The little China of the South Pacific, Australia is not content with plans to censor the world wide wibble. Now it wants to bring in a movie and music industry backed “three strikes” law against people using P2P software.

Under laws considered by the Federal Government people who are caught repeatedly downloading movies, music and TV shows illegally would have their internet disconnected under legislative changes being. Apparently the music and film industry have had little luck leaning in ISPs to bring in the rules or getting the courts to listen to their mantras. So they have been pressuring the Government to step in and resolve the impasse through legislation.

The Aussie government currently thinks that it can solve everything through some form of censorship and is happy to oblige. David Vaile, executive director of the UNSW Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre, raised serious issues with the proposal, such as that customers could be disconnected following mere allegations of copyright infringement by the content owners without having been found guilty of an offence by the courts.

In a report on the Digital Economy, released this week, the Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, said the "three-strikes" system was one in which people, who the content owners identify as illegal downloaders, are sent warning notices by their ISPs, before being disconnected if they are caught three times.