Village Roadshow CEO: Expect more site-blocking cases 'big time'

According to Graham Burke, co-CEO of Village Roadshow, Australia should expect his company to continue going after piracy sites "big time."

After the Australian government passed a law in 2015 allowing copyright holders to petition for piracy websites to be blocked, Village Roadshow along with Foxtel, was the first to test the legislation in Federal Court.

In December, the pair won injunctions forcing internet service providers (ISPs) including Telstra and Optus to block the sites Solar Movie, Pirate Bay, Torrentz, TorrentHound and IsoHunt in Australia.

Burke told Mashable to expect further cases when the court resumes in February. While he declined to name which sites Village Roadshow will target, he said "There's a list as long as my arm."

Despite his confidence, the value of site blocking applications is still debatable. As critics pointed out when the law was passed, site blocks can be circumvented via new access points and mirror sites as well as VPNs (virtual private networks.)

It was an issue Village Roadshow attempted to address in court, asking the judge to ensure new versions of targeted sites would automatically be blocked by ISPs. However in a blow to the copyright holders, the court chose to maintain oversight of any variations to the injunction.

Despite this obvious challenge, Burke maintained he was happy with the outcome. "We thought the outcome was reasonable, fair and balanced," he said. "We'll make that work."

According to Internet Australia CEO Laurie Patton, the site blocking cases are a "PR stunt" and a "very blunt way" of trying to educate people about piracy.

"They can mount as many cases as they like, it won't stop unlawful downloading of content," he told Mashable. "The only way they can seriously deal with this issue is to stop geo-blocking and make the stuff more easily available at a reasonable price."

Burke also said he hopes to "win people's hearts and minds" in his fight to combat piracy. He suggested they would work "aggressively" to make content available in Australia legally, on time and at an attractive price.

It might be a bumpy ride: As Gizmodo pointed out recently, the upcoming LEGO: Batman movie will be released in Australia in 2017 more than one month after the U.S.

According to Burke, site blocking is only one of the company's initiatives to combat piracy in Australia. They also plan to sue copyright infringers, he claimed.

"We have the legal ability and the right to do," Burke said. "Unlike previous areas where that's been explored, if anyone is of dire circumstances or poor health and they undertake to stop doing it, we will accept that."

The most recent high profile Australian case targeting "illegal" downloaders collapsed in early 2016, when lawyers for Dallas Buyers Club LLC confirmed they were dropping their attempt to access the names and contact details of almost 5,000 people it suspected of illegally downloading the movie.

Patton suggested the site blocking case was part of a broader trend of foreign copyright holders using Australian law to help themselves.

"There's no doubt that this campaign is being mounted on behalf of Hollywood," he said. "It's not designed to assist local producers."

For his part, Burke maintains he has the future of the Australian entertainment industry in mind. "The only ones benefitting from piracy are people in unknown destinations ... that are selling hundreds of millions of dollars worth of advertising," he added.

Burke also said Village Roadshow was working closely with the music industry on site blocking. Universal Music Australia and Warner Music Australia, among other companies, also have a case in motion to block KickassTorrents and proxy sites.

Although something akin to a tag-team arrangement among content industry players seems to be underway, Burke said Village Roadshow was happy to shoulder the initial burden of bringing site blocking cases.

"We've done so for a couple of reasons," he said. "We're significant content owners and it's good business."

Mashable contacted Music Rights Australia for comment.

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