http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,5842976^15306^^nbv^,00.html
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ISPs warned over copyright
Kate Mackenzie
JANUARY 15, 2003
AN Australian internet industry body is warning its members to heed form letters from US organisations about P2P copyright breaches, after a letter sent recently indicated "a new order of magnitude".
WA Internet Association president Kimberley Heitman said his organisation held an executive meeting yesterday in light of a letter sent to an unnamed Australian ISP by US company Mediaforce on behalf of Warner, which was published on broadband user group website Whirlpool.
Mr Heitman, who also works as a lawyer for the University of Western Australia, said while the proliferation of automated anti-piracy software and services meant copyright breach notifications were commonplace, the Mediaforce letter was more serious than those seen previously.
"What we're dealing with here is, apart from a very specific complaints about a particular user downloading a particular file, we also have a demand for the ISP to take action against the user according to American law," he said.
In addition, the letter demanded the ISP block all access to a particular P2P port. "You have a situation where they would not only ask the ISP to stop a continuing act - but also ask them to take action against this particular user for using a P2P network."
It was possible that action could be taken under either US or Australian copyright laws.
"Australia has agreed that if an overseas copyright owner has a case against an Australian for copyright infringement, they can bring that too," Mr Heitman said.
In response to the action, WAIA plans to hold a forum for its members, with legal experts to look at ISPs' obligations to respond to such complaints, which member ISPs have been advised to take seriously.
Mr Heitman said many ISPs did not know how to respond.
"We're going to be advising our members on the importance of ensuring that their networks are not hubs for P2P networks - the situations where ISPs ought not find themselves drawn into the litigation against KaZaA or other P2P operators," he said.
WAIA would also look into setting up its own Code of Practice under Australia's copyright laws, which could help further clarify its members' obligations when accused of allowing copyright infringements. Mr Heitman said this could enhance the protection for members under Australia's international copyright agreements, although it would be difficult to determine the level of protection it would provide against action taken in US courts - "you'd have to go to the US and pay a lot of money to find out".
Australia's legal standing relative to the copyright battles of the US is shifting in the wake of a US district judge's decision to allow the Australian company behind P2P network Kazaa, Sharman Networks, to face legal action brought by record companies and film studios in the US.
Law firm Gilbert and Tobin, who advised the copyright owners' US lawyers, said the Kazaa decision P2P operators could not avoid US court action even if they were based in other jurisdictions.
"The effect of Judge Wilson's decision is that courts will not allow P2P operators to escape judgment or law enforcement by moving servers or operations around the world," the firm said in a statement.
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It seems like companies such as Mediaforce and other related organisations are finally getting tough on electronic peer to peer sharing and electronic piracy. By monitoring various peer to peer media such as Kazaa and Grokster, these tracking organisations are now able to effectively track any users habits with regards to downloading music or any other software. This brings in to question the issue as to whether Internet service providers should be held responsible for the actions of their users, if they choose not to act on the information provided via the information gained from Mediaforce's servers. It also brings into question whether the methods used by Mediaforce to establish which files a user has downloaded are lawful, or a breach of privacy acts on their own.
It should be interesting to see what actions Australian internet service providers will take, if any, in response to this issue. I guess the outcome of this problem will also serve as "testing the waters" in relation to which federal, international, or foreign laws are used to govern electronic media and it's misuse.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ISPs warned over copyright
Kate Mackenzie
JANUARY 15, 2003
AN Australian internet industry body is warning its members to heed form letters from US organisations about P2P copyright breaches, after a letter sent recently indicated "a new order of magnitude".
WA Internet Association president Kimberley Heitman said his organisation held an executive meeting yesterday in light of a letter sent to an unnamed Australian ISP by US company Mediaforce on behalf of Warner, which was published on broadband user group website Whirlpool.
Mr Heitman, who also works as a lawyer for the University of Western Australia, said while the proliferation of automated anti-piracy software and services meant copyright breach notifications were commonplace, the Mediaforce letter was more serious than those seen previously.
"What we're dealing with here is, apart from a very specific complaints about a particular user downloading a particular file, we also have a demand for the ISP to take action against the user according to American law," he said.
In addition, the letter demanded the ISP block all access to a particular P2P port. "You have a situation where they would not only ask the ISP to stop a continuing act - but also ask them to take action against this particular user for using a P2P network."
It was possible that action could be taken under either US or Australian copyright laws.
"Australia has agreed that if an overseas copyright owner has a case against an Australian for copyright infringement, they can bring that too," Mr Heitman said.
In response to the action, WAIA plans to hold a forum for its members, with legal experts to look at ISPs' obligations to respond to such complaints, which member ISPs have been advised to take seriously.
Mr Heitman said many ISPs did not know how to respond.
"We're going to be advising our members on the importance of ensuring that their networks are not hubs for P2P networks - the situations where ISPs ought not find themselves drawn into the litigation against KaZaA or other P2P operators," he said.
WAIA would also look into setting up its own Code of Practice under Australia's copyright laws, which could help further clarify its members' obligations when accused of allowing copyright infringements. Mr Heitman said this could enhance the protection for members under Australia's international copyright agreements, although it would be difficult to determine the level of protection it would provide against action taken in US courts - "you'd have to go to the US and pay a lot of money to find out".
Australia's legal standing relative to the copyright battles of the US is shifting in the wake of a US district judge's decision to allow the Australian company behind P2P network Kazaa, Sharman Networks, to face legal action brought by record companies and film studios in the US.
Law firm Gilbert and Tobin, who advised the copyright owners' US lawyers, said the Kazaa decision P2P operators could not avoid US court action even if they were based in other jurisdictions.
"The effect of Judge Wilson's decision is that courts will not allow P2P operators to escape judgment or law enforcement by moving servers or operations around the world," the firm said in a statement.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It seems like companies such as Mediaforce and other related organisations are finally getting tough on electronic peer to peer sharing and electronic piracy. By monitoring various peer to peer media such as Kazaa and Grokster, these tracking organisations are now able to effectively track any users habits with regards to downloading music or any other software. This brings in to question the issue as to whether Internet service providers should be held responsible for the actions of their users, if they choose not to act on the information provided via the information gained from Mediaforce's servers. It also brings into question whether the methods used by Mediaforce to establish which files a user has downloaded are lawful, or a breach of privacy acts on their own.
It should be interesting to see what actions Australian internet service providers will take, if any, in response to this issue. I guess the outcome of this problem will also serve as "testing the waters" in relation to which federal, international, or foreign laws are used to govern electronic media and it's misuse.
