Australian Government To Take Legal Action Versus Illegal 'Downloaders'

Sydney, Australia (AHN)-Internet users who download content illegally beware. The Australian government is planning to enact a legislation that would legally require Internet service providers to penalize illegal 'downloaders'.

Based on the proposal, which is similar to legislation planned in the United Kingdom, offenders will be subject to a three-strikes policy. The campaign is focused on Internet users who illegally share copyrighted material, such as movies, videos and music.

Under the three-strikes policy an e-mail warning would be issued to first time violators, a second offense will result in suspension of Internet access, and the third-time offenders would have their Internet contract terminated.

The proposal is aimed at curbing widespread piracy and illegal downloads. Based on estimates, 6 million broadband users in Australia download files illegally annually, which is taking its toll on legitimate music and film companies, who lose billions of dollars in revenue.

Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI) general manager Sabiene Heindl has been quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald as saying that her group had been lobbying for the policy for a year. "Because P2P file sharing involves these music files sitting on individual people's computers, there is very little that MIPI can do to remove those files or stop them being shared."

Heindl added, "That's why we have been pushing a proposal to Internet service providers for a commonsense system of warning notices which, if unheeded, would ultimately result in a user having their account suspended or disconnected."