Copyright Industry Keeps Asking For More In Australia: VPN Ban Next?

from the collateral-damage dept

Wed, Mar 25th 2015 8:23am — Glyn Moody

Techdirt has been following the rather depressing saga of the Australian government's attempt to ram through new copyright powers for some time now. As TorrentFreak reports, under great pressure from the Australian government, local ISPs have put together a draft voluntary code for dealing with alleged copyright infringement (pdf). The Australasian Music Publishers Association (AMPAL) has now weighed in, and basically wants everything to be much harsher, including the following:

"The Code does not place a general obligation on ISPs to monitor and detect online copyright infringement," the publishers write. "AMPAL submits that ideally the Code should include such a duty using ISPs’ monitoring and filtering techniques."

...

"The Code does not require ISPs to block access to infringing material. AMPAL submits that ideally the Code should include provisions obliging ISPs to take such action following provision of the relevant information by Rights Holders and/or following discovery of copyright infringing websites by ISPs’ monitoring and filtering techniques," the publishers write.

...

"AMPAL submits that ideally additional options should be available to Rights Holders in the form of sanctions or mitigation procedures to be imposed on Account Holders," the publishers write.

In other words, AMPAL wants to get ISPs do all the dirty work, turning them into both cops and executioner. But AMPAL isn't alone in coming up with disproportionate responses to the ISP code. Via ZDNet, here's a comment from BBC Worldwide (pdf), the wholly-owned commercial arm of the British broadcaster:

The Code is ill-equipped [to] deal with consumers who spoof or mask their IP addresses to avoid detection, behaviour that we believe will increase as a result of an introduction of a notice scheme.

The footnote for that point refers to a TorrentFreak article about Canadian piracy notifications boosting demand for VPNs, which confirms that what BBC Worldwide is concerned about here is the ease with which Australians will be able to use things like VPNs to evade sanctions by masking their IP address.

Of course, anyone who understands how the Internet works -- and how people use it -- has been pointing this out for years. But the worrying thing is that the copyright industry seems to be surprised by this possibility. Knowing the way it thinks, and its complete indifference to the collateral damage it might cause, the fear has to be that the next stage in its war on sharing will be demanding that governments ban VPNs.

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Filed Under: australia, copyright, copyright police, isps, monitoring, vpns
Companies: ampal

39 Comments

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Hugh Gego, 25 Mar 2015 @ 8:43am

Stop being so dramatic. We only want you to block "consumer" VPNs. You know, the piratey ones. Surely you nerds can tell the difference.

PS - Please ignore the VPN to my "office" in the Caymens. That one is, like, totally different.
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Mar 2015 @ 8:48am

Block, creep, deprive, repeat
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Mar 2015 @ 8:48am

when are people going to say 'enough is enough!' the world is being run by an industry that has only one aim and that is to be in control. even then, i have to wonder whether being in control of it's own stuff is going to be enough because it seems as if it wants control of the internet world wide and who can do what anywhere, anyhow with people actually having to ask if they can put a website on the internet. if the industries so 'no' you're screwed but the more likely answer is going to be 'yes, but it's gonna cost X amount'!
whatever it is that the industries have on politicians, on governments and on law makers, it must be pretty damn good because all of the above in every country world wide almost are falling over themselves to do what the industries want, even when it means screwing their own citizens and countries and all for an industry that runs on 'Make Believe'! if we are not very careful, there is going to be real shit hitting fan because if they get the control they want, and hold companies even countries to ransom, things could go very bad, very quickly!
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Mar 2015 @ 8:50am

If the BBC would allow me to give them actual money to access their programs worldwide, then they would have more money, and I don't think I am alone. (I do not use a vpn to access their content, I'd prefer to actually pay a reasonable amount).
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Mar 2015 @ 8:53am

"the next stage in its war on sharing will be demanding that governments ban VPNs."

The MAFIAA won't ask that VPNs be banned, but instead demand that they be regulated (as ISPs are) to the point that there is no advantage to the end user in getting a VPN over exposing a computer's naked IP address.

