Geoblocking of internet must go, says Productivity Commission

Consumers should be allowed to circumvent geoblocking restrict­ions that stop them accessing­ online services.

The Productivity Commission wants rights holders to ‘lift their game’.

Consumers should be allowed to circumvent geoblocking restrict­ions that prevent them from accessing­ online services along geographical borders, under intellectual property recommendations laid down by the Productivity Commission.

Commissioner Karen Chester told The Australian it was time for rights holders to step up to the plate and start providing customers access to content that’s usually kept under lock and key.

“We’re saying to rights holders, no big brother, no draconian penalties and enforcement (from government), because that’s going to be a huge regulatory burden and it isn’t going to work,” Ms Chester said.

“We’re saying you lift your game and for the government to make it clear we’re going to let our folk get around geoblocking, otherwise it’s not fair to users.”

Geoblocking is a commonly used practice to restrict access to products and services along geographical borders by limiting a user’s access to the internet. It’s a digital extension of protection measures, such as region codes on DVDs, used by copyright holders to prevent playback of content in a non-authorised market.

While copyright holders maintain that the technology is necessary to make viable commercial returns on their content, critics have labelled it a measure designed to exploit consumers.

The Productivity Commission’s pronouncements are likely to bring the govern­ment’s anti-piracy website-blocking legis­lation, which passed in the Senate last June, under renewed scrutiny.

The Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Bill 2015 has been a source of controversy, with many questioning its efficacy and criticising the onerous nature of the legislation.

The practice is also widely seen as a key instigator of online piracy, a sentiment backed up by Ms Chester.

“There’s survey work that has been done on why people infringe copyright online and it’s not because they want to do the wrong thing, it’s because they can’t get access to it in a timely and cost-effective way,” she said.

The commission’s push to get the government to make clear that Australians are able to circum­vent geoblocking tech­nol­ogy is also likely to draw attention on the legal status of virtual private networks, which are widely used to bypass geoblocking.

The use of VPN services to access­ TV, movies and media not normally available locally has grown substantially in Australia, especially as the technology becomes widely accessible.

By allowing their true loca­tion to be masked, users can comfortably visit a site that’s blocked in Australia which, in effect­, weakens the government’s anti-piracy­ initiatives.

Additional reporting: Sarah-Jane Tasker