A great victory in Australia
ZDNet reports:
Australian ISP iiNet was today announced as the victor in its long-running defence against a lawsuit by major film and TV studios represented by the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT).
The studios first dragged iiNet into the Federal Court back in November 2008, arguing that the ISP infringed copyright by failing to take reasonable steps — including enforcing its own terms and conditions — to prevent customers from copying films and TV shows over its network. …
The studios were trying to make ISPs liable for what their users did, and force them to be unpaid sheriffs and terminate users on the basis of unproven allegations from the studios.
The court ruling is very strong – it says that iiNet did not sanction, approve or countenance copyright infringement – they simply did no more than provide an Internet service to its uers.
The court also said “iiNet is not responsible if an iiNet user chooses to make use of that (BitTorrent) system to bring about copyright infringement.
This is the first ruling of its kind in the world on whether ISPs can or should be liable for what their customers do, and if they have a duty to stop them. Hence it may prove to be a very useful precedent in future.
February 4th, 2010 at 5:54 pm
DPF: “must not talk about unemployment, must not talk about unemployment must not talk about unemployment oh look an eagle!”
February 4th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
Common sense wins, yay. The recording industry needs to awaken that they live in a new era and their model of old will no longer succed.
February 4th, 2010 at 6:14 pm
Well said Jeff,
It was a bit tough on them as when file sharing started to hit it’s straps, they bore the brunt of it. Still, their intransigence and inability to adapt has seen them fall low in the eyes of many. Film and TV is starting to wake up to it (albeit very slowly) but their issue remains control and money. Until they get their new business models right i.e. adapting to a fast paced environment like the the internet, they will continue to suffer.
Tom, you’re a dick
February 4th, 2010 at 7:39 pm
Well, I guess we can’t sue the postal service if drugs are found in a parcel.
Or we can’t sue the television networks if they happen to report bullshit statements from the IPCC.
Life is tough.
February 4th, 2010 at 7:45 pm
Is that likely to filter down to blog owners so (just for example) posters can say what they like and the blog owner is not liable?
Say yes, say yes, pretty please David!!!
February 4th, 2010 at 9:49 pm
It’s like saying to the Power Companies “Drug producers use your product, therefore you should police how all people use your product!”
February 5th, 2010 at 5:05 pm
Indeed, good precedent, another win foe freedom!!!
My personal favourite still is the 1999 legislation legalizing home distilation of ethinol in new zealand! Cheers!