Let's not forget that many VPNs --perhaps even most-- offer essentially zero anonymity, because (for their own benefit) they log traffic and store those logs for a long time. It's only the rare P2P-friendly VPNs that offer users any anonymity protection (by intentionally NOT keeping logs). Even paid services like Hide-MY-Ass and Giganews VPN have ratted out customers when the lawyers came knocking.
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Mar 2015 @ 8:53am

A war on VPN's could turn bloody very quickly, i doubth they would risk it.
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Mar 2015 @ 9:01am

Re:
VPNs would simply border-hop (as many already have) as countries start regulating them, but eventually, there will be no place left to go, especially when the United States government starts threatening countries directly with trade sanctions (or worse) if they don't start cracking down on [whatever Hollywood doesn't like].
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Mar 2015 @ 9:07am

Re:
i have to wonder whether being in control of it's own stuff is going to be enough

What they want is to be the only means of publication, but that is much too close to outright censorship for them to openly demand it.
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Mar 2015 @ 9:09am

they are probably right and spoofed ip connections will increase. that being the case, why does no one every take the sensible option and submit more legal sites that compete? the illegal sites are there because not enough legal sites are available. why shut down the illegal sites but not enable more legal options at the same time? how things go atm, it seems that in order to keep the control they think they should have, the industries view is shut down illegal sites but still make it almost impossible for people to find legal alternatives, unless of course, ridiculously high prices are paid! that could be the deciding factor and no one buys anything . now that would be interesting! it has been proven that there is virtually no change in the numbers of albums and movies bought, regardless of whether illegal sites are operating or not. so what other excuse can they come up with?
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BigKeithO, 25 Mar 2015 @ 9:18am

Re:
If you live outside of the US the majority of content is unavailable to you whether you are willing to pay or not. I would happily continue to pay for Netflix (maybe 1 or 2 more reasonably priced sites, no more) and visit official websites with advertising however this is not an option.

Users in the US have no idea how bleak the streaming situation is outside of the country. You have to use a VPN / DNS spoofer in order to see most things. Why make it so difficult to take my money?
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Idobek (profile), 25 Mar 2015 @ 9:26am

Re:
I own a television. I am required to pay £145.50 a year to the BBC for the "licence" to own that television. If I don't pay I could go to jail.

The BBC don't do "reasonable".
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John Fenderson (profile), 25 Mar 2015 @ 9:29am

Re: Re:
That sounds like a truly excellent reason to not own a television.
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me, 25 Mar 2015 @ 9:36am

people use vpns for their jobs
so....no.
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Idobek (profile), 25 Mar 2015 @ 9:37am

Re: Re: Re:
You need to be covered by a valid TV Licence if you watch or record TV as it's being broadcast. This includes the use of devices such as a computer, laptop, mobile phone or DVD/video recorder.

Basically if you watch or record anything live ever you need a TV licence.
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Gordon, 25 Mar 2015 @ 9:46am

Re: Re: Re: Re: TV license
And their enforcers are very aggressive, lying about having contacted you and threatening court action from the get-go.

Apparently they also get commission for every person they persuade to buy a license.
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John Fenderson (profile), 25 Mar 2015 @ 10:02am

Re:
"when are people going to say 'enough is enough!' "

I reached that point years ago, which is why I pretty much ignore bad copyright law in my personal activities and don't think twice about routing around it. Instead, I adhere to the intent and purpose of copyright.
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Roger Strong (profile), 25 Mar 2015 @ 10:14am

Re:
If the BBC would allow me to give them actual money to access their programs worldwide, then they would have more money, and I don't think I am alone.

Agreed. I'd sign up today, just to watch new episodes of Top Gear as they come out.
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Ninja (profile), 25 Mar 2015 @ 10:17am

And when VPN abns don't work? Encryption ban? Then thumb drives ban? Capital punishment?

