A big setback Down Under for Hollywood studios: A federal judge in Australia has ruled that ISP iiNet is not liable for copyright infringements that get made by its customers.
The precedent-setting decision flies in the face of the three-strikes laws being formed in other markets like neighboring New Zealand, and further afield in France and the UK, under which ISPs would acknowledge some role by warning, warning again and then disconnecting file-sharers from their networks.
The case was brought against iiNet by a group of 34 studios and broadcasters that included Disney (NYSE: DIS), Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox and Universal Pictures, who alleged that iiNet effectively authorised copyright infringement by not sending out warnings to its users, who use peer-to-peer sites like BitTorrent to download illegal copies of films.
The ISP claimed that such warnings would violate privacy laws in the country and that chasing users down would be akin to “suing the electricity company for things people do with their electricity.” (via Sydney Morning Herald)
In his summary, Justice Dennis Cowdroy said: “While I find that iiNet had knowledge of infringements occurring, and did not act to stop them, such findings do not necessitate a finding of authorisation. I find that iiNet did not authorise the infringements of copyright of the iiNet users…”
This may have been the first case of its kind: “As far as I am aware, this trial, involving suit against an ISP claiming copyright infringement on its part due to alleged authorisation of the copyright infringement of its users or subscribers, is the first trial of its kind in the world to proceed to hearing and judgment.”
The case evidence centered around a group called the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft. Acting on behalf of the 34 plaintiffs, the AFACT hired a private investigator to monitor iiNet’s traffic for peer-to-peer traffic using the BitTorrent protocol. The group then sent the results to iiNet, with a request to act on them. The ISP is one of the smaller providers in Australia, with 750,000 customers taking a mixture of broadband, telephony and dial-up services.
The judge accepted that there was evidence of copyright infringement, “However, in reaching that finding, I have found that the number of infringements that have occurred are significantly fewer than the number alleged by the applicants.”
Huge use of Twitter to monitor the case as it happened. From the summary: “This proceeding has attracted widespread interest both here in Australia and abroad, and both within the legal community and the general public. So much so that I understand this is the first Australian trial to be twittered or tweeted. I granted approval for this to occur in view of the public interest in the proceeding, and it seems rather fitting for a copyright trial involving the internet.”
“The precedent-setting decision flies in the face of the three-strikes laws being formed in other markets”
No it doesn’t, both issues are completely separate and 2 minutes reading the decision would show that. The judge found that under current Australian law the ISP is not liable. There is no three strikes law here, although given the Minister is close to the industry, it might yet happen.