Australia would have some of the toughest anti-piracy measures in the Western world if leaked government proposals to crack down on online copyright infringement were implemented, according to copyright experts.
The draft discussion paper, published by news site Crikey on Friday, includes proposals to block overseas websites that host pirated content and to compel internet service providers (ISPs) to stop users illegally downloading movies and music.
Attorney-General George Brandis has said Australia - which topped the world for illegal downloads of Game of Thrones last year - is the ''worst offender'' when it comes to pirated content.
The paper proposes to make it easier for content creators to take ISPs to court if they don't implement action against illegal downloading and to force ISPs to block access to sites hosting pirated content.
The proposals would overrule a 2012 High Court decision that found ISPs such as iiNet, Telstra and Optus cannot be found liable for authorising an act by a subscriber infringing copyright.
The discussion paper has been welcomed by film production companies, which say illegal downloading poses a grave risk to the viability of the creative sector.
''[I] applaud the fact that the government is making people like iiNet responsible,'' Village Roadshow chief Graham Burke said.
But Matthew Rimmer, an expert in intellectual property at the Australian National University, said he was concerned by the scope of the paper's ''radical'' ideas.
''These proposals amount to a punitive copyright protection regime that would put Australia beyond the United States, the United Kingdom and New Zealand,'' Dr Rimmer said. ''The discussion paper looks like a wish list from Hollywood and the music industry.''
He said there was a risk legitimate sites, such as Google Docs or social networking sites, could be caught by a filtering regime.
Monash University senior lecturer Rebecca Giblin, who has researched anti-piracy regimes around the world, said the proposal would put pressure on ISPs to enter private deals with copyright owners to police their customers' activities online.
''As well as raising serious concerns about privacy, transparency and due process, any such deals are unlikely to fix the underlying problems that cause infringement,'' she said.
''A few ISPs have entered into similar deals in other countries, but nowhere else have they been forced to do so by this kind of threat of liability.''
Dr Giblin said most Australians who downloaded illegally did so because the content they wanted to access was not available legally.
The government is expected to release the official discussion paper next week, with submissions due by the end of August.
A spokesman for Mr Brandis declined to comment.
with Mahesh Sharma and Ben Grubb
