Australian ISPs May Also Ban File-Sharers from the Internet

Govt examines three-strikes proposal currently being considered in the UK for possible introduction back home.

One by one so-called democratic countries are lining up behind copyright holders and choosing commerce over freedom.

France was the first to kowtow to the entertainment industry, which exchanged the free flow of information for a music industry pledge to get rid of DRM and a speedier theater to DVD release schedule from the movie industry.

Then the UK decided that it would get into the data transfer inspection business and begin a three-strikes and your out policy of its own.

Now comes word that Australia is taking a look at the legislation being considered in the UK for use there as well.

Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI) general manager Sabiene Heindl said 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," she said, reported the Sydney Morning Herald.

Australia’s Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said he was aware of the music industry’s demand that ISPs address illegal file-sharing by their internet subscribers and so pledged to examine similar proposals underway in the UK.

"We will also examine any UK legislation on this issue [including any three-strikes policy] with particular interest," he said.

Australian ISPs are rightly concerned with any proposal to make them copyright enforcers, just as their UK counterparts are. "Internet service providers are not the enforcers of copyright," said National Internet Industry Association chief executive Peter Corones. They are "a mere conduit" for internet connectivity.

[Via SMH]