There's no end to the bs. Copyright needs to be scrapped exactly because that bottomless greed.
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Mar 2015 @ 10:24am

Re: Re:
No need now. Clarkson has been sacked. I doubt there will be any more episodes for you to watch.
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Ruben, 25 Mar 2015 @ 10:55am

Re: Re:
Agreed. Been at this for a while now. Still waiting for a major music retailer to offer FLACs. And movies in MKV.
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Mar 2015 @ 12:24pm

Let's face it! It's very simple for lobbyists of any stripe, to sit back and demand that lawmakers create laws that will stop this "infringement". What they don't have, nor do the lawmakers, 8is the first foggy clue about how any of this technology works, or the effects of their misbegotten laws.
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Whoever, 25 Mar 2015 @ 1:39pm

Much easier for content sources to detect VPNs
It is much easier for content distributors to detect VPNs. All they have to do is look for IP addresses where there are lots of different clients behind a single address.

Of course, if carrier-grade NAT becomes more widespread, this will make the above detection method unreliable.
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Mar 2015 @ 5:43pm

People willing to pay a small monthly fee to secure access to content are obviously a huge threat to the industry's business model.
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That Anonymous Coward (profile), 25 Mar 2015 @ 6:36pm

something something same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

They have no new plans.
They have no new ideas.
This time it will work and change everything.

Perhaps treating several million consumers like shit for decades, causes them to look into alternatives.

The solution is to get a clue that the business you are in is selling product to consumers, and everytime you put up another roadblock chasing imaginary dollars pissing off consumers who want to pay you... they find another way.

If you sell the content at the price the market wants without trying to pretend you still own it, the consumers will take the really easy path you made. Focus on getting them back by offering better for less, not worse for more.
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MrTroy (profile), 25 Mar 2015 @ 8:50pm

Re:
The purpose of VPNs is not to hide illegal activity. As you say, there are a variety of methods to attempt to do that.

The purpose of VPNs in this instance is to enable legal activity. For example, getting access to content that is geo-blocked, the practice of which was declared uncompetitive in Australia.
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MrTroy (profile), 25 Mar 2015 @ 8:52pm

Re:
There's no end to the bs. Copyright needs to be scrapped exactly because that bottomless greed.

I'd say lobbying needs to be scrapped. Copyright just needs to be fixed.
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The Moondoggie, 25 Mar 2015 @ 9:35pm

Re:
Ban the internet.
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eye sea ewe, 26 Mar 2015 @ 2:21am

Even the Communications Minister Mr Turnbull has described
ways to get around the insanity of their new bill.

Malcolm Turnbull lists ways to avoid having your metadata collected
During a television interview Mr Turnbull was pushed on whether people could avoid detection by the retention law Mr Turnbull conceded there were “always ways to get around things”.

The Minister admitted his metadata retention laws were not “a silver bullet”, and even went so far as to list at least seven different services journalists could use to get around them, and encouraged them to do so.

“If you have a device, and if I call you just through the mobile phone network, then there will be a record at my carrier that I’ve called your number,” he told Sky’s David Speers.

“If on the other hand I’ve called you by Skype, or a voice call on Viber, I send you a message on Whatsapp or Wickr or Threema or Signal, you know, Telegram, there’s a gazillion of them.

“Or indeed, if we have a Facetime call, the telco can see that I have made a connection to a Skype server or a Whatsapp server, it doesn’t see that I’ve had any connection with you.”

When pressed on whether these workarounds could also be used by terrorists or sex offenders, Mr Turnbull said the tough laws were not going to be “a guarantee”.

“There are always ways for people to get around things, but of course a lot of people don’t,” he said.

Mr Turnbull said whistleblowers and journalist’s sources had “nothing additionally” to fear, saying telcos had been keeping call charge records for periods of up to seven years for a very long time, and those records could be accessed by a number of agencies, “even the RSPCA”.

“People didn’t realise what was going on,” he said.

“The fact is we’re narrowing the scope dramatically as to who can access this material”, adding accessibility would be limited to police and ASIO.

The Communications Minister was last month outed as a Wickr user, using the encrypted messaging app to bypass his own tough laws, and now admits he uses a number of similar services.

