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AU Legal Group Says ISP Allowed 100K Illegal Downloads

In Australia, a court wrapped up day one of what promises to be a 4-week trial of media interests against ISP iiNet. Reader bennyboy64 writes "iTnews reports that Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft investigators claim to have recorded almost 100,000 instances of Australian internet service provider iiNet users making available online unauthorized copies of films and TV programs, lawyers for the film industry said in the Federal Court in Sydney today. The lawyers for the film industry claimed iiNet had done 'nothing' to discourage copyright infringement on its network. iTnews also has a background piece on the case, with a Flash-y graph."

11 of 191 comments (clear)

  1. Pax by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yes, they did. So did I. But htere's a legal distinction between "allow" and "authorise", something AFACT appears to be doing its best to ignore.

  2. OMG they did nothing by Xiph · · Score: 5, Insightful

    that they weren't required to do!

    Time for me to sue someone for not giving me money!
    Saddle up, we're going to Australia!

    --
    Blah blah sig blah blah blah irony blah blah
  3. Obligatory Car Analogy... by tnok85 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This just in! A group of car insurance companies just sued several state governments because they have allowed drivers to operate vehicles at unauthorized speeds, which led to accidents and higher insurance costs! Insurance companies know this because bicyclists have been watching how fast cars go, and they go way too fast!

    Wait a minute, you can actually prove tangible losses from people speeding. That would make this lawsuit a little more feasible than what AFACT wants.

    1. Re:Obligatory Car Analogy... by lordandmaker · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Wait a minute, you can actually prove tangible losses from people speeding.

      You can? In the UK it's what keeps local government afloat.

  4. How far does the liability go? by misnohmer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So the argument here is that the ISP is liable for illegal content exchange. What about the router manufacturer? How about the OS manufacturer? If the traffic was all encrypted, is the ISP on the hook for man-in-the-middle attacks to decrypt and inspect the content, or will they then be liable for invasion of privacy? Is there such a thing as privacy down under?

    1. Re:How far does the liability go? by Monolith1 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Is there such a thing as privacy down under?

      Snigger...

  5. New Zealand faces similar problems :( by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting
    The New Zealand equivalent to AFACT are creatively called NZFACT, and they said that they want to be able to punish people based on accusations of infringement

    "[NZFACT] envisaged ISPs would act on infringement notices generated automatically by copyright holders, who would identify infringers by tracking traffic on file-sharing sites." -- Creative Freedom Foundation

    What's more is there's a kiwi group of 10 thousand artists against NZFACT because they're sick of being misrepresented. here's their press release tearing into NZFacT.

  6. Obligatory phone analogy by LKM · · Score: 5, Funny

    This just in! The telephone companies do nothing to prevent people from discussing crimes on the phone! Spray can manufacturers do nothing to prevent people from doing illegal graffitis! Sock manufacturers do nothing to keep people from kicking each other's asses!

  7. Dear Australia by noundi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The lawyers for the film industry claimed iiNet had done 'nothing' to discourage copyright infringement on its network.

    I don't understand. Are your telecom providers forced to actively discourage illegal phone calls, such as bomb threats or sexual harassment? Are your book dealers forced to actively discourage photocopying of books? Are your radiostations forced to discourage people from turning on their radios in public locations without paying STIM? Are your pastry bakers forced to discourage people from throwing cakes at eachother?
     
    Australia, help us understand your line of thought.

    --
    I am the lawn!
  8. You Know... by Greyfox · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As an internet provider it's kind of a pain in the ass to police the entire internet. It's not at all difficult to refuse to serve a problematic customer. Like the one that keeps demanding that you police the entire internet. You see where I'm going with this?

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

  9. Culpable Manufacturers by RulerOf · · Score: 5, Funny

    Or together with shoes they can be used by people meeting up to plan or commit a crime.

    Nike has been abusing this knowledge for years to sell shoe/sock combinations that allow criminals to flee crime scenes at unprecedented speeds!

    --
    Boot Windows, Linux, and ESX over the network for free.