Külföldi torrent oldalak ISPs agree to piracy site blocking, but argue about associated costs

FOR the past six months an Australian first piracy battle has been taking place in the Federal Court.

In April, members of the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and Australasian collecting society APRA AMCOS filed a blocking application against then-leading piracy website KickassTorrents (KAT).

The industry first saw member labels — Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music and J Albert & Son — attempting to have KAT blocked at an ISP level. The labels suggested KickassTorrents operated with “complete disrespect for music creators and the value of music” and asked ISPs Telstra, Optus and TPG to ban account holders from accessing the site.

In the midst of the Aussie legal battle, the US Department of Justice launched its own attack on KickassTorrents — shutting down the popular torrent website and having its owner arrested.

With the original target removed from the internet, the Aussie case shifted its focus to the clones and copies operating under the KAT banner, despite no affiliation with the original. The case is requesting simple DNS blocking, with a system in place to also remove any clones, mirrors, and proxy sites.

As part of its vision, the music industry want ISPs to block offending websites within 10 days of receiving notice from an application filed in the court. During Federal Court hearings this week, most of the ISPs were more than willing to comply with the blocking demand, but raised a dispute over who would be responsible for the associated legal and blockade costs.

The telcos have argued the cost for the implementation and maintenance of the site blocks — which last for three years — should be covered by the rights holders. According to ComputerWorld, Optus estimated a cost of $12,500 to carry out and maintain the blocks, while TPG claimed $50 per domain name would be required once a system was established.

While Telstra agreed costs would need to be covered by the music industry, the telco said it didn’t agree with a mandate requiring it to block landing pages from its customers. In addition to this case, Village Roadshow, Foxtel and other studios are continuing to make rolling injunction demands against The Pirate Bay, Torrentz and IsoHunt. All piracy cases are yet to be ruled on.