Karl Quinn

November 28, 2011

FIVE of Australia’s largest internet service providers have volunteered their help in policing infringements by their customers in a major reversal of tactics in the copyright wars.

The about-face comes just days before the High Court is due to hear an appeal by a group representing many of the largest entertainment industry rights holders in Australia against a Federal Court judgment in February that found telco iiNet was not responsible for copyright infringement by its clients.

Telecommunications industry group the Communications Alliance has released a proposal for a trial scheme under which it would send “education notices” to customers suspected of infringing copyright by uploading or downloading content such as movies, television shows, computer games and music.

This would be followed by up to three warning notices in a 12-month period. If a user continued to infringe, the copyright holder would be able to seek user details from the ISP, allowing them to institute legal action.

The signatories to the Australian proposal are Telstra BigPond, Optus, iiNet, iPrimus and Internode.

The Communication Alliance claims educational and warning notices could be extremely effective, as has been the experience in France with its three-strikes policy.