Online Piracy Drops in Australia, Thanks to Netflix

[Batu69]

For the first time in years, online piracy rates have dropped significantly in Australia. The downswing coincides with the launch of Netflix, which played a key role as most consumers who say they are pirating less cite legal alternatives as the main reason.

Video streaming giant Netflix sees itself as one of the most prominent competitors to the many pirate sites and services that offer video content illegally.

In recent years the company revealed that it has seen a consistent piracy drop in many countries soon after launch.

This Netflix effect now also appears to have hit Australia. The video streaming service launched early last year and new statistics released by the IP Awareness Foundation show that online piracy has decreased since.

According to the most recent survey 25 percent of Australian adults aged 18-64 are self-confessed pirates, down from 29 percent in the previous year. This is the first decrease since the piracy boom started.

The drop is visible among both casual and persistent pirates, with the largest drop in the second group, as shown in the pie charts below.

Aussie piracy drop

It’s not all good news for copyright holders though. Among the remaining persistent pirates 40 percent say they are pirating more than last year.

In part the piracy decline can be attributed to Netflix. Without a direct causal relationship it’s tricky to draw strong conclusions, but the survey respondents who say they are pirating less cite legal alternatives as the main reason.

Moral considerations were also mentioned by the respondents, as well as legal ramifications. Overall, however, legal options have the biggest impact according to consumers.

IP Awareness Executive Director Lori Flekser is happy with the positive change but also tames some of the optimism. According to her a combination of positive and negative reinforcement is required to properly address the issue.

“Piracy has always needed a range of measures to tackle the problem as we all know there is no silver bullet,” Flesker says.

“This fall in piracy rates is definitely largely attributable to the combination of the government’s new legislation, plus the ongoing efforts of the creative industries to continue delivering great content at accessible prices to Australian consumers,” she adds.

Piracy has been a hot topic in Australia and there are plans to block websites and warn frequent infringers in the near future. Time will tell whether this help to continue the current downward piracy trend.

Source

[OrbingStorm]

I tried netflix but they had no new releases and it looked only good to watch series on.(which I dont do)Quickflix is better for me as it has new releases and you only have to pay per movie not a subscription.

[steven36]

Were I live the internet is not good enough to stream much most of the time because its not stable its much more easy to pirate the files and watch em latter . Once everyone gets there internet bill over there they may change there minds.

The million dollar questions are ...

1. Did it really drop or are most just using vpns because of new anti piracy laws ?

2. Is your broadband plan ready for Netflix?

Netflix and other streaming services are on the way. Does your broadband have the speed and download cap necessary to handle them?

http://www.whistleout.com.au/Broadband/Guides/Netflix-data-usage-and-speed-requirements

3. Are you willing to pay more money just to stream?

4. Do you even live in a area that offers better internet?

[RejZoR]

Wow, they are fucking geniuses. Providing users proper service decreases piracy. Can someone give them a medal or something?

I live in a friggin central Europe. Do you want to know the status on legit entertainment services in my country? Amazon music? Nope. Spotify? Nope. Netflix? Are you kidding? NOPE! Of course I'm gonna download stuff if I want the content, but they don't want my money. I don't get it why they can't get their shit together and offer content globally without moronic limitations?

I used to pirate games as well. Guess what happened with introduction of Steam and GOG? I haven't pirated a single game for a decade. Hell, I've purchased pretty much all games that I've pirated in the past. If they are available, I've bought them.

When they'll do this, I'll understand their whining over piracy. But when you can't legally use fucking Netflix in the middle of freaking Europe, one big massive FU.