Choice Wants To School Malcolm Turnbull On Piracy

Not a fan of the proposed code to bust pirates for downloading copyright-protected material? Consumer group Choice isn’t either, and wants your help to school Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Last week the Communications Alliance issued a draft anti-piracy scheme that would see the ISP industry enforce a three-strikes regime. The proposed scheme would see pirates receive graduated notices based on their behaviour online. Pirates would receive an “Education Notice”, followed by a “Warning Notice” and then a “Final Notice”. Upon receipt of the Final Notice, rights-holders would receive the pirate’s information for the purpose of legal action and reparations.

Choice none too happy with this proposed arrangement, and is calling on folks unhappy with the proposed scheme to sign its letter addressed to the Communications Minister, which is almost completely signed after less than a day online. The letter will then be sent to Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

An excerpt reads:

The system proposed by the industry purports to be educational, but clearly has a focus on facilitating court actions. After a customer receives three notices, a rights holder can compel their ISP to hand over their personal details to make court action easier and faster. There is no limit on the amount of money that a rights holder can seek from the customer.



If a consumer objects to any notice received, they can lodge a complaint with a largely industry-controlled body. There is no avenue for appeal if the consumer disagrees with the decision made.

It also highlights schemes from around the world, contrasting it with the proposed scheme for Australia which appears harsh by comparison.

Choice has previously said that sending out “education” notices is a heavy-handed way of dealing with pirates.

“It’s a flawed notice scheme that gives rights holders access to personal details. ISPs will send up to three notices based on rights holder accusations. After this, they can pass on personal customer details to the rights holders,” it wrote last week.

The cheeky Turnbull education campaign is a bid to raise public awareness on the copyright code. Comments on the proposed code are being sought by the Government through to the end of next month.