Conroy cautious on new copyright laws after iiNet case

James Riley
Monday, 08 February 2010 16:32

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy wants the industry to open a dialog to develop a code of practice for better protecting intellectual property online in the wake of the iiNet court case before Government considers stepping in with new legislation.

Speaking to ABC television, Senator Conroy said he had urged internet service providers and the movie industry to cooperatively produce a code of practice, but they had instead ended up facing off in court.

Senator Conroy said he still hoped the industries would work together to find a solution in preference to further protections being developed through law.

The internet service provide iiNet last week won a landmark decision in a case brought by the movie industry through AFACT (Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft).

The iiNet case was a test for the new copyright laws passed in 2006. The central issue was whether, and in what circumstances, an ISP should bear legal liability for the infringing acts of customers.

The ruling effectively found that it was not the responsibility of ISPs to police users of their service to ensure they were not breaching others' intellectual property rights.