Legislation to stop you illegally downloading movies and TV shows looks set to hit the Parliament soon. It’s likely to bring with it a big stick to try to stop you downloading your content on the sly. It’s one cog in the machine which may kill piracy dead in Australia this year. So let’s get right down to it: what would it take to stop you pirating content?
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings told us this week that piracy is driven in part by users not being able to get the content they want conveniently. Netflix has also told us that its streaming business model means that wherever it launches, piracy rates drop over time.
Google Australia has also said content availability and a fair price would lead to lower rates of piracy, and it told the Government as much.
Those are the carrots.
The stick comes in the form of the aforementioned legislation, which reportedly plans to bring with it a three-strikes plan that would see the details of pirates made available to rights-holders after a series of infractions. Site-blocking would also be part of the legislation, but we already know that one of the world’s largest piracy sites can get around that so, you know, whatever.
We now have a bigger carrot and we have an a heavy stick. Both strong incentives to stop people pirating.
So what would it take, readers? What would it take for you to give up your life of content crime and start paying for your content again?
Would you ever stop pirating?
Tell us in the comments.
Image via Shutterstock