Australia, 04 February 2010 - A Federal Court judge has found that Western Australian internet provider iiNet cannot be held responsible for unauthorised downloads of movies on the internet.
In what was seen as a landmark case for the global IT industry, a syndicate of studios, headed by Village Roadshow, had hoped to prove iiNet not only failed to take steps to stop illegal file-sharing by customers but breached copyright itself by storing and transmitting the data through its system.
But Justice Dennis Cowdroy on Thursday found that it was "impossible" to find against iiNet - Australia's third biggest internet provider - for what its users did.
"It is impossible to conclude that iiNet has authorised copyright infringement ... (it) did not have relevant power to prevent infringements occurring," Justice Cowdroy said in his judgment.
The judge recommended the application be dismissed and that the consortium of studios pay the court costs.
iiNet said it had always been a good corporate citizen and was getting on with business now that it had been vindicated.
Judge dismisses case against Internet provider
By MIS Australia staff05 Feb 2010
