Advanced Television

Australian rights case 'we have no right to disconnect'

November 5, 2009

Australian ISP IINET chief Michael Malone has told the NSW Federal Court that the ISP’s service agreements did not provide it with sufficient contractual rights to take action against customers who infringe copyright online.

Malone made the comments during cross-examination by lawyers representing a loose coalition of 34 entertainment companies – represented by the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft — pursuing a landmark copyright claim against the ISP.

The studios claim that iiNet authorised its customers to illegally share movies on its network by refusing to act on a series of infringement notices the studios’ online piracy investigators began sending to the company in July 2008. However, Mr Malone told the court he believed that laws regulating the way that carriers can use customer information prevented iiNet from helping content owners enforce their copyrights.

Categories: Articles, Broadband, Content, Regulation, Rights