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<TITLE>RE: [Chapter-delegates] Australian court rules in favour of Internetservice provider</TITLE>
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<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Arial">Dear Narelle,</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Arial">Thanks a lot for this information. This is an excellent news and really encouraging to ISP industries</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Arial">across</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Arial"></FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Arial">the world. </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Arial">Thanks</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Arial">and regards</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Arial">Shyam Nair</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Arial">ISOC Delhi Chapter</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">-----Original Message-----<BR>
From: chapter-delegates-bounces@elists.isoc.org [<A HREF="mailto:chapter-delegates-bounces@elists.isoc.org">mailto:chapter-delegates-bounces@elists.isoc.org</A>] On Behalf Of Narelle<BR>
Sent: Thursday, February 04, 2010 9:19 AM<BR>
To: chapter-delegates@elists.isoc.org<BR>
Subject: [Chapter-delegates] Australian court rules in favour of Internetservice provider</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">All</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">In Nov 2008 a group film industry players lodged a claim against an</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Australian ISP arguing it had infringed copyright by not cutting off</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">users downloading copyright material. The Australian Federal Court</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">today ruled against the film industry, saying:</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">iiNet did not authorise copyright infringement because</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">1. infringements occurred directly as a result of the BitTorrent</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">system, not the use of the Internet and this ISP does not control the</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">BitTorrent system,</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">2. this ISP did not have the power to prevent those infringements occurring, and</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">3. this ISP did not sanction, approve or countenance copyright infringement</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">The film industry had commissioned a third party to investigate</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">copyright infringement from use of the BitTorrent protocol by iiNet's</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">subscribers.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">"AFACT employed a company known as DtecNet to investigate copyright</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">infringement occurring by means of a peer to peer system known as the</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">BitTorrent protocol by subscribers and users of iiNet’s services. The</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">information generated from these investigations was then sent to iiNet</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">by AFACT, with a demand that iiNet take action to stop the</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">infringements occurring. The measures which AFACT requested iiNet</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">perform were never precisely elucidated. However, as the evidence at</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">trial indicated, AFACT wanted iiNet to send a warning to the</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">subscriber who was allegedly infringing. If a warning was not</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">sufficient to stop the infringement, AFACT intended that iiNet suspend</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">the internet service of that subscriber. If the subscriber remained</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">unco-operative, termination of the internet service was sought as the</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">ultimate sanction. In addition, or in the alternative, the applicants</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">suggested that iiNet should block certain websites."</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">It is these steps that ISOC-AU took exception to as it seems a denial</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">of due process of law.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<BR>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Full text of the judgement can be found at:</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"><A HREF="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/FCA/2010/24.html">http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/FCA/2010/24.html</A></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">iiNet's response:</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"><A HREF="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/iinetmediareleases/~3/sbX8VqvlU9I/20100402-federal-court-judgement.pdf">http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/iinetmediareleases/~3/sbX8VqvlU9I/20100402-federal-court-judgement.pdf</A></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">here is the film industry's response:</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"><A HREF="http://www.afact.org.au/pressreleases/2010/4-02-2010.html">http://www.afact.org.au/pressreleases/2010/4-02-2010.html</A></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">There are now a number of press articles out which a search will lead you to.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<BR>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">MEDIA RELEASE</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">ISOC-AU applauds today’s decision of the Australian Federal Court in</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">the case of Roadshow Films Pty Limited v iiNET Limited. The Court</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">found that iiNet, by failing to take any steps to stop infringing conduct,</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">did not ‘authorise’ copyright infringement by certain iiNet users.. iiNet</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">did not sanction, approve or countenance copyright infringement; they</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">did no more than provide an Internet service to their customers.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">ISOC-AU believes the Internet is for everyone. ‘The Internet is an</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">essential part of how Australians live, work and play‘, said Narelle</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Clark, Vice President of the Internet Society of Australia (ISOC-AU) ‘and</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">the Court has confirmed that ISPs are not required to be the</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">gatekeepers of Internet use‘.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">ISOC-AU also welcomes the finding of the Court that, because iiNet did</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">have a repeat infringer policy, they would have been entitled to the</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">protection offered by the ‘safe harbour’ provisions of the copyright</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">legislation.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">ISOC-AU recognises that people should be rewarded for their creative</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">endeavours and that other models may need to be used or developed to</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">reward content creation and distribution. We also support the right of</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">all to due process under law, particularly to ensure that Internet users</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">are not arbitrarily cut off from Internet access.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<BR>
<BR>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">--</FONT></SPAN></P>
<BR>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Narelle Clark</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Vice President</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">ISOC-AU</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">_______________________________________________</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Chapter-delegates mailing list</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New">Chapter-delegates@elists.isoc.org</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P ALIGN=LEFT><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Courier New"><A HREF="http://elists.isoc.org/mailman/listinfo/chapter-delegates">http://elists.isoc.org/mailman/listinfo/chapter-delegates</A></FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
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