Australian television channels are mainly dominated by
American television shows. As such, they have a large influence on Australian
television culture. As a child I loved shows such as The Simpsons, South Park
and Everybody Loves Raymond, and they were a big part of my childhood. However,
as I grew older, I began to realise that the episodes I was watching were made
several years ago or that they were a re-run and I became frustrated and
impatient with having to wait a whole week before a new episode, if Australian
broadcasters were even able to get a copy from the US. The solution was piracy.
The internet is a powerful tool for globalisation, the ability to upload a
television show from one location and to have it be downloaded from anywhere
across the globe is amazing. Now I can keep up to date with all my favourite
shows and even shows which are unheard of in regular Australian programming.
Nowadays my regular internet piracy programming consists of a weekly dose of
anime, manga, Dexter, Suits and the greatest show of them all……. GAME OF
THRONES!!! (Seriously, get on it)
An article last December, shows that Game of Thrones has
become the most downloaded television series in the world, with single episodes
being downloaded over 4.28 million times! Recently I heard on the radio that
20% of those downloaders are from Melbourne!
US Ambassador, Jeffrey Bleich has even warned us Australians
over the ridiculous amount of piracy happening in our country. Jeffrey Bleich,
is however, correct. Just because we cannot wait a few weeks or months, does it
mean we can break the law to watch a television show. But if piracy is such a
large issue in the country then shouldn’t there be more enforcement of the
laws? Occasionally I’ve gotten emails, with warnings but to be honest, they are
a weak deterrent to such a large scale problem. I cannot give a solution that
could possibly be practical and please both parties of creators and consumers,
but for now I, like the millions of others who need their daily dosage of
Hollywood, will continue to do what we do until someone finds a way to stop us.
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