Underbelly and illegal downloads, is this really a new undertaking?

There has been mass discussion about the recent court case that has seen Channel Nine’s Underbelly banned from being broadcast in Victoria. Many articles have mentioned the ease of being able to get access to this series through the Internet along with DVD copies being passed around. 3AW had people calling is to say that they had purchased the entire series for under AU$90. One person being offered the series, whilst stop at a North Melbourne intersection.

Although the Internet has given Victorians and in fact anyone in the world illegal access to this TV series, we should look back to 1995 when the ABC was banned for 6 years from broadcasting Blue Murder in New South Wales. Although there was a ban, VHS copies were shipped down from other parts of Australia giving NSW access to the series.

Viewers getting access to a series which isn’t broadcast is not by any means a new thing, Blue Murder is evidence of this. What is clear is that, if viewers don’t have access to the broadcast of a particular TV program, they will find other ways in which to source it.

What the Internet does for this process, is speeds it up. We now find that the full series are available prior to being broadcast. This not only affects the Victorian Ban, but also the other states who now have access to the episodes prior to broadcast.

Related Articles:
Illegal Underbelly DVDs Firing Up
http://blogs.theage.com.au/entertainment/archives/2008/02/illegal_underbe.html

Net to undermine Underbelly ban
http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/net-to-undermine-underbelly-ban/2008/02/12/1202760287024.html

Court ruling on Underbelly could cost Nine millions
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23205003-2862,00.html

Underground underbelly download
http://alexmalik.blogspot.com/2008/02/underground-underbelly-download.html