VinX
05-18-2009, 03:59 PM
Studios Urge ISP to Admit Piracy, Stop Wasting Court’s Time
Several
studios are currently engaged in legal action against Australian ISP
iiNet. They accuse iiNet of failing to take steps to stop its
subscribers from sharing files by disconnecting them from the Internet.
Now anti-piracy group AFACT says iiNet should just admit its customers
are pirates, and stop wasting the court’s time.
Several
studios including Village Roadshow, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros
Entertainment, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment,
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Disney Enterprises, Inc. and
the Seven Network (Australia’s top free-to-air broadcaster), announced
last year that they were to sue Australian ISP iiNet for copyright
infringement.
The studios, under the umbrella group AFACT, stated that iiNet
“failed to take reasonable steps, including enforcing its own terms and
conditions, to prevent known unauthorized use of copies of the
companies’ films and TV programs by iiNet’s customers via its network.”
AFACT had demanded disconnection for alleged infringers but iiNet
refused. According to AFACT, since iiNet knew that its subscribers were
infringing copyright, it too was breaching copyright by “authorizing”
the infringements. Legal action followed.
Just recently AFACT was forced to drop some of the charges against
iiNet, withdrawing the claim that the ISP was the primary copyright
infringer and directly responsible when it refused to disconnect
alleged pirates within its subscriber base. The allegation, know as
“conversion”, is that iiNet interfered with the studio’s “right of
possession”, a breach of their rights.
AFACT tried to convince Federal Court Judge Justice Dennis Cowdroy
that iiNet was guilty of “conversion” but he disagreed, kicked out the
claim and ordered the studios to pay iiNet’s costs for that element.
The remaining claim against iiNet is that the ISP is liable for the
copyright infringing actions of its subscribers, something it denies.
However, AFACT are increasing the pressure on iiNet to again admit that
its customers are pirates, something it tried to do earlier (http://torrentfreak.com/isp-refuses-to-admit-customers-are-bittorrent-pirates-090325).
They say that since they have lots of evidence that iiNet’s subscribers
are pirates, iiNet should just admit it and stop wasting the court’s
time.
“AFACT has presented evidence of tens of thousands of instances of copyright infringement by iiNet’s users,” said a spokesperson (http://www.smartcompany.com.au/information-technology/20090518-iinet-pressured-to-admit-users-acted-illegally-in-copyright-case.html)
for the anti-piracy group. He claimed that iiNet had already accepted
the validity of that evidence adding, “To make those acknowledgements
and not accept that those customers are engaged in copyright
infringement is simply a tactic by iiNet designed to delay and
frustrate the running of the case.”
iiNet chief Michael Malone disagreed, saying that it’s not up to
iiNet to admit anything, it’s up to AFACT and the studios to bring the
evidence. “If they come and say that a person is committing piracy,
it’s their obligation to prove that,” he said.
The case is due to return to court 9th June 2009.
Source : TorrentFreak (http://torrentfreak.com/studios-urge-isp-to-admit-piracy-stop-wasting-courts-time-090518/)
Several
studios are currently engaged in legal action against Australian ISP
iiNet. They accuse iiNet of failing to take steps to stop its
subscribers from sharing files by disconnecting them from the Internet.
Now anti-piracy group AFACT says iiNet should just admit its customers
are pirates, and stop wasting the court’s time.
Several
studios including Village Roadshow, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros
Entertainment, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment,
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Disney Enterprises, Inc. and
the Seven Network (Australia’s top free-to-air broadcaster), announced
last year that they were to sue Australian ISP iiNet for copyright
infringement.
The studios, under the umbrella group AFACT, stated that iiNet
“failed to take reasonable steps, including enforcing its own terms and
conditions, to prevent known unauthorized use of copies of the
companies’ films and TV programs by iiNet’s customers via its network.”
AFACT had demanded disconnection for alleged infringers but iiNet
refused. According to AFACT, since iiNet knew that its subscribers were
infringing copyright, it too was breaching copyright by “authorizing”
the infringements. Legal action followed.
Just recently AFACT was forced to drop some of the charges against
iiNet, withdrawing the claim that the ISP was the primary copyright
infringer and directly responsible when it refused to disconnect
alleged pirates within its subscriber base. The allegation, know as
“conversion”, is that iiNet interfered with the studio’s “right of
possession”, a breach of their rights.
AFACT tried to convince Federal Court Judge Justice Dennis Cowdroy
that iiNet was guilty of “conversion” but he disagreed, kicked out the
claim and ordered the studios to pay iiNet’s costs for that element.
The remaining claim against iiNet is that the ISP is liable for the
copyright infringing actions of its subscribers, something it denies.
However, AFACT are increasing the pressure on iiNet to again admit that
its customers are pirates, something it tried to do earlier (http://torrentfreak.com/isp-refuses-to-admit-customers-are-bittorrent-pirates-090325).
They say that since they have lots of evidence that iiNet’s subscribers
are pirates, iiNet should just admit it and stop wasting the court’s
time.
“AFACT has presented evidence of tens of thousands of instances of copyright infringement by iiNet’s users,” said a spokesperson (http://www.smartcompany.com.au/information-technology/20090518-iinet-pressured-to-admit-users-acted-illegally-in-copyright-case.html)
for the anti-piracy group. He claimed that iiNet had already accepted
the validity of that evidence adding, “To make those acknowledgements
and not accept that those customers are engaged in copyright
infringement is simply a tactic by iiNet designed to delay and
frustrate the running of the case.”
iiNet chief Michael Malone disagreed, saying that it’s not up to
iiNet to admit anything, it’s up to AFACT and the studios to bring the
evidence. “If they come and say that a person is committing piracy,
it’s their obligation to prove that,” he said.
The case is due to return to court 9th June 2009.
Source : TorrentFreak (http://torrentfreak.com/studios-urge-isp-to-admit-piracy-stop-wasting-courts-time-090518/)