Mixed reaction to iiNet ruling

Federal Court Justice Dennis Cowdroy has found it is "impossible" to hold iiNet responsible for what its users have done in the landmark judgment that may secure the future for all internet service providers (ISPs).

A consortium of 34 movie 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 Cowdroy recommended the application be dismissed and that the consortium of studios pay for iiNet's court costs.

Federal Court decision 'a setback for film industry'

Speaking on behalf of the consortium, Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) executive director Neil Gane said he was disappointed by the decision.

"(Thursday's) decision is a setback for the 50,000 Australians employed in the film industry," Mr Gane said in a statement.

"But we believe this decision was based on a technical finding centred on the court's interpretation of how the infringements occur and the ISPs' ability to control them.

"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."

ISP: Conduit or gatekeeper?

Chief executive of the Internet Industry Association, Peter Coroneos, said the fundamental issue at hand was whether the role of an ISP was that of a gatekeeper, or simply that of a conduit.

"We have always been of the view, as a national industry body, that there is a need for an appropriate balance between the rights of content owners and the efficient functioning of the internet," Mr Coroneos told reporters.

It’s hard to say what the consequences would have been had the decision gone the other way, but we can say that there is a degree of relief in the industry," he told SBS.

"Four our part is, we always argue for balance. We think that there are legitimate rights of content owners that need to be respected, we certainly don't condone copyright infringement, but equally we understand the role of intermediaries and recognise that that internet would not exist in the way it does today, were these intermediaries subject to having to assume an enforcement role.

Entertainment industry models 'need to change'

Mr Coroneos says the main focus should now be providing legal content to users a digital economy.

“The real challenge is to ensure a new commercial business model where we can assure that internet users are provided with legal content in a way that is affordable and compelling”.

"So that, really, I think is the real challenge ahead of us and we are working as an industry to bring collaboration between the different sectors so that we can move to new ways of providing content in a digital economy".

iiNet keen to work film industry

Outside court, Michael Malone, managing director of iiNet, said while he was delighted with the outcome, he hoped he would be able to work with the consortium on ways to prevent illegal downloads in the future.

"We would like to engage with all the movie studios and the other rights holders, and see if we can find a way to get this stuff legitimately online," Mr Malone told reporters.