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Australian internet pirates have escaped tougher sanctions as the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement nears completion.
Fairfax Media understands the 12-country trade deal will not alter Australian copyright law or enforce harsher penalties for people who download movies illegally.
The position has changed from when WikiLeaks exposed details of the TPP negotiations in late 2013, which roused the ire of intellectual property experts.
The leak revealed the negotiating positions of all 12 countries, including Australia, on copyright, patents and other intellectual property issues, with a heavy focus on enforcement measures against internet piracy.
But Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb told Fairfax Media on Friday that the agreement aimed to create a "more seamless trading and investment environment", not create new civil or criminal penalties for people who illegally download movies.
"Australia only supports those provisions that are consistent with our existing regime. For example, we won't support any provisions that would require the introduction of new civil remedies or criminal penalties in Australia," he said.
He said those who said otherwise were merely trying to scare people and sabotage the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations.
"This was an area where opponents of freer trade were misrepresenting our position in a bid to frighten people and undermine the negotiations."
Australian negotiators are in Washington as Trans-Pacific Partnership talks draw to a close. Although the TPP includes a chapter on intellectual property and internet service provider liability, Mr Robb and one of the negotiators said it wouldn't alter Australia's existing copyright laws.
The minister believes these laws are strong enough to tackle copyright infringement.
For example, this month the producers of Hollywood blockbuster Dallas Buyers Club won a Federal Court case to force internet service providers, including iiNet, to reveal the names and addresses of 4726 customers who allegedly shared pirated copies of the film.
This will allow the movie's producer, Voltage Pictures, to send a letter to each of the alleged copyright infringers, paving the way for internet users to pay damages rather than face criminal prosecution.
Mr Robb said the TPP was separate to the Dallas Buyers Club case and would not interfere with that ruling or existing laws.
The TPP will also relax restrictions about data storage for companies such as cloud-based providers. A company would no longer be forced to store information in a particular country under the change.
But Australia has been pushing for protections for sensitive data such as medical records.
- Read BusinessDay's full coverage of the Transpacific Partnership on Saturday in print at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age and online at smh.com.au, theage.com.au, brisbanetimes.com.au, canberratimes.com.au and watoday.com.au.
