The Australian Productivity Commission comes out swinging to support the right of Australians to circumvent (or bypass) geoblocks to access restricted content.
In releasing a report that slams Australia’s copyright system, Commissioner Karen Chester says the “Government should also make clear that Australians should be able to circumvent geoblocking technology”.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has previously stated Australia’s Copyright Act does not prohibit circumventing geoblocks but this relies on a legal interpretation of the laws that has not been tested in court.
The Productivity Commission as recommended new laws that expressly enshrine the right of Australians to circumvent geoblocks to access overseas content.
We look forward to Attorney-General George Brandis putting forward these amendments with the same enthusiasm he had for introducing draconian copyright enforcement laws.
Given the Commission’s finding that “Australia’s system has swung too far in favour of vocal rights holders and influential IP exporting nations” we won’t hold our breath.
Hey George, it’s time you looked out for Australian interests not special and foreign interests.
But there’s no need to wait for George to act, you can already rely on Malcolm’s blog which reassures you can lawfully circumvent geoblocks to access overseas versions of Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer and more. You can get this special lifetime subscription to Getflix (a smart DNS service that bypasses geoblocks):
https://stacksocial.com/sales/getflix-lifetime-subscription
or learn a bit more about unblocking on our home page.