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Australia: VPN Users Aren't Breaching Copyright (abc.net.au)
Slashdot reader Zanadou writes: The Australian Government Productivity Commission in a draft report recommended that Australian consumers should be able to legally circumvent geoblocking restrictions that have prevented them from using foreign online streaming services like Netflix, and that the Australian Government needs to send a clear message that it is not an infringement of copyright for consumers to be able evade geoblocking technology. Karen Chester, a commissioner with the Productivity Commission, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that geoblocking restrictions have the opposite effect of encouraging internet piracy. "Making copyright material more accessible and more competitively priced online, and not geoblocking, is the best antidote to copyright infringement."
In probably related news, Australia topped the list of countries who illegally downloaded the Game Of Thrones season six premiere, this week.
In January Netflix's chief product officer admitted that the company has no magic solution to subscribers who use VPNs to circumvent geoblocking.
In probably related news, Australia topped the list of countries who illegally downloaded the Game Of Thrones season six premiere, this week.
In January Netflix's chief product officer admitted that the company has no magic solution to subscribers who use VPNs to circumvent geoblocking.
Copyright laws are negotiated through international treaties. That includes circumventing geographical restrictions. Australia is in violation.
Does this mean I'll be able to watch MasterChef Australia and MKR in the US, without torrenting them like I do now? Maybe catch some extra videos from Ten's website?
-- I have a private email server in my basement.
and I watched Game of Thrones on HBO GO. Sounds like HBO is getting desperate and sending notices to random addresses.
When every large company has a VPN
I can buy and import any (legal) physical product: Books, CDs, DVDs, Clothes, Shoes, Cars, computers, software, etc etc etc etc. Just because its a digital file rather than a physical item they want different rules ?, Why ? The ONLY reason for this is to reduce competition and increase prices. If I pay for it, I am entitled to it, legally.
people paying for content and getting around geoblocking are not pirates. They are paying for the works.
You could argue that the people they are buying the works from are in violation of their license because they don't have a license to sell to those countries. But I have a hard time believing that any Court would punish them. They are paying the creators of the works, and they are not actively selling in those countries, they are just not demanding that people provide absolute proof of where they live.
but that would be like requiring B&N to ask for your citizenship papers or passport before they sell a book to you since they do not have rights to sell books in all countries.
I traveled overseas a few years back. On my trip, I bought a book. On the copyright notice page it states that this book is only authorized for sale in the country I was visiting. I then flew back to the USA (where this particular edition is not available) with my book. Have I broken a law or violated a copyright?
As I see it, Australian citizens are simply purchasing material at a point of sale within the USA (the VPN's point of presence) and then they are using private means to move the material to their home. I flew. They used a VPN.
Have gnu, will travel.
http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/why-i-refuse-to-feel-sorry-for-pirating-game-of-thrones-20160428-gohqzi.html
This has most likely been legal regardless always. Back in the 90s we had a big drama over government laws introduced guaranteeing "parallell importation". The concept being that the consumer (and retailer) was guaranteed the right to bypass local importers and import their own stuff if they can get a better deal. This was particularly targetted at the music industry where CD distribution monopolies had kept album prices at around the $30 mark which in the 1990s was pretty damn exorbitant. The music industry had a fit about it, right down to big public scare campaigns about how it would ~somehow~ make music more expensive and cause australian musicians to go bankerupt because pirates would make cds in indoneisa or china and sell them cheap here legally. Which of course was nonsense since none of this authorized piracy. The laws also meant CD players where required to be multi region.
Later the laws where used to prohibit sony and microsoft going after modchippers , and enforced DVD multi-region requirements. This all was going great until the conserative Howard government came in and I think, but I cant prove, they told the ACCC to stop enforcing the parallell import laws. And we got DMCA style laws for copyright which actually reversed many of the freedoms of parallell import.
None the less, they ARE still on the book, so I guess this rulings most important result is clarifying that technological measures to circumvent geoblocking do not violate copyright laws.
Excuse the Unicode crap in my posts. That's an apostrophe, and slashdot is busted.
In January Netflix's chief product officer admitted that the company has no magic solution to subscribers who use VPNs to circumvent geoblocking.
The population of Australia is 23 million. The number of Netflix subscribers in Australia is about 1 million. Respectable. But from the studios point of view these are not big numbers and a leak here and there isn't going to matter very much.
They are big numbers to Presto and Stan, Netflix's rivals in Australia --- which means that for Netflix the Australian VPN is win-win.
It undercuts its regional rivals, before they can become too strong, at very little cost to its own bottom line and without damaging its relations with the studios.
Read The FA:
"Making copyright material more accessible and more competitively priced online, and not geoblocking, is the best antidote to copyright infringement."
