Just months after more than 100,000 Australians illegally downloaded the latest season of Breaking Bad, the Federal Government is considering an international trade agreement that could criminalise this activity.
“CHOICE is deeply concerned at a proposal from the United States to expand criminal liability for copyright infringement. This would mean that domestic non-commercial infringement could become a criminal act,” says CHOICE CEO Alan Kirkland.
“While CHOICE condemns copyright infringement, we certainly don’t agree that an individual downloading a program for personal use should be open to criminal prosecution.”
Recent favourite programs downloaded by Australians include Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, House of Cards and The Newsroom.
CHOICE has also renewed its call for greater transparency on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) after leaked drafts showed that consumer rights could be undermined in the secretive trade agreement.
A newly leaked draft, posted on Wikileaks, comes less than one month after CHOICE launched a public campaign for the TPP texts to be made available to the public.
“We have raised several concerns over the risks of poor outcomes for consumers as a result of the TPP negotiations,” says Mr Kirkland.
“The United States appears to be proposing a raft of measures that would be disastrous for Australian consumers if they made the final text. This includes a ban on purchasing products from overseas retailers and shipping them to Australia.”
“While we are pleased to see that Australian negotiators are opposing this, we continue to have concerns that the TPP could entrench other copyright provisions which contradict recommendations made by the IT Pricing Inquiry.”
The recent bipartisan Parliamentary report, At what cost? IT pricing and the Australia tax, recommended that the government consider changes to copyright law to offer consumers greater protections when they circumvent online geo-blocks that are designed to prevent Australians from accessing certain international content online.
Mr Kirkland said the leaked draft also appears to show Australian negotiators wanting to limit consumers’ ability to get around these virtual walls that sustain higher prices.
“CHOICE wants to have input into this wide-reaching agreement. Ideally, this would be through open debate.”
Mr Kirkland said consumers should be able to see drafts of the TPP, rather than having to rely on Wikileaks.
CHOICE encourages Australians to sign its petition demanding greater transparency in the TPP negotiations.
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