Hollywood film studios lost a landmark court bid yesterday to hold an Australian Internet provider responsible for illegal movie downloads by its customers, in a serious blow to their fight against piracy.
In a world-first judgement, a Federal Court judge ruled Internet Service Provider (ISP) iiNet did not authorize the downloads or have the power to stop them, thwarting the studios’ latest attempt to stem billion-dollar losses.
‘IMPOSSIBLE’
“It is impossible to conclude that iiNet has authorized copyright infringement ... [it] did not have relevant power to prevent infringements occurring,” Justice Dennis Cowdroy told a packed courtroom.
The case, involving major studios such as Warner Bros, Disney, Paramount, Columbia and Twentieth Century Fox, was seen as an ambitious attempt to force ISPs to act against piracy.
It hinged on thousands of downloads over the Perth-based iiNet network,
Australia’s third-largest ISP, over 59 weeks from June 2008 involving nearly 90 films and TV series including Batman Begins, Transformers and Heroes.
The movie studios hoped to set a worldwide precedent forcing ISPs to act against offenders, while Internet rights groups feared it would compel the firms to cut customers’ Web access without having to take them to court.
Cowdroy acknowledged widespread copyright violations but said these were not the responsibility of iiNet, whose customers downloaded films using the BitTorrent file-sharing application to watch on their laptops and PCs.
“The evidence establishes that copyright infringement of the applicants’ films is occurring on a large scale, and I infer that such infringements are occurring worldwide,” he said.
“However, such fact does not necessitate or compel ... a finding of authorization, merely because it is felt that something must be done’ to stop the infringements.”
DISAPPOINTMENT
Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft chief Neil Gane, speaking on behalf of the consortium of 34 studios, expressed disappointment at the outcome of the case but held out hope the government would take action.
“We are confident that the government does not intend a policy outcome where rampant copyright infringement is allowed to continue unaddressed and unabated via the iiNet network,” he said.
iiNet chief executive Michael Malone welcomed the “great” ruling and said the studios and Internet industry had to find ways to make legal film and TV downloads more widely available.
“I think the best way for us all to stop the copyright violations — it doesn’t help iiNet either — is to make material legitimately available for customers,” Malone told reporters.
The case comes after a Swedish court found four people behind the Pirate Bay file-sharing site guilty of promoting copyright infringement last April, sentencing them to a year in prison. The four have appealed the verdict.
PRECEDENT
Andrew Wiseman, a partner of law firm Allens Arthur Robinson’s intellectual property arm, said the latest ruling would be cheered by Internet providers and closely watched worldwide.
He said Hollywood was likely to make further attempts to tighten up on ISPs, rather than pursuing individually the millions of users who download illegal material.
“There were certainly some excited voices outside the courtroom from the ISPs and there were some very long faces from the studios,” Wiseman said. “One thing’s for sure: this is not the end of the journey. There’s too much at stake.”
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese