New Bill targets online pirates
A new Bill introduced by the federal government aims to crack down on online pirates.
The Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Bill 2018 gives creative industries more power to fight copyright infringements.
It strengthens the existing, successful website blocking scheme introduced by the government in 2015, by allowing more pirate websites to be targeted and making it harder for pirates to circumvent blocking measures.
Online piracy hurts Australia's creative industries and is particularly damaging to the local film and television production sector.
Minister for Communications and the Arts Mitch Fifield said Australia's website blocking scheme had been successful in reducing copyright infringement and these changes would further strengthen it.
"Online piracy is theft. Downloading or streaming a pirated movie or TV show is no different to stealing a DVD from a shop," he said.
"The government is providing enormous support to creative industries, including through small business tax relief and our Location Incentive program. We can't have that good work undone by allowing local creators to be victims of online piracy.
"We are always looking at what more we can do, and we want copyright owners to have the right tools at their disposal to fight online piracy."
Currently under the legislative framework, the Federal Court can issue orders for internet service providers to block access to infringing websites.
The Copyright Amendment Bill will ensure a broader range of overseas websites and file-hosting services widely used for sharing music and movies are within the scope of the scheme, and provide a means for proxy and mirror pirate sites to be blocked quickly.
The amendments will also further empower copyright owners to seek Federal Court orders requiring search engines to demote or remove search results for infringing sites.
Please follow us and share on Twitter and Facebook. You can also subscribe for FREE to our weekly newsletter and quarterly magazine.
Phishing attacks on Australian workers growing more successful
The rate of Australian workers clicking on phishing links has surged 140% since last year,...
Ingram Micro adds AlgoSec to supplier line-up
Ingram Micro has reached an agreement to distribute application-centric security...
CyberCX to be bought out by Accenture
Accenture has arranged to make its largest cybersecurity acquisition to date through the purchase...
