Wire: Pirate Party Australia Welcomes Decision in iiNet Trial

The Pirate Party Australia welcomes the decision of Justice Cowdroy in the Federal Court today,
and whilst AFACT will most probably appeal this decision, we take it as a victory for common
sense.

“This is a good decision by Justice Cowdroy, and reflects that there is no legal basis or obligation
for any ISP to act in the interest of copyright holders, or to expect that they should disconnect any
entity upon allegation of infringement without judicial oversight and due process. Essentially an
ISP should be considered similar to the postal service – they simply carry data in the form of
packets, and that communication should be considered private.” said Rodney Serkowski, Party
Secretary.

He continued “We still believe that reforms of the Copyright Act are necessary in order to make
them more representative of the realities of the digital paradigm, and better reflect the way in which we relate to information, culture and knowledge.”

While this judgment may be a step in the right direction for the rights of Australians, there is still
further work to be done in regards to preventing further injustices from occurring in regards to data
security and cases involving file sharing.

Spectre of Three Strikes

Senator Conroy has previously indicated that the Australian government seeks to expand the war
on sharing, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is currently engaged in secretive
negotiations of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). ACTA has been shown in leaked
documentation to contain requirements that could ultimately lead to ‘graduated response’ or ‘three
strikes’ type regulation.1 Pirate Party Australia completely rejects these kinds of regulation as a
reasonable response to internet ?le sharing.

“The internet has been woven into the everyday lives of Australians. We are dependent on it
socially, culturally and economically. It is simply unacceptable to disconnect an entire household
from such an important medium of communication, upon often baseless and incorrect allegations
from industry-related associations, without due process. An example of the sloppiness of such
allegations includes take down notices sent to a network printer at the University of Washington for
illicit ?le sharing.”2 said Rodney Serkowski, Party Secretary.

It would place a regulatory burden on Internet Service Providers, meaning increased costs for
consumers, and in many respects is simply not feasible without gross violations of privacy.

Moves to ‘Three Strikes’ type regulations will likely mean that in an attempt to either keep their
communications private or to avoid detection, many people will turn to encryption. Law
enforcement agencies in Britain have stated that such regulation would subsequently increase
costs of prosecution and make investigation more dif?cult.3

“The use of a ‘graduated response’ or ‘three strikes’ technique to lower piracy rates is ?awed.
Disconnecting an entire household for often unprovable claims without a fair trial is not what I’d
consider to be representative of a democratic and just society.” said David Crafti, President.

A ‘graduated response’ mechanism is a threat to the privacy of every Australian. Pirate Party
Australia is entirely against the implementation of such a scheme and welcomes the public to join
us against any development of such legislation.