A law to block websites that facilitate piracy should be passed, a Senate inquiry has said in its final report on Thursday.
Torrent websites like The Pirate Bay could be blocked in Australia if the bill is passed.
The Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Bill 2015 will allow a copyright holder to apply in the Federal Court of Australia to have an overseas website blocked, if that website’s primary purpose can be proven to facilitate piracy.
The report said widely-used virtual private networks (VPNs) could potentially be blocked in the bill but those websites were not likely to meet a key requirement.
“VPNs are unlikely to meet the 'primary purpose test',” the final report says.
The primary purpose of a VPN is to facilitate privacy, not piracy.
VPNs extend private networks, like your home local area network, into public networks such as the internet.
Businesses use VPNs to transfer data while individuals who are concerned about privacy can use a VPN to prevent metadata collection.
If you are not currently using a VPN while reading this, it is likely your internet service provider (ISP) is collecting data about you visiting this website, when you visited and (if you are using a phone) your location.
However, VPNs block that metadata collection.
Some Australians use VPNs to avoid sites like Netflix detecting their locations, allowing those people to access geo-blocked content intended for users in another country.
While the report said VPNs would not likely be blocked under the new law, the report said the committee would be reassured if the explanatory memorandum should make clear the law’s intention towards the use of VPNs.
Some submissions to the enquiry said VPNs could be used to access blocked sites, like torrent providers, while other submissions said site blocking was ineffective.
Other submissions said the law was needed to protect intellectual property.
