

Village considers that ISPs established a great business but, like a factory spilling effluent into a river, the unintended consequence of their business is piracy, with its damning effects on our people, our culture and the economy.

The war for Hearts and Minds:

I want to live in Village Roadshow’s utopia…

The main thrust of the Code is to educate people and win over the hearts and minds. This will be accompanied by a series of TV, on-line, newspaper and cinema ads reinforcing that piracy is theft and wrong. Just like people no longer smoke in restaurants and we have “tidy towns” there is no doubt we can win hearts and minds.

Hooo boy.

You can read the full submission to the Government’s site-blocking legislation inquiry here (PDF).