[LINK] FW: Film industry takes on iiNet

[Tom Koltai]

Stewart Fist and I carried out a little experiment back in the late
nineties and if memory serves me correctly we posted the results in Link
- I will have to check the archives. But back to the experiment.

I recorded twenty minutes of a national ABC radio show onto a cassette
tape. I then addressed the tape to Stewart at his home address using an
Australia Post next day delivery A5 Envelope. On both sides of the
envelope I wrote in indelible red ink (large block letters) 

This envelope contains a pirated copy of the ABC news program......"

The envelope was delivered the next day at 2:00 pm to Mr. Fist,
unopened.

>From memory, we carried out the exercise to point out to APRA that ISP's
were not responsible for the content of their carriage service provision
- or if they were then Australia Post must be equally guilty having made
a profit from the delivery of goods that were clearly marked as Pirated
Content.

It strikes me that Michael Malone is a smart chap. I am sure that his
Barristers will move to strike on the precedent that Austalia Post has
for years been delivering illegal copies of DVD's, CD's and other
computer data devices to Australians all over this nation. Including
x-rated content in plain unmarked wrappers, quite often to destinations
where state law prohibits the content from even existing. In fact
Australia post think so highly of the Porn industry that they have given
several of our largest x-rated traders their own postcodes.

Having been in his position - I sympathise. APRA tried a similar gig
with smaller ISP's in '99 working on the basis that the smaller ISP's
would not be able to defend themselves quite so vigourously. I note with
interest that neither Optus nor Telstra honour the Bay/TSP Takedown
notices. I consider the fact that AFACT has taken action action against
a smaller ISP to be a similar strategy. It would be nice if the
Australian Internet Association got behind Michael and offerred to pay
his legal costs. 

Tom