We know that you, gentle readers would never steal a car or a handbag, much less torrent a file, but if you’re in the habit of doing so (and we do not encourage this behaviour in any way), your supply might soon dry up.
Fairfax report that the Australian government, who usually can’t be serious about much of anything, are getting fairly serious about a proposal to block websites that host or link to pirated material.
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Attorney General George Brandis have been locked in a stalemate on the issue for months, but supposedly, they are working together on a submission, which could be in front of cabinet “before Christmas.”
What could these new developments mean for your external hard drive full of pirated Game Of Thrones episodes (should you hypothetically have such a thing, which we do NOT endorse)?
Well, it’s all speculation, but a mysterious inside source tells Fairfax that:
– It’s likely the government will compel Australian ISPs to forward copyright infringement notices from film and TV copyright holders to users, something many do not currently do.
– It’s also likely that copyright holders will be empowered to seek injunctions, requiring multiple ISPs to block sites that host infringing content, and torrent sites like The Pirate Bay.
Earlier this year, a proposal was put forward that would require ISPs to slow the download speeds of users caught breaching copyright multiple times, although this seems unlikely to go ahead.
When asked to comment, Turnbull confirmed he and Brandis are working on a joint submission, but refused to comment on whether it would be in front of cabinet before or after Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever hits the torrents (… what did we just tell you about torrenting? NO).
Photo: Stefan Postles via Getty Images
