iiNet vows to fight threatened legal action over customers' illegal downloads

[Archiee]

Australian internet users who download films illegally from torrent websites could face claims of thousands of dollars if a Hollywood film company gets its way in the Federal Court.

 

The makers of the 2013 Oscar-winning hit Dallas Buyers Club have launched a legal bid to force a handful of Australian internet companies to hand over details of customers who have illegally downloaded the film.

The company that owns the rights to the film initiated legal action in the Federal Court and named the internet service provider iiNet and several smaller ISPs as respondents.

The move is the latest in a longstanding campaign by entertainment companies to reduce piracy and stem the damage it causes to the multi-billion dollar industry.

iiNet, one of Australia's largest providers of ADSL connections, said it would fight the legal action.

"Dallas Buyers Club wants the names and contact details of our customers, which they believe may have illegally shared their film," said iiNet spokesman Anthony Fisk.

"While we don't support or condone copyright infringement, we've decided not to give them the customers' details."

iiNet is no stranger to legal action, having won a High Court challenge in 2012 when a group of major US and Australian media companies tried to force it to block customers from downloading pirated content from torrent sites.

The High Court ruled that ISPs are not able to technically prevent users from downloading film and television programs from torrent services.

Mr Fisk said the latest action mimicked attempts in the US to target downloaders directly.

"What's happened in America is that customers have been contacted directly by Dallas Buyers Club and other movie houses, sending letters demanding settlement amounts of up to $US7,000 and threatening them multiple times if they don't pay those amounts," he said.

"We're concerned that such a development would open the floodgates for further claims by rights holders and more Australians being intimidated in this way.

"This doesn't happen in Australia and we don't want it to start happening."

One of the other companies named as a respondent in Dallas Buyers Club's application, Amnet, also refused to comply with the request.

"Amnet does not want to expose its customers to unfair practices or unreasonable claims," the company said in a statement.

Australia's largest internet service providers, Telstra and Optus, were not among the companies targeted.

29 per cent of Australians access pirated content online
The IP Awareness Foundation, a group set up by the film and television content and distribution industry, has commissioned online research that suggests 29 per cent of adults and teenagers regularly access pirated content online.

A 2011 industry study claimed copyright infringement costs the local film and television sector $1.3 billion per year.

But Jon Lawrence from internet users rights advocacy group Electronic Frontiers Australia said piracy would decline if film and television companies made their content more easily available.

"We've certainly seen clear evidence from the United States that as services like Netflix, which provides really good content at a reasonable price in a convenient manner, have increased, and the prices have come down, the prevalence of online piracy has come down accordingly," he said.

The Federal Government has in the past few months been taking submissions for a discussion paper on a legal framework to stem online copyright infringement.

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Attorney-General George Brandis have suggested internet service providers should take reasonable steps to make sure their customers are not illegally downloading material.

But they also said users had a responsibility not to access pirated content.

A spokesman for the Attorney-General said the government was currently assessing the submissions received.