Survey: ISPs not to blame for copyright violations

David Heath
Monday, 17 May 2010 22:14

IT Industry - Strategy

According to a recent poll, while acknowledging that downloading copyrighted material is against the law, respondents overwhelmingly agreed that ISPs were not to blame.

A recent poll by Compare Broadband asked the question, "Are internet providers responsible when their individual customers illegally download movies?"

Of the 385 voters, 87% responded, "'No, it's the customer's responsibility."  Of the remainder, 7% blamed the ISP and 6% had no opinion.

Recent unsuccessful action by a confederation of copyright owners against Australia's third-largest ISP (iiNet) attempted to pin the blame on the carrier, arguing that they somehow authorised the downloads.

Justice Cowdroy disagreed with AFACT in his ruling, which is being appealed.

Managing Director of Compare Broadband, Scott Kennedy observed, "It's encouraging to see that Justice Cowdroy, a representative of the people, reached the same conclusion as 87% of Compare Broadband voters - albeit with much greater detail about the circumstances of the situation in hand. Common sense has prevailed and Australian ISPs can breathe a sigh of relief, at least until the retrial."

Sometimes it seems that cases which revolve on a convoluted point of law are at odds with the public's perception of the matter, but not in this case.  If copyright owners want to prosecute the guilty, they should look beyond the all-too-easy targets - the ISPs and go after the real infringers.