“I am the Communications Minister,” he told Speers.
So VPN's and any other measure that may be used is already known to defeat the new laws.

So one must ask, Why bring them in in the first place?
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Anonymous, 26 Mar 2015 @ 7:06am

Re: Much easier for content sources to detect VPNs
Like all of Telstra's mobile network !
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John Fenderson (profile), 26 Mar 2015 @ 7:51am

Re: Even the Communications Minister Mr Turnbull has described
"I’ve called you by Skype"

Too bad he listed Skype, since Skype is compromised and isn't a solution. But then, my first instinct when I hear high government officials encourage people to use specific services is that you should avoid those specific services anyway. It seems likely that they want to herd people into compromised services than that they want to enable people to maintain their privacy and security.
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Almost Anonymous, 26 Mar 2015 @ 12:13pm

Re:
Wow, thread done in one. Good job.
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Almost Anonymous, 26 Mar 2015 @ 12:54pm

Re: people use vpns for their jobs
That was my first thought too. So many companies REQUIRE you to use a VPN connection to do any kind of remote work, I don't think it would be feasible to "ban" them.
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nasch (profile), 26 Mar 2015 @ 6:29pm

Re:
whatever it is that the industries have on politicians, on governments and on law makers, it must be pretty damn good

Not so much what they have on them as what they give them.
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Brett, 26 Mar 2015 @ 8:23pm

I can still download off Youtube with Video Download Helper. Is that cool?
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Mar 2015 @ 11:53am

Sounds about right.
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AUSTRALIAN_NET_USER, 21 Apr 2015 @ 10:18pm

Why is every NET user going to be strip-searched when leaving a shop in case someone is trying to steal a Mars Bar.
As one user on Whirlpool Australia states:

"What an absolute joke! Speaking has someone who could care less about Netflix OR Foxtel OR any of these corporations. Where do they get off trying to lobby to get rid of VPN's just because someone may be trying to download something or watch something on their crappy network.

PLEASE NETFLIX DON'T COME TO AUSTRALIA!

PLEASE FOXTEL AND OPTUS GET LOST!

PLEASE HOLLYWOOD DON'T RELEASE YOUR CRAPPY MOVIES HERE!

WHO CARES ABOUT YOUR RUBBISH SHOWS, I DON'T AND SO I DON'T WANT THE EQUIVALENT OFA STRIP SEARCH WHEN I LEAVE THE STORE AS SOMEONE MAY BE TRYING TO STEAL A MARS BAR!"

I also don't care about the rubbish media that they are trying to protect AT ALL, and so I agree with the quote from the Whirlpool user above that it is ludicrous that these corporations are demanding so much oversight from ISP's and the Australian govermnet.

Has anyone just told them to go pedal their rubbish somewhere else. Look at the reports on Murdoch making a huge profit in Australia and then using suspect methods to shift the profit offshore. The Fox has the cheek to cry that some maybe watching their rubbish without paying! What a ridiculous hypocrite. The mostly awful music industry and the BBC should be told to tell it to someone who cares. The BBC for has put out some good miniseries and documentaries, but also some absolute moronic rubbish as well.

The media should do a real survey and ask Australian users what they think Foxtel the BBC the MPAA and the rest of them should do. Which will probably be told to either make the stuff available for a reasonable price and stop trying to price gouge for it, or just pissoff.
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John, 3 Jun 2015 @ 5:06am

Everyone get on VPNs!
Easy solution, get so many people on VPNs for legit purposes (which i am for business reasons) that they can't shut them down!

Just go pick one, good list here http://reviewmyvpn.com/
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Joe, 9 Jun 2015 @ 7:32pm

Re: Re:
A term that comes to mind when reading these comments is "gleich machen" which roughly translates to equalize or make uniform. A bit like how a frontal lobotomy does to minds but instead with an entire civilization.
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Joana, 26 Dec 2016 @ 7:38am

Internet Censorship
They are trying to ban vpn services everywhere, thanks god they haven't started in my country yet but many of this services are now unable to be used in even some european countries https://vpntrends.com this is becoming quite scary.
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