Australians will soon be blocked from downloading popular TV series, movies and music in a Federal Government crack-down on the illegal practise.

Days are numbered for illegal hackers who haven’t been paying their way, as a cross-party Senate committee gave the tick of approval to a law that would give power to big companies to block sites offering pirated content.

The legislation would allow rights-holders to seek a court injunction forcing internet service providers to block access to piracy websites hosted overseas.

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Foreign sites that allowed illegal downloads of TV shows, movies or music will be shut off to Australians.

With the proposal given the bipartisan rubber stamp, it is almost certain to pass into law.

But consumer advocacy group Choice has slammed the decision.

They said the reform amounted to an “industry-run internet filter” that would “limit access to international websites that offer consumers a greater range of more affordable products and services”.

“At its heart, this is about protecting uncompetitive local industries who have failed to provide timely and affordable content and services,” Choice campaigns manager Erin Turner told news.com.au.

Ms Turner said the reform wasn’t about just stopping access to torrenting sites such as Pirate Bay or KickassTorrents.

It was also designed to stop Australians from using virtual private networks (VPNs), which could allow Australians to circumvent geoblocks in order to access overseas streaming services.

Many Aussies use VPNs to access the US version of Netflix because it offers more content than the recently launched Australian version.

“We know both sides of politics are under a lot of pressure from big rights holders to support this new law and it looks like they have given in,” Ms Turner  told news.com.au.

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in March the laws were a “powerful mechanism” that empowered rights-holders to protect their creative content.

“Just because people had become accustomed to expecting free content and generally indifferent to copyright, it didn’t make it right,” Mr Turnbull said.

– with AAP