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The Australian Government recently called for submissions into its plans to introduce a range of measures that are the long-standing dreams of the copyright lobby: ISP liability, website blocking for alleged pirate sites and graduated response.

The Government’s discussion paper specifically asked respondents to ignore other Government inquiries into copyright. This meant ignoring an inquiry by the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) into copyright in the digital economy and an IT pricing inquiry. These reviews both covered important aspects of sharing culture in the 21^st century, yet they were completely ignored by the Government’s paper and respondents were instructed to ignore issues covered in them.

The ALRC review examined issues around the emerging remix culture, the ways the Australian copyright regime limits options for companies to take advantage of the digital environment and issues around fair dealing and fair use. It recommended a raft of changes to update Australian copyright law to modernize it for the digital age. Whilst the recommendations were modest, they were a step in the right direction, but this step has been ignored by the Australian Parliament.

The IT pricing inquiry held last year, looked into why Australians pay exorbitant prices for digital content, a practice that has been dubbed the Australia Tax. Entertainment and Tech companies were dragged in front of the inquiry to explain why Australians pay much more for products than residents of other countries. The review found that, compared to other countries, Australians pay up to 84% more for games, 52% more for music and 50% more for professional software than comparable countries. The result of this review was to look at ways to end geographic segmentation and to continue to turn a blind eye to people using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to circumvent the higher prices in Australia.

Between the Australia Tax and the substantially delayed release dates for TV shows and movies, Australians don’t feel too bad about accessing content by other means. According to some estimates, over 200,000 people have Netflix accounts by accessing the service through VPNs.

Pirate Party Australia (PPAU) responded to the latest review with a comprehensive paper, outlining the need to consider all of the evidence and what that evidence says about file-sharing.

To say the Government’s discussion paper was biased understates the single-mindedness of the approach being taken by the Government. A co-author of the Pirate Party submission, Mozart Olbrycht-Palmer summed it up:

The discussion paper stands out as the worst I have ever read. The Government has proposed both a graduated response scheme and website blockades without offering any evidence that either of these work. Unsurprisingly the only study the discussion paper references was commissioned by the copyright lobby and claims Australia has a high level of online copyright infringement. This calls into question the validity of the consultation process. The Government could not have arrived at these proposals if independent studies and reports had been consulted.

The entire review was aimed at protecting old media empires from the Internet. This is due in part, to the massive support given to the Liberal (Conservatives) and National Party coalition in the lead-up to the 2013 federal election which saw Murdoch owned News Ltd media, comprising most major print-news outlets in Australia, actively campaign for the in-coming Government. There is also a long history of media companies donating heavily to buy influence. Village Roadshow, one of Australia’s largest media conglomerates, has donated close to four million dollars to both major parties since 1998: in the lead up to the 2013 election alone, they donated over $300,000 to the LNP.

The sort of influence being wielded by the old media is a big part of what Pirate parties worldwide were formed to counter. The Internet gives everyone a platform that can reach millions, if the content is good enough. The money required to distribute culture is rapidly approaching zero and those who built media empires on mechanical distribution models (you know, physical copies of media, DVDs, cassettes etc) want to turn the clock back, because they are losing their power to influence society.

Much of the Pirate Party response centred on the need to allow non-commercial file-sharing and dealing with the wrong, bordering on fraudulent assumptions, the paper was based on. From the paper:

Digital communications provide challenges and opportunities. Normal interactions, such as sharing culture via the Internet, should not be threatened. Creators should seize the new opportunities provided and embrace new forms of exposure and distribution. The Pirate Party believes the law should account for the realities of this continually emerging paradigm by reducing copyright duration, promoting the remixing and reuse of existing content, and legalising all forms of non-commercial use and distribution of copyrighted materials.

The discussion paper asked, ‘What could constitute ‘reasonable steps’ for ISPs to prevent or avoid copyright infringement?’ This was of particular concern because it is aimed at legally overturning the iiNet case, which set a legal precedent that ISPs couldn’t be sued for the behavior of their users. This section was a not-so-subtle attempt to push for a graduated response (‘three strikes’) system which has been heavily criticized in a number of countries.

The agenda laid out in this discussion paper was very clear, as demonstrated by Question 6: “What matters should the Court consider when determining whether to grant an injunction to block access to a particular website?”

The Pirate Party obviously disagrees with the implication that website blocking was a foregone conclusion. Censorship is not the answer to file-sharing or any other perceived problem on the Internet. Government control of the flow of information is not consistent with an open democracy. The Pirate Party submission attacked website blocking on free speech grounds and explained how measures to block websites or implement a graduated response regime would be trivial to avoid through the use of VPNs.

