iiNet chief Michael Malone set to take stand in copyright case

iiNet managing director Michael Malone is set to take the stand today in the ongoing trial between the ISP and the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft, which represents entertainment companies and Hollywood film studios.

The two parties will appear before the Federal Court over the next two weeks, following a prior fortnight of hearings last month during which opening statements and preliminary evidence were submitted.

Malone is expected to be cross-examined by AFACT counsel Tony Bannon about the company’s responsibilities regarding copyright violations occurring on its networks.

As iiNet is not expected to call witnesses in order to explain the technicalities of file sharing, the main topic of the dispute. Malone along with chief regulatory officer Steve Dalby and chief financial officer David Buckingham will serve as the company’s defense.

Once the two parties’ witnesses have finished their questioning over the next fortnight, Bannon and iiNet counsel Richard Cobden will deliver their closing addresses.

AFACT is attempting to show iiNet had a legal responsibility to prevent its users from downloading copyrighted material owned by the studios, including popular films and television shows.

But iiNet has defended itself, saying it has no responsibility to disconnect its users and fully cooperated with police in passing along information of alleged copyright violators.

At the subject of dispute is the manner in which the number of copyright violations was counted by AFACT. While the federation claims it calculated thousands of violations, iiNet said the nature of BitTorrent technology means the number of violations was likely “in the hundreds”.

Additionally, many studios represented by AFACT including 20th Century Fox and Disney claim they sent letters to iiNet identifying copyright violations, but the ISP refused to take action.

However, iiNet said it would be a breach of the Telecommunications Act for it to take any action against alleged copyright violators, such as disconnecting their accounts, without court approval.

A decision is expected to be made by judge Dennis Cowdroy next year.