The report also concluded that copyright protection lasts too long and used the example of an author writing a book today who lives for another 50 years being protected until 2136.
"Continuing to reward someone after they're resting in peace doesn't make a lot of sense," Ms Chester said.
It's a stupid law, it needs to be repealed, etc. etc. But Australians are doing it wrong if they argue they're morally or legally right in Australia. The only thing that matters is what happens in the US.
That said, the beauty of breaking the law from within a foreign country is that it's a lot harder for the wronged company to get relief. Especially if the foreign government disagrees with the US. By hurting American companies economically, the trickle down effect *may* be that the stupid law will get revisited. So rock on Aussies ;-)
Quite apart from the geoblocking issue - there's a whole tonne of interesting recommendations in the draft report.
For those who aren't familiar, the Productivity Commission is a major Australian Government advisory body/think tank that conducts public inquiries into matters of economic policy. The Government requested a broad report into the economic effectiveness of the intellectual property system.
This report is a draft - the Commission is presently taking public submissions that will be considered for the final report later this year.
Highlights from the findings and recommendations:
All of which seems in line with what I consider sensible policy reform. Of course, whether the Government will consider any of these recommendations at all is a completely different question...
Downloads are legal, always.
The only thing that could be illegal are uploads, but even then you have to check several prerequisites before you may call it "illegal":
- is the material copyrighted? .. and many more, just calling those people's action "illegal" is like saying Guantanamo is a good thing and we should arrest random people without trial on a regular basis, maybe even you next week!
- did the upload occur really, and not just a site-visit without download?
- who did redeive the upload?
- does the downloader have the licence right for the downloaded material (e.g. also owns the DVD)
- does the downloader have access to the TV-channel that broadcasts the same material and just juses the download as private video-recorder?
- does the downloader have a friend who owns the dvd, and just received a legalprivate copy by downloading it?
This is only about specifically saying that getting around region blocking isn't illegal.
What ever you do with it could still be illegal. Viewing US netflix is still breaking the US netflix TOS, illegal probably not, but they can still block you just as easily.
Complaining that geoblocking is somehow good for us, and that what these people are doing is still piracy somehow.
This is why I absolutely don't feel bad for piracy.
The whole geoblocking thing makes it obvious that the price of these things is determined 100% by the desire to squeeze the maximum amount of money out of you.
People might be willing to pay, but if you make it obvious that you are scamming them, and other people can pay less, or worse, you don't give them the option to buy at all because it's a different country, then why the fuck should they still respect your copyright?
Accessibility takes away our ability to control to the slightest detail what people see think and feel, thus it is not in the overlords interest to let the rabble access what they desire, rather we wish to keep them in a system of longing, distrust and strong control because that makes it easier for us to squeeze every drop of life out of them in what the rabble call the rat race. The rabble must not be allowed to think or make decisions on their own as they cannot handle freedom and must thus be kept in our eternal servitude
The call Australia "Treasure Island" because retailers can overcharge for so much out of date stuff here. Even downloads of software cost 30-80% more if your site is the .com.au locale.
Tried hola in chrome, Netflix effortlessly caught me using proxy...
This is a complete media beat up about Australians pirating GOT more than any country. The source of the information https://torrentfreak.com/game-... quoted its statistics after collecting only HALF A DAY'S worth of data - ie. while Australia was awake and the rest of the English speaking world asleep. The exact same controversy happened last year, with the exact same source and statistical integrity.
www.shortman.com.au - top shorted stocks on the ASX
Maybe you missed the "while I was moving and my DSL modem and computer were packed in a box" part of my post above. I certainly wasn't using my Internet connection when my the modem and computer weren't even plugged in!
Look, all movie actors are over paid, the movie/show companies make so much money that people don't care anymore. They DON'T. - Game of Thrones is a good example, most my friends just torrent it or if someone has it, they just copy the USB stick and share around. They DON'T CARE. Simple, everyone moves on.
If we are talking about a limited Australian TV show that employs real actors and musicians then there is a good chance people would TRY and BUY it and they CAN and it's available so everyone moves on.
I have noticed that the word 'pirate' is now the new lingo to, f_ck, I have saved money not screwing around trying to BUY this crap that I can't even get half the time.
So basically, the average person does not CARE and won't and by doing all this geoblocking and delayed sales etc is hardly going to convert anyone. Can I stress that all my young friends DONT CARE about it, it would take some of my friends 300 years to earn what one stupid actor gets in 1 movie or episode.
Funny enough, the solution is simple: Provide content at a fair price at the same time as everyone else in the world and people will pay. Just charge $2 for HD copy of Game of Thrones and you'll be surprised on how many people WILL pay. Otherwise deal with $0 and no one will care.