Those found guilty of the proposed offence could face a year in prison or a fine of up to $2,500, or both.
The bill, introduced by State Senator Kevin Murray on Friday, targets:
"Any person or entity that sells, offers for sale, advertises, distributes, disseminates, provides, or otherwise makes available peer-to-peer file sharing software that enables its user to electronically disseminate commercial recordings or audiovisual works via the internet or any other digital network, and who fails to exercise reasonable care in preventing use of that software to commit an unlawful act with respect to a commercial recording or audiovisual work."
The bill also creates an offence if the software is used in violation of laws countering child porn and interference with computer data or systems.
The proposal follows Senator Murray's success last year in pushing through a bill that makes it a criminal offence to anonymously distribute copyrighted material on the internet.
Proposals to control P2P computing at the federal level were debated in the House of Representatives and Senate last year, but proved too controversial and were ultimately shelved.
