The Government has offered Australia's three mobile operators, and vividwireless, renewal of their existing spectrum allocated on 15 year licences in the late 90s and early 2000s at set prices, while the Government expects to rake in $3 billion.
The court ruling in the iiNet copyright case is a major setback for copyright holders trying to get ISPs to police copyright infringement by their customers, but they have other avenues of attack.
According to a commentary on the iiNet judgement from law firm Blake Dawson, " Far from being over, it is likely that the battle has only just begun."
In the commentary Blake Dawson lawyers Lisa Ritson and Anita Cade suggest the Copyright Act provides another avenue by which copyright holders could get ISPs to act as copyright policemen.
"The Copyright Act has since 2001 required a court considering the question of authorisation liability [for breach of copyright] to consider whether the person complied with any 'relevant industry code'....We can...expect copyright owners to use the case as leverage in lobbying government for the introduction of a code of practice for ISPs."
They note that "Despite murmurings of the development of such a code for ISPs over a number of years, no such code has yet been developed."
The case has garnered global attention. According to the presiding judge, Justice Cowdroy, it was the first of its kind against an ISP anywhere in the world to proceed to both hearing and judgment.
And just as Justice Cowdroy, in his judgement sought guidance from overseas legislative decisions, the iiNet decision could influence overseas rulings, creating added incentive for copyright holders to seek to have the ruling overturned.
Ritson and Cade observe that "The key issue [of] who should be responsible for protecting copyright material in an online environment...is a battle that is being fought around the globe, with copyright owners, ISPs and legislators grappling with the challenges of the new digital age.
"Given what is at stake, we can expect the studios will be looking at grounds to appeal the decision and in that respect, the issues may still be quite some way from being finally resolved."
David Bass
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