On Tuesday September 9, a public forum was held into the proposed changes. The panel was stacked with industry lobbyists, no evidence was presented while the same tired arguments were trotted out to try to convince attendees that there was need to crack down on file-sharing. It wasn’t all bad though, with the host of the meeting, Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, flagging a Government re-think on how to tackle piracy after the scathing responses to the review from the public.

Despite signalling a re-think, the Australian Government is still intent on implementing draconian copyright laws. Consumers may have won this round, but the fight will continue.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

While their antipodean cousins have been celebrating the launch of Mega, Australian Pirates have cause to celebrate, as the Australian Pirate Party is now formally recognized as a party.

The party’s registration, with an objection period that ended January 14th, was deliberately kept quiet to reduce spiteful and/or spurious objections from pro-copyright bodies. Recognition was granted as of January 15th. As such, it’s now accepting members.

Party Founder Rodney Serkowsi was not shy in why he feels the party is needed in Australia.

“As the Prime Minister condemns whistleblowers and publishers without trial, the spectre of data retention looms, policy is laundered and Australia’s interests are sidelined by faceless diplomats and bureaucrats through ill-considered trade pacts there has never been more reason to put pirates in parliament,” he says.

Elections are expected to take place sometime around August.

But while it’s summer in the south, it’s winter in the north, and in Russia – a country famed for its winters – the icy winds are blowing cold and harsh.

The Russian Pirate Party seems unable to get a break. Last year, they were denied the ability to register as a party because of their name. The Ministry of Justice said it was promoting “at-sea crimes”. In July of 2011 the party’s judicial challenge failed when a judge sided with the Ministry against the party.

Then, last year a change in the law allowed the Russians to reapply, which they did at a ceremony June 30th 2012. However, it’s the same result as last time, as they’ve been turned down by the Justice Ministry again, this time for apparently “using in the name the word ‘pirate‘ that allegedly does not conform to the party’s goals and objectives”.

“This is not a joke. Such decisions are taken at the highest level. The Ministry of Justice is just carrying out someone else’s actions,” Chairman Pavel Rassudov commented.

However, the decision by Pirate Parties International to hold their annual conference in the Russian Kazan may bring some cheer, and could help revive flagging spirits (and inflame others) in an increasingly embattled party.

One thing is certain though, Pirates are continuing to ruffle political feathers worldwide.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

In several countries World Intellectual Property Day is used by pro-copyright groups to educate the public that strong copyright protections are needed. In Australia, however, the local Pirate Party is doing something different.

To celebrate different approaches to copyright, members of the Pirate Party Australia will be handing out free CDs outside the main entrance of Sydney’s University of Technology Broadway Campus.

Pirate Party Australia produced a Pirate Sampler CD to distribute for free, promoting various artists who share their work under a Creative Commons licences.

“Intellectual property is a term used to lump together a range of different concepts in an attempt to conflate them with physical property,” Pirate Party Acting Secretary Simon Frew commented on the action.

“Ideas and culture can now be shared at a trivial cost, yet companies rely on government imposed legal restrictions to maintain their advantage through creating a false scarcity.”

“There are quite large differences between trademarks, patents and copyright, yet today is a celebration of corporate interests having successfully passed them all off as a single concept. We are coming out to oppose this and show that information should be freely shared,” Frew added.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

The Pirate Party currently holds two seats in the European Parliament thanks to the massive support from Swedish voters. In the aftermath of this accomplishment several new parties were founded worldwide. In the UK the Pirate Party was officially registered at the Electoral Commission in August and Canada has been pursuing the same goal for a while, now followed by Australia.

The Pirate Party Australia just announced that it is now accepting founding members in their attempt to get the party officially registered with the Australian Electoral Commission. In order to get registered the party needs 500 members who sign and send in their application form, plus a $20.00 founders fee.

“With this small but significant step, we will be one step closer to providing Australian electors with the option of voting ‘Pirate’ at the next Federal election, to fight for a fairer and more balanced copyright, greater innovation and access to culture, information and knowledge, greater government transparency and the protection of our civil liberties,” the Party announced.

David Crafti, President of Pirate Party Australia, stresses the importance of a political party that defends citizens rights against the ever-growing power of pro-copyright lobbyists.

“With the current government attempting to implement an Internet censorship regime, continuing secretive ACTA negotiations and an increasingly belligerent war on sharing, here and across the globe – it is now more important than ever that we work to protect our civil liberties, and our democracy,” Crafti said.

The Aussie Pirate Party hopes to have the 500 required membership applications in before the end of the year. They encourage prospective members to send in their application forms (pdf) as soon as is possible, so the party can become officially registered and get to work.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.