Australia’s Stop Online Piracy Act: Copyright Law, Site-Blocking, and Search Filters in an Age of Internet Censorship

Australia’s Stop Online Piracy Act: Copyright Law, Site-Blocking, and Search Filters in an Age of Internet Censorship

The Canberra Law Review (2019)

Matthew Rimmer, Queensland University of Technology

Abstract
Relying upon the work of Cory Doctorow, this paper argues that Australia’s copyright regime for site-blocking and search-filtering poses a threat to consumer rights, competition policy, and Internet Freedom. This paper first reviews the model of the Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Act 2015 (Cth) introduced by the then Minister for Communications and the Arts the Hon. Malcolm Turnbull. Secondly, it explores the flurry of cases brought by the film, television, and music industries in respect of this legislative regime. Third, this paper evaluates the expansion of this regime with the Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Act 2018 (Cth). In light of such developments, the conclusion calls for a new approach for Internet regulation by the Australian Parliament. It highlights the need for a bill of rights in Australia for a digital age. As Sir Tim Berners-Lee says, we need a Magna Carta to protect an open and accessible Internet.

Keywords
Copyright Law, Site-Blocking, Internet Search Engines, Search-Blocking, Internet Service Providers, Internet Filter, Free Speech, Internet Freedom, Censorship, Copyright Enforcement

Disciplines
Intellectual Property Law
Publication Date
November, 2019

Citation Information
Matthew Rimmer. “Australia’s Stop Online Piracy Act: Copyright Law, Site-Blocking, and Search Filters in an Age of Internet Censorship” The Canberra Law Review Vol. 16 Iss. 1 (2019) p. 10 – 64
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/matthew_rimmer/347/

https://www.canberra.edu.au/about-uc/faculties/busgovlaw/school-of-law/the-canberra-law-review

Author

  • Matthew Rimmer

    Dr Matthew Rimmer is a Professor in Intellectual Property and Innovation Law at the Faculty of Law, at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). He is a leader of the QUT Intellectual Property and Innovation Law research program, and a member of the QUT Digital Media Research Centre (QUT DMRC) the QUT Australian Centre for Health Law Research (QUT ACHLR), and the QUT International Law and Global Governance Research Program (QUT IP IL). Rimmer has published widely on copyright law and information technology, patent law and biotechnology, access to medicines, plain packaging of tobacco products, intellectual property and climate change, and Indigenous Intellectual Property. He is currently working on research on intellectual property, the creative industries, and 3D printing; intellectual property and public health; and intellectual property and trade, looking at the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, and the Trade in Services Agreement. His work is archived at QUT ePrints SSRN Abstracts Bepress Selected Works.

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