News Corporation has called for a toughening of legislation in Australia in order to force ISPs to crack down on piracy. News Corp used a senate submission on a proposed free trade agreement between Australia and South Korea and called for amendments to domestic copyright legislation in order to cover the “secondary liability” of Internet service providers for pirated content stored and shared on their networks.

The company claims that the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968 fail to provide copyright owners with means to protect their digital rights on the Internet. News Corp complains that provisions are technology specific and ineffective in fighting online copyright violation.

The company gave its backing to two clauses, calling for legitimate incentives for ISPs to cooperate with rights holders in fighting the illegal storage and transmission of copyrighted content. In the meantime, the second clause cited by News Corp called for measures to curtail repeated copyright and related online rights violation. The company underlined that the paragraphs in question acknowledge the importance of content creators and copyright owners who have workable provisions to protect their digital rights. News Corp says they also recognize the very articulated domestic policy intentions of the country’s authorities, as well as the importance of the copyright industries to the cultural fabric and economic performance of Australia.

The company referred to the legal battle between the country’s major Internet service provider iiNet and the copyright owner Roadshow Films, which saw the ISP beat the challenge that it can be made responsible for the copyright violation of its subscribers.

Copyright owners have argued that the case in question meant that Internet service providers are protected to the detriment of the creative industries. News Corp announced that it was looking forward to contributing to ensuring copyright protection provisions function in Australia as intended. In addition, the company called for the balance between obligation (secondary liability) and benefit (safe harbor) to be re-established in the country.