Think you can pirate TV shows? Don't mess with Obama. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
IF HE was running for President of Australia, Barack Obama would have breezed to power last year.
Not anymore. A confidential Obama government proposal revealed by Wikileaks last week would be a stinker with the many Australians who illegally download and binge on hit TV series such as Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad.
Hundreds of thousands of Australians who illegally download the latest seasons of their favourite TV show would be engaging in a criminal act under the US proposal, critics said.
You wouldn’t steal a car. Would you steal her TV series? Picture: Supplied Source: NewsComAu
The proposal was for an international trade deal called the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). But what would it mean for downloaders?
"In theory, a person using BitTorrent might be engaging in criminal activity already but it's very difficult to prove it," explained Associate Professor Kimberlee Weatherall from Sydney University Law School.
"If the US gets its way on the TPP it would be much easier to hold someone criminally liable for downloading."
Same reaction many illegal downloaders had. Picture: Supplied Source: NewsComAu
Ms Weatherall described the proposal as "horrible" and independent consumer watchdog CHOICE said it was "deeply concerned".
"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 CEO Alan Kirkland said.
"While CHOICE condemns copyright infringement, we certainly don't agree that an individual downloading Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones for personal use should be open to criminal prosecution.
More than 100,000 Aussies pirated the last season. Picture: Supplied Source: NewsComAu
The US has become increasingly vocal about the issue this year, after studies found Australians were the biggest pirates in the world when it came to series such as Game of Thrones.
Then US ambassador Jeff Bleich pleaded with Australians to stop illegal downloading in April. "Unfortunately, nearly as epic and devious as the drama, is its unprecedented theft by online viewers around the world," Mr Bleich wrote in a Facebook post.
"As the Ambassador here in Australia, it was especially troubling to find out that Australian fans were some of the worst offenders with among the highest piracy rates of Game of Thrones in the world".
Enough is enough ... Former US ambassador Bleich called time on piracy. Picture: Digital trickery Source: NewsComAu
Australian negotiators are understood to have opposed the proposal. A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it "is not supporting any provisions on copyright in the TPP that would criminalise conduct that is currently legal in Australia".
Figures crunched by TorrentFreak found Australians were the world's biggest illegal downloaders of the hit HBO series. Series' founder George R R Martin described the spate of illegal downloads as a blessing and a curse last week.
"In one sense it shows a tremendous interest in the show," he reportedly said.
"(But) if people were actually paying for the show, all that money could go into the show, we could have more special effects and more dragons and more actors, that would be good."
A US Embassy spokeswoman said inventors, scientists and other creators devote enormous time and resources to their work and need to be paid for their work. CHOICE said there is "a lot at stake" for Australian consumers in the deal.
SOURCE:www.news.com.au
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