As reported yesterday, the Australian Government has just released the 2023 edition of its Online Copyright Infringement Consumer Survey.
The survey found that 41% of respondents consumed at least one item of pirated content (TV, movies, music, games or live sports) from an illegal source in 2023, up from 39% reported the previous year.
Compared to the number of citizens who turned to pirate sources in 2015, the figures for 2023 show an almost general improvement. That's to be expected considering how desperate many Australians were for new content until Netflix finally launched in March 2015.
VPN use by Australians
Such were the frustrations related to content before the official launch of Netflix, that many citizens had already become familiar with VPNs and custom DNS settings because it allowed them to subscribe to the platform in other regions.
Today, those same tools work in exactly the same way, and according to the latest government survey, almost a quarter (23%) of VPN users say that accessing geoblocked content is the main motivator. One in ten users said their VPN use is motivated by the ability to โaccess content for a reasonable price,โ which sounds like a similar geo-blocking problem looking for a solution.
However, the top reasons cited by about half of VPN users surveyed were "to protect my communications and Internet browsing data" (52%) and "the privacy of my communications and Internet browsing data" ( Four. Five%).
About a third (32%) said their main reason for using a VPN was to work remotely, another completely legitimate use that rounds out the top three reasons cited by respondents.
Given the unblocking capabilities of VPNs, including circumventing ISP pirate site blocking court orders issued by the Federal Court, the 21% using VPNs to โaccess free contentโ seems quite low. As a reminder, this represents 21% of VPN users, not 21% of respondents or internet users as a whole.
That being said, awareness of VPNs is on the rise. In last year's survey, 63% of all respondents said they knew what VPNs are, a figure up just 1% from the previous year but up 13% compared to 2020.
In total, 26% of respondents said they had used a VPN, an increase of 1% and 3% from the numbers reported in 2022 and 2020, respectively. That suggests that knowledge about VPNs is growing at a faster rate than those who are also willing to try them.
Australians using custom DNS
Changing DNS settings on a device such as a PC or smartphone, or preferably within a router/modem, is not only relatively simple. In many cases switch to a DNS provider In addition to those preconfigured on devices provided by an ISP, it is an easy way to improve privacy, reduce exposure to malware, improve Internet performance, and mitigate site blocking measures.
Widespread familiarity with custom DNS settings in Australia got a big boost when people realized they could access Netflix and similar services when none were available locally. However, compared to VPNs, knowledge of custom DNS settings is much more limited.
According to the latest government survey, awareness of VPNs in 2023 reached 63% of respondents, compared to just 25% for custom DNS. Awareness of custom DNS providers isn't growing much either; The current rate of 25% is only 2% higher than in 2022 and 2021, when the rate remained static year after year.
The top reason users cited for using custom DNS in 2023 was to have more control over content accessed through their own connections.
Like VPNs, โaccess content for a reasonable priceโ and โaccess content from other countriesโ appear to be geo-blocking or similar geo-restrictions that find a workaround. โAccess free content (e.g. music, movies, TV series, e-books, etc.)โ is a direct reference to evading site blocking measures.
What Australians do when faced with site blocking measures
Since blocking sites in Australia is primarily done within DNS servers provided by ISPs, if users do not use those DNS servers, they cannot be redirected to a blocking notice. This means that those using VPN or custom DNS settings never see a "blocked site" notice and may have even forgotten that 2000 pirate site domains should be banned.
But for those with basic setups facing site blocking measures, what do they do in response?
According to the latest survey, most people who find a site blocked (nearly six in ten (58%)) simply give up trying to access what they were hoping to get. It is a figure that has practically not changed with respect to that one. reported in 2021.
While fifteen out of a hundred users looked for alternative legal access, when faced with a blocked site, ten out of a hundred looked for ways to bypass blocking measures to gain access to the site. Only 8% tried alternative means of obtaining the content without paying for it, and 3% chose to pay for the content, albeit through an illegal provider.
Overall, 20% of respondents said they had encountered a website blocked in the three months prior to the survey, up 3% from the figure reported the previous year and 8% up from 2020.
One last thing
Finally, some data that is not part of the survey but that i) can provide insight into the effectiveness of Australia's site blocking measures and ii) how any shortcomings would be much less of an issue if the content were available in a timely manner.
On March 8, 2024, Kung Fu Panda 4 was released in the United States. However, for reasons that still make little sense, the Australian release date wasn't until March 28, almost three weeks later.
The image below represents just a sample of the 6,486 Australian IP addresses observed by us (as part of separate monitoring) over a 48-hour period in the days immediately following its launch in the United States. Blocking sites may be a solution to piracy, but more obvious solutions that could actually work are still overlooked.
