Sci-Fi & Squeam

22 Aug 2014

In The Shadows of the Internet: Piracy or Freedom?

LISTEN TO PODCAST NOW

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 57:17 — 52.4MB)

In the studio with Sonja The Squeamer is Tim Stone the film maker of something called The Golden Age of Piracy a mini-doco at ABC ARTS ….

On The Golden Age of Piracy:

‘As everyday Australians choose to download movies and tv shows via the internet, a once loved fixture of the local shopping strip is disappearing fast.’

‘An exploration of the evolution, motivation and attitudes behind Australia’s high rates of piracy and the slow demise of the cultural institution that is the local video store.’

So what of video and internet piracy ( so called) in Oz ?

Downloading what is Right what is Wrong?

What does it mean to video rental stores and in particular one of the last owners of these stores?

Sonja Speaks to Derk de Vreugt the proprietor of Picture Search in Richmond, Melbourne, what is his experience?

Sonja also chats to Jon Lawrence Executive Officer from EFA or Electronic Frontiers Australia and he explains some of the concerns and updates on the status in Australia when it comes to illegal downloading and piracy. What does this mean for geeks?

Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc. (EFA) is a non-profit national organisation that has been promoting digital freedom, access and privacy in Australia since 1994.

EFA was established in January 1994 and incorporated under the Associations Incorporation Act (S.A.) in May 1994. EFA’s registration number is 101007096.

‘We know that Australian theatrical, DVD and VOD releases lag behind the rest of the world by as much as months. Australians aren’t reluctant to pay for content – a Pocketbook study found that despite the fact that it is actively geoblocked in Australia, Nexflix is the second most popular paid-content media company in Australia.

With a desire to keep up with the rest of the world and a willingness to pay for it, are there legal digital alternatives to movie piracy in Australia?’

So what should we be REALLY worried about in the digital realms?