SYDNEY -- The Aussie government is promising to overhaul outdated copyright laws that make it illegal to record TV programs to watch later or to copy personal CDs onto an iPod.
It also intends to beef up penalties for criminal behavior, including giving police officers the power to strip pirates of profits from copyright theft.
"These balanced and practical reforms recognize consumers shouldn't be treated like copyright pirates and copyright pirates shouldn't be treated like consumers," attorney general Philip Ruddock told a copyright conference in Sydney on Friday. Changes were flagged in May and will be discussed in federal parliament in coming weeks.
But the government has not yet figured out where to draw the line.
The new legislation will permit consumers to retain recordings of TV and radio programs but Ruddock added, "This does not mean consumers can build libraries of TV and radio programs."
New laws would legalize Foxtel's iQ (akin to TiVo), launched last year, along with MP3 players, iPods and other technologies too numerous to mention.
Government will also endorse on-the-spot fines and new ways for courts to tackle large-scale Internet piracy such as peer-to-peer networks; and introduce new offenses to tackle unauthorized access to pay TV.
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