The government has introduced the Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Bill 2015. It will enable copyright owners to approach the Federal Court to request an injunction against an overseas website if its primary purpose is the infringement of copyright. ISPs will then be required to block those sites.

Just how that is done is not covered in the legislation. Paul Brooks, Director of the Internet Society of Australia, says using DNS look-up is ineffective and adding redirects will impact on the trust and integrity of the Internet.

Patrick Fair, partner at law firm Baker and McKenzie, looks at how the revised copyright law could work in practice, whilst
John Stanton , CEO of the Communications Alliance, cites it as another piece of legislation that should have had some direct industry consultation.

Meanwhile, the UK has been blocking pirate sites for more than two years. James Blessing, chair of ISPA, Britain’s Internet Service Providers Association, suggests what we could learn from their experience.