I'm not going to pretend the stealing of copyrighted material isn't an epidemic, but blaming internet service providers for the piracy amounts to misplaced aggression. At least that's what the Australian court system ruled today in an appeal that accused iiNet of turning a blind eye. The decision came down two to one against the studios, and within the ruling, the justices wrote the company's conduct “did not amount to authorization of the primary acts of infringement on the part of iiNet users.”
According to Bloomberg, the losing companies, Disney and Time Warner among them, have 28 days to appeal the ruling to Australia's High Court. If they do and the supreme authority rules against the service provider, it would essentially place all ISPs on notice that they are liable for the shady things their customers choose to do. That verdict would be unlikely but well within the realm of possibilities.
Whether this decision may single an increased effort to litigate against individual infringers is anyone's guess, but don't expect the studios to sit idly.
