iiNet to “vigorously” defend claims it is a piirateNet

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Thursday, 20 November 2008 18:23

IT Industry - Strategy

Australian ISP iiNet is the subject of Federal Court action over claims it is supporting or encouraging the illegal downloading of pirated content, despite a “terms of service” agreement with its users that prohibits the infringements of other’s rights, and intends to vigorously defend itself in court.

It’s all over the news – the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) is taking Australian ISP iiNet to court because it is “ignoring” media industry requests to curb illegal downloads iiNet users are making of digital media using peer to peer (P2P) bittorrent networks.

iiNet says that AFACT needs to work with the police rather than force iiNet to act as a policeman, tracking every bit of information that goes over its network

The news comes just days after iiNet’s Managing Director, Michael Malone, accused Australia’s Minister for Communications, Senator Stephen Conroy as being “incompetent” and the “worst” minister in Australia’s Federal Government.

These claims have been made thanks to the ISP filtering trial the Government and Minister Conroy are proposing that could dramatically slow down Australians’ access to the Internet by checking all content for illegal material such as “kiddie porn” and blocking it.

This has also raised questions over what else could be blocked and has raised the spectre of “The Great Firewall of Australia” where political and other information is censored.

The curious timing between the two events, along with the court action itself, was explored in an earlier iTWire article entitled “Copyright police drag Australian ISP iiNet through the courts”, although there is no suggestion that the two events are in any way related or that AFACT's actions are in any way connected with Malone's criticism of the Minister.

What is more curious is the fact that AFACT is taking iiNet to court first, and so far ignoring two other major Australian ISPs, Telstra and Optus, upon whose networks similarly infringing behaviour by users is likely taking place, and whose legal teams are likely even more formidable than that of iiNet.

So, what has iiNet’s response been to the AFACT action? Please read on to page 2.