![\"Copyright\"](\"http:\/\/www.digital-digest.com\/blog\/DVDGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/copyright.gif\" "\\"Copyright\\"")
<\/p>\nHappy Mother’s Day to all the mums, including mine, out there. Why is Father’s Day on a different day here in Australia and in the US? And why is\u00a0spending on Father’s\u00a0Day so much\u00a0less than on Mother’s Day? I smell a\u00a0conspiracy …<\/p>\n
No conspiracies in the news this week, but plenty of paranoia, anger, with just a hint of common sense. Lots of Australian stuff though, but that’s just a coincidence. Not a conspiracy.<\/p>\n
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![\"Infographics:](\"http:\/\/www.digital-digest.com\/blog\/DVDGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IP-infographics-copynotright.jpg\")
<\/a>Common sense copyright discussions are happening in Australia – but nobody (that can make a difference) will listen<\/p><\/div>\n
Ah common sense. It can be so hard to find these days, but when they make themselves known and heard, it’s absolutely bliss. The\u00a0pro-copyright Australian government’s copyright policy is all over the place, but we do have an independent advisory body here called the Productivity Commission, and it has released a draft report on copyright that’s the stuff of nightmares to rights-holders.<\/p>\n
Why is it so scary? Because it’s full of common sensed goodness<\/a>, stuff that we, the public, the consuming public, have been calling for all this time, and something rights-holders have been fighting against. Things like having limits on copyright for stuff that rights-holders are no longer making available (the so called “use it or lose it” rule), or introducing fair use (something even the US, the land of DMCAs and SOPAs, have), or more controversially, banning the use of geoblocking to promote competition and fairer pricing.<\/p>\n It’s unlikely the current, or the next government will adopt these recommendations, not if they\u00a0want to avoid facing the wrath their Hollywood masters, but it’s still nice to see some common sense creep into the copyright debate from time to time.<\/p>\n It’s not just geoblocking that’s reducing competition and raising prices here in Australia. We’re a relatively small country and competition is not robust\u00a0in almost any sector. This is especially true in the home entertainment industry, where we have basically just one\u00a0pay TV provider. That provider, Foxtel, uses its might and buying power to lock up content like Game of Thrones\u00a0in order to maintain market share. This leads to lack of competition and, as a result, we have some pretty high prices for cable. It’s possibly also why piracy rates for the shows that Foxtel have an exclusive on are sky high.<\/p>\n Only rarely does it lose something to a competitor, and when telco Optus stole the\u00a0rights to the English Premier League soccer broadcasts from Foxtel, things took an interesting turn. Especially since because Optus doesn’t even have a broadcast network to show the matches on.<\/p>\n People’s love for piracy may be due to their hate for the alternative<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a>