Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has issued a brief statement in relation to the iiNet trial verdict handed this morning, saying the Federal Government will look into its details.
“The Government will examine the Federal Court’s decision in the AFACT/iiNet case and will consider what the implications for the industry are,” Conroy said.
Justice Cowdroy today handed iiNet a sound victory in the Australian ISP’s long-running battle against a coalition of film and television studios, finding that iiNet did not authorise copyright infringement carried out by its customers using the BitTorrent file-sharing platform.
Conroy’s response today has been particularly anticipated by the telecommunications sector due to the fact AFACT executive director Neil Gane appeared to appeal to government intervention in the issue of how copyright infringement should be dealt with.
“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,” Gane in a statement, speaking on behalf of the organisation and the film and TV studios who brought the action.
Conroy has previously commented on the trial.
For example, in March 2009, the Minister said iiNet’s defence was like something which “belongs in a Yes, Minister episode”, referring to the famously bureaucratic television series.
Image credit: Office of Stephen Conroy