Tag Archives | iiNet Case

ISPs: Be careful what you say to media about copyright case

By on 5 September 2009 in copyright, iiNet Case

secretOnline tech magazine IT News could have inadvertently lured ISPs into legal disaster with a recent article on copyright issues. 

By publishing broadband provider comments about legal advice they may have obtained, the mag could have led them to waive the right to keep the details secret.

It’s vital for CSPs to understand the risk they may create if they publicly refer to legal advice they have received.

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iiNet and AFACT both claim ‘win’ in preliminary discovery issues

By on 16 June 2009 in iiNet Case

204799_filesWe previously reported iiNet’s request for AFACT to give it access to various documents relating to the film studios’ potential actions against other ISPs in Australia and overseas.

Yesterday, the Federal Court largely rejected iiNet’s request, limiting the scope of the documents to be produced by AFACT to certain categories  relating to local infringement investigations.

At the same time, the Court ordered that iiNet discover the details of 20 anonymous customer accounts, well short of the 300 to 400 accounts reportedly sought by AFACT.

Both sides were quick to claim a minor victory – AFACT saying 20 accounts is sufficient for them to prove their case and iiNet saying they have effectively got the documents they asked for.

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ISP copyright infringement – victory in NZ? … maybe not

By on 25 February 2009 in copyright

131304_victory_signWith copyright infringement and ISPs a hot issue at the moment, we were interested to hear some news from New Zealand on the topic.

Online civil liberty group, Electronic Frontiers Australia, reports on a ‘remarkable victory’ by ISPs in New Zealand in relation to what EFA calls ‘guilt upon accusation’ laws.

Sounds promising, we thought, as we followed the link in our RSS reader.

Problem is, when we got there, we couldn’t figure out what was particularly remarkable or victorious.

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iiNet copyright trial booked in for October. ‘Can we talk about it ?’ asks iiNet.

By on 6 February 2009 in copyright, iiNet Case

1099457_ciakIn the Federal Court in Sydney this morning, Justice Cowdroy booked at least 14 court hearing days starting on 6 October 2009 for the full trial of the iiNet copyright case.

View today’s court orders.

Trial dates can be moved for a variety of reasons, but the judge has previously indicated an intention to get the case resolved promptly.

There will also be a Directions Hearing on 29 July to deal with any further matters that are required before trial. 

In the meantime, iiNet has approached the copyright owners with a suggestion that they sit around a table with a mediator and attempt to negotiate an outcome.  We’re not surprised that the company’s gung ho attitude to a court battle has softened.  The copyright owners have said they’ll think about it, but won’t agree to anything that delays the formal trial.

More information and expert analysis to follow.

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Game on: AFACT and iiNet in court

By on 17 December 2008 in iiNet Case

The movie industry’s copyright breach claim against ISP iiNet saw the inside of a courtroom for the first time today.

As usual for a preliminary hearing, the court only made procedural orders to advance the case to the next stage.

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Copyright safe harbour is for losers

By on 16 December 2008 in iiNet Case

A lot of industry people think that obeying the copyright ‘safe harbour’ rules means a CSP won’t breach copyright.  That’s not so.

In fact, the safe harbour rules only become relevant if a CSP has already been found ‘guilty’ of copyright breach.  Even though the CSP is ‘guilty’, as long as it has operated inside the safe harbour it cannot be ordered to pay damages.

So safe harbour is truly just for ‘losers’.  But if you do lose an infringement case, you’ll feel like a winner if your safe harbour claim holds up and damages aren’t awarded.

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AFACT v iiNet court documents online

By on 14 December 2008 in iiNet Case

Debate about the landmark copyright litigation rages on, and it seems thousands have opinions – many of them grounded in rather offbeat idea of the facts.

As a service to the debate, CSP Central has launched a ‘just facts’ page.  No commentary.  No analysis.  Just facts.  Bookmark it for access to a growing library of reliable information about the case and copyright law.

We’ve begun by posting the applicants’ court documents, and explaining what an ‘applicant’ is.

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iiNet builds its defence against AFACT copyright claim

By on 13 December 2008 in iiNet Case

iiNet supremo Michael Malone has given the clearest indication yet of the company’s detailed defence to AFACT’s copyright action against it.

Writing on Whirlpool, Australian broadband’s town square, Malone laid down the law:  ‘We have yet to receive any independently verified notice that show (sic) that a customer has actually infringed.’

His statement goes on to make it clear that iiNet will argue that an ISP is never obliged to discipline a user for peer-to-peer copyright infringement allegations unless they have been declared an infringer by a court; evidence that falls short of a court finding does not give an ISP any obligation to act.

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Sydney internet café cops copyright fines

By on 27 November 2008 in iiNet Case

An internet café run by Interville Technology pleaded guilty in a Sydney court yesterday to 40 charges of digital copyright infringement, copping a fine of $82,000.  It has also been ordered to forfeit terminals and servers used in connection with the infringements.

It’s a different kind of case to the recent iiNet litigation.  Interville was storing and serving up whole copyright files, not just supplying bandwidth that was used by customers for peer-to-peer file sharing.  But the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft is involved in both cases, and a win is a win.  The court result underscores how much is at stake for iiNet and its shareholders.

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iiNet case: Court document reveals investigator sting

By on 24 November 2008 in iiNet Case

A private investigator who spent 15 months as an iiNet customer provides key evidence for last week’s copyright infringement action against the Perth-based ISP.

Some are calling it ‘entrapment’ but the tactic of gathering evidence by signing up as a paying customer is legal in Australia.

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