aradian lets us know that according
to the director of anti-piracy operations for the Motion Picture Association
(MPA) in the Asia Pacific region, Michael Ellis, Australia will be the new
battleground to fight growing internet film
piracy in South-East Asia. The country needs to show its leadership in the fight
against the "rage of internet piracy:"
 "Australia is going to be my battleground. This is the place
where we have to set the example to be a model for the whole region," he
said. "The increasing penetration of broadband will make the reality of
internet piracy continue ever more quickly."
The MPA announced it
would increase its budget for anti-piracy measures in Australia, and
establish the Australia Federation Against Copyright Threat to aid the
campaign.
Communications Minister Richard Alston agreed that the
internet posed a major challenge for the film industry, and pledged to be
"tough on piracy."
An announcement on new legislation was expected
before the end of the year, but Senator Alston said he didn't believe
arresting people who downloaded movies at home was the answer.
"If
you caught Prince Philip doing it, you'd prosecute him and the whole world
knows about it. But you are much better off to try and come up with a
systematic solution to the problem that doesn't mean someone knocking at
the door and dragging them off," he said.
The industry plans to battle piracy
by seeking increased penalties for those illegally uploading movies,
educating people about the impact of piracy on working people, and
devising a business plan for affordable and legal distribution of movies
on the
internet. |
Source: The